Google Play Movies & TV is a video on demand service available in over 100 countries around the world. It allows users to purchase or rent movies and televisions shows. The content is watchable in standard or high definition through the web, Android and iOS devices, and other set-top devices like Android TV, Chromecast, Roku, and LG Smart TVs.
Google appears to be feeling generous yet again. Last week, the search giant treated a few of its subscribers to a free digital copy of Sandra Bullock’s critically acclaimed Gravity and now the company is continuing its push of complimentary films with free access to Fox’s X-Men.
Every now and then, the folks in Mountain View will throw us a bone in the form of some free entertainment from Google Play Music or Google Play Movies & TV. Today, the company responsible for the world’s largest search engine has decided to do the latter. If you direct your smartphone, tablet or web browser to Play Movies, there’s a chance that you’ll see a free movie available to add to your collection.
[tweet https://twitter.com/GooglePlay/status/479994540091531264/]
Google has opened up access to Google Play content in ton of new countries in recent months, but today we get one of the largest expansions yet with Google Play Movies arriving for 21 new countries. The full list of new countries (below), which includes Greece, Poland, Croatia, and Thailand just to name a few, brings the service’s availability up to a total of 90 countries worldwide (via AndroidPolice).
Google’s full list of supported countries for Google Play Books, Movies, Music, and more is here.
Previously only available in the UK and US, Google announced today that it’s rolling out info cards for Google Play Movies in all countries that have access to the service. The feature allows users to view contextual info for the currently playing movie, actors, and related web content on a small pop up (pictured above).
Explore inside the movie with info cards to learn the real scoop about the actors, about other films they’ve starred in and even what song’s playing in the background. Then get right back to enjoying your movie. Now rolling out to all countries where Google Play Movies are available. http://goo.gl/hcs1WK
Watch The Hobbit, now with info cards, on Google Play: http://goo.gl/CzXAKh
Google Play Movies is currently in 69 countries total, but Google didn’t say how long it would take to complete the roll out.
Google today has announced a pair of expansions for its Play Movies and TV app. First off, the app itself has been updated with support for 40 new languages. The update has also added the ability to download movies in either HD or SD, where as downloading was previously only supported in high-definition. The full change log the app update is below:
Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, Gabon, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Rwanda, Senegal, Sweden, Togo, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zambia.
That is certainly a significant expansion and brings the service to millions of new people. Sadly, TV show availability remains sparse, being available only in Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Finally, Google has also expanded its Play Music and Music All Access services to Greece, Norway, Sweden, And Slovakia.
The Chromecast, Google’s streaming HDMI dongle came out last summer. It is compatible with any Android device running 2.3 or later, iOS devices with iOS 6 or 7, and any Mac or PC. Initially, users were able to stream Netflix or Youtube from an iOS device and Android device, Google Play on Android, or stream websites to a TV using the Chrome browser on a computer. The Chromecast works differently from Apple’s AirPlay system in that you can multitask and do other tasks on the device or you can let it go to sleep while streaming.
Very quickly after its release, Chromecast has received support for Hulu +, Pandora, and HBO GO. Last month a major update added ten new apps including Plex, Vevo, Songza, Red Bull TV, Post TV from the Washington Post, Viki, RealPlayer Cloud, Avia, Revision3 Internet Television, and BeyondPod. The most recent update the Chromecast received allowed users to stream Google Play movies and music directly from the Chrome browser on a computer.
In this How-to, we’ll discuss how to setup the Chromecast, use it with a Mac and Android device, and explore its gaming potentials.
Residents of New Zealand, Hong Kong, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago take note as Google Play Movies are now at your disposal. In total, Google added an additional thirteen countries bringing the total available market count to 27. This is the right time for residents of those countries to grab a Chromecast, kick their legs up on the sofa and watch a movie. Unfortunately, TV shows are still only available through the US, UK and Japan with no timetable for additional countries.
Google’s recently been updating all of its apps with a new slide-out navigation bar, and the latest app to receive the update is Google Play Movies. The app was updated today with a few new features, including a new, redesigned interface with the slide-out navigation bar and a new Watch Now option, which aims to predict what you are going to watch next and give you easy access to those titles.
Full changelog:
The update is available on the Play Store now.