Google is giving away 20 free songs from performers appearing at Lollapalooza.
If you want free music from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neon Indian, Sigur Rós, Dum Dum Girls, Afghan Whigs, or others, today’s your lucky day. Here’s the full list of available tracks from Google Play:
“This year, the Chicago lineup features at least a few names from the festival’s heyday years—most notably enduring funk-rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers—but in keeping with the fest’s original spirit, Lollapalooza 2012 largely celebrates the sounds of right now: M83’s epic synth rock and tUnE-yArDs’ neo-tribal ruckus, Bassnectar and SBTRKT’s differing takes on dubstep, The Tallest Man on Earth’s Swedish-accented alt-country, Michael Kiwanuka’s arresting folk blues and Sigur Ros’ aching instrumental rock,” says Google Play’s Eric Grandy. “In between, the playlist will give you plenty of chill electropop (Washed Out, Neon Indian), indie rock (Twin Shadow, Bear in Heaven) and even some retro soul (Aloe Blacc).”
I didn’t really know what to make of the Nexus Q when Google first unveiled the orb at I/O. It definitely looks cool, but it also seems like every other streaming device. I’m apparently in the minority here as the device is now backordered in the Google Play store.
The Nexus Q officially went on sale yesterday with the device being listed as shipping in three to five days. After only a day of being on sale, it’s now listed as shipping soon with an estimated delivery date of two to three weeks. That’s a pretty impressive feat for a device that quite a few tech writers didn’t see much value in.
As you may recall, the Nexus Q is being billed by Google as “The first social streaming media player.” It’s main gimmick is that anybody with an Android device can essentially take over the Q and start playing their content. It’s a neat gimmick, but it just seemed like an odd concept in a world where Boxee and Roku dominate the streaming market.
Regardless, it’s nice to see the Nexus Q doing well. At $299, some might have thought it was a little on the expensive side. Of course, the increased cost could have something to do with the fact that the Nexus Q is manufactured in the U.S. If it continues to do well, it might encourage Google and others to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. It’s really a win-win for everyone.
If you really want a Nexus Q and missed out on the first wave, you can head over to the Google Play store to order the device. You’ll just have to wait two to three weeks to get your spherical streaming on.
Just because you didn’t attend Google I/O, you don’t have to miss out on some of the helpful education from Googlers. The company has posted a plethora of developer sessions online for you to watch any time you want. Even if you did attend, you couldn’t have gone to all of the sessions, and you might want to re-watch some of those you did attend.
Android developers should be interested in this one, designed to help gain exposure to apps in the Google Play store.
“As soon as you hit the ‘Publish’ button on your app, you become (partly) a marketer; you might as well try to be a good one,” Google says in the description. “We’ll share everything we know about promoting apps on Google play: building a strategic marketing framework, making good use of media channels, taking advantage of the assets we’ve built for developers, and convincing the Play team to feature your app.”
While critics often complain about the “walled garden” ecosystem of the iOS platform and its App Store, there’s one thing that’s hard to deny: iOS is about as secure as you could want it to be. While malware on the Android platform is an ever-increasing threat, iOS users generally don’t have to worry much about it. After all, all iOS apps are checked by Apple’s own reviewers, so a malware app could never make it to the App Store to be downloaded by users.
Well, almost never.
It seems a Russian malware app made it to the iOS App Store and Google Play recently. The app is called Find and Call. Once you download and open it it uploads your address book to a server, then spams all your contacts with texts prompting them to go download the app.
Both Apple and Google have, not surprisingly, pulled the app from their respective markets. It is no longer available for download from either the App Store or from Google Play. The app was originally identified by Kapersky Lab, who discovered what the app did and notified both Google and Apple of the problem.
Of course, it should go without saying that if you downloaded the app, you should go ahead and delete that as soon as possible. Without opening it.
Android users, take note: There’s a malicious botnet currently in operation that could be using your device to send out bogus spam emails to thousands of unsuspecting individuals. The discovery was made by a Microsoft researcher who unearthed several “spam samples” that were coming from compromised Yahoo! accounts. What was particularly alarming about this discovery was the fact that the spam was originating from Android-powered gadgets.
The damning evidence, of course, was the “Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android” line located at the bottom of these emails. Terry Zink, the man who first noticed botnet, said that questionable content was being sent from countries such as Chile, Indonesia, Lebanon, Oman, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Ukraine, and Venezuela, areas where cyber security isn’t as widely utilized.
Since Google Play has taken measures to ensure their downloads do not contain malicious software, Zink speculates users may have obtained the virus by downloading “free” versions of commercial software from third-party websites. The only alternative, according to this intrepid researcher, is that Android owners could have accidentally gotten their hands on a bogus Yahoo! Mail app somewhere down the line.
A representative from Google, meanwhile, was quick to comment on the security of their service, stating that, “Last year we also introduced a new service into Google Play that provides automated scanning for potentially malicious software without disrupting the user experience or requiring developers to go through an application approval process.”
For those who are still wondering what, precisely, a botnet is, here’s an explanation courtesy of Wikipedia:
A botnet is a collection of compromised computers, each known as a “bot”, connected to the Internet. Botnets are formed when computers are targeted by code within malware (malicious software). The controller of a botnet directs these compromised computers via standards-based network protocols such as IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol).
In short, it’s a network of computers used by hackers and nefarious types to send out emails and all sorts of nastiness. It’s not something you ever want to find yourself a part of. If you suspect that your Android device may, in fact, contain some malicious software, it’s suggested that you upgrade to the newest version of Android available.
Google is taking search up a notch with its latest version of Android, Jellybean. Last week at Google I/O, Google unveiled a number of search improvements with the OS. Three of these were specifically talked about during Google’s keynote: richer Knowledge Graph results, improved voice search and Google Now.
There’s another feature Google has added to the operating system that’s getting a bit of attention now that people have had a chance to play around with it. There’s a widget for Sound Search, which lets you search for songs by letting the device listen, and find the song in Google Play, where the user can than purchase if they would like.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s essentially what the hugely popular mobile app Shazam does. The app has been downloaded over 10 million times on Android alone. 232,374 of those people have given it a five-star review. Its average rating is 4.5 with 323,379 total reviews. People love shazam. Every time you hear a song and aren’t sure what it is, you have the ability to quickly find out, thanks to this kind of sound search.
Here’s a video (hat tip: Google Operating System) demo of Google’s new widget:
The way I see it, this is one example of what Google is likely to continue to do throughout its mobile search strategy, and perhaps its search strategy at large. It’s giving users less of a reason to use a non-Google service (in this case, Shazam).
The biggest threat to Google’s search market share may just be a decreased dependence on search in general. People are finding new ways to access information all the time, and mobile apps have been driving this more than anything. Shazam offered a service (and really a search service at that) that Google did not. Now Google does.
People didn’t have to go to Google to find out what the song they were hearing was. Before Shazam, they may have tried to figure it out using Google, and entering keywords with the hopes of trying to explain what they were hearing to retrieve the right result. Now, Google is once again letting users do this with Google, even if not from Google search itself. That’s not to say it won’t be integrated at some point.
It just so happens that Google may be able to drive some more sales through its Google Play store in the process, effectively killing two birds with one stone.
If you’re using the last version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, you may be in luck if you want to play around with Google’s Sound Search widget. The Verge points to a forum thread, showing that the feature has been hacked for the previous OS.
Gameloft is teaming up with marvel to launch The Amzing Spiderman movie game release on Android and iOS. The game is based on the original film storyline, so if this is a movie you can’t wait to see, you will be able to get a sneak peak at what the movie will offer by playing this mobile app.
Similar characters and environments will be featured, keeping the game in touch with The Amazing Spiderman’s setting.
The game, like the console version, allows you to explore five districts of New York and play 25 missions based on the storyline of the new movie. You will enjoy climbing, web-slinging and plenty of bad guy combo attacks on this game that has been optimized for mobile.
One of the major bragging rights for Android users is that their operating system allows for the use of Flash. Adobe eventually came around to Apple’s way of thinking though and said that Flash on mobile platforms was kind of useless. They revealed their plans to drop Flash support for Android in the future a few months back, but we’re now just getting the details.
In short, access to the Flash Player for Android on Google Play will be shut off on August 15. It’s a little more complicated than that as legacy devices running Android 2.3 through 4.0 will be able to get updates to the player. You may notice that I didn’t mention Google’s new OS, Jelly Bean or Android 4.1. There’s a reason for that as Adobe will not test Flash for 4.1. Here’s what Adobe has to say about it:
Devices that don’t have the Flash Player provided by the manufacturer typically are uncertified, meaning the manufacturer has not completed the certification testing requirements. In many cases users of uncertified devices have been able to download the Flash Player from the Google Play Store, and in most cases it worked. However, with Android 4.1 this is no longer going to be the case, as we have not continued developing and testing Flash Player for this new version of Android and its available browser options. There will be no certified implementations of Flash Player for Android 4.1.
So starting August 15, Google Play access to the Flash app will be limited to those who already have it installed on their phone. Adobe will still provide critical security updates for those devices, but they won’t actively develop any new versions of Flash for mobile devices. If you want Flash on your device and don’t have a phone that came pre-installed with it, you’re out of luck come August 15.
To clarify, Adobe does say that Flash may work on Android 4.1, but they can’t guarantee anything. They recommend that people who upgrade to Jelly Bean uninstall Flash on their device. With Jelly Bean pushing HTML5 more than ever before, users shouldn’t have any problems. As for apps that ran on the Flash runtime, they have probably switched over to Adobe AIR by now.
Speaking of developers, there may be some who just can’t let go of Flash. They can continue building apps for mobile with Flash for Android versions 4.0 and below. Developers can grab archived versions of the Flash Player for Android for the time being. It’s probably best if you just move on to Adobe AIR or HTML5 though.
As you probably know by now, during their keynote at the Google I/O 2012 conference yesterday Google unveiled the new Nexus 7 tablet. This 7-inch tablet (hence the name) packs a pretty impressive feature set, including a 1280×800 display, 12-core GPU, NFC, and a solid battery. To make it even more impressive, Google has priced the tablet at an extremely competitive $199. That’s the same price as a Kindle Fire or a Nook Tablet.
For Google, though, the aggressive pricing strategy for the Nexus 7 comes at a cost (pardon the pun). Google’s Andy Rubin told AllThingsD yesterday that Google’s margins on the Nexus 7 are basically nonexistant. Google is selling the Nexus 7 through the Google Play store “essentially at cost.” That means that Google is basically eating all marketing costs associated with the Nexus 7.
The question, of course, is why Google would do such a thing. The answer is content. Google’s strategy is founded on the idea that, as Rubin says, customers buy tablets as a means of accessing a content ecosystem. Hence the success of the Kindle Fire and the iPad. Both Amazon and iTunes had sizable (and extremely popular) content ecosystems in place before their respective tablets hit the market. So when you buy an iPad, you’re not only getting all the cool features of the iPad itself, you’re also getting access to the content that Apple can deliver – apps, movies, music, and books. While Apple has managed to turn a tidy profit on the iPad, the 7-inch tablet market is a bit tighter. Consumers don’t expect to pay much more than $200 for a 7-inch tablet.
So what Google has done with the Nexus 7 is take a top-of-the-line 7-inch tablet and turn it into a loss leader. It’s the razors-and-blades, printers-and-ink model. Gilette makes its money on razor blades, not the razors themselves. HP makes money on ink cartridges, not printers. Similarly, Google is hoping to make its money from Google Play, rather than the Nexus 7. It’s a fairly sizable gamble, especially since, as Rubin says, Google’s content ecosystem is what has been keeping customers away from Android tablets.
The Nexus 7 is available for pre-order right now on Google Play, and is scheduled to ship in mid-July.
Because having Larry Page and Timothy Cook compare their respective manhood would be inappropriate, another thing for Google and Apple to compare is the amount of downloads of mobile apps designed for iOS and the Android environments. While Apple still has the upper hand with 30 billion app installs, Google’s Android mobile operating system is experiencing success too, to the tune of 20 billion installs.
At the Google I/O Keynote, the totals for both installs and the amount of apps and games available was revealed, and it’s pretty clear Google Play is holding its own against its Apple competition. As you can see from the lead image, Google is boasting 20 billion application installs. Furthermore, there are 600,000 apps and games available at Google Play, compared to Apple’s 650,000. What does this mean besides both companies offer users a lot of ways to augment their phones? Well, aside from the fact that users of either iPhones or Android phones have a lot of choices when it comes to applications they can pick from, it also indicates that Apple and Google are well ahead of the competition regarding being the a consumer favorite.
With the looming collapse of Rim, which makes the BlackBerry devices, perhaps the only platform left to make inroads against the Android/iPhone stranglehold is the Windows Phone. No word on how many apps their store offers, but it’s probably not as many as Google Play or the App Store.
As pointed out by the Verge, considering the fact that Google announced 10 billion downloads at the end of 2011, and they’ve already doubled that in less than a year, how long before Android apps catch up to Apple’s 30-billion-downloads total?
While you’ve been able to download the beta version for a little while now, are you ready for a non-beta version of Chrome for Android? Google thinks that you are, or, well, at least their mobile browser is ready for prime time consumption, and so, they’ve officially removed the beta status from mobile app.
According to the Google Chrome Releases blog, the non-beta Chrome for Android is compatible with devices that have Android 4.0 or better installed. Essentially, you have to at least have an Ice Cream Sandwich before Google allows you to play with their mobile browser. Updates the official release include, “important stability and performance fixes since the last Beta, along with some minor UI adjustments, especially for tablets.”
If you’d like to look at a list of known features concerning Chrome for Android, you can do so here.
Google’s mobile browser is available for download at the Google Play store, and if you’re one of the Chrome users who created a user account that keeps track of your preferences across multiple devices, then you can sync Chrome for Android with your already-established settings, including:
Sign in to Chrome to sync your open tabs, bookmarks, passwords, and omnibox data from your computer to your phone or tablet. Pick up right where you left off.
Send pages from Chrome on your computer to Chrome on your phone or tablet with one click and read them on the go, even when you’re offline.
Google for Android also supports Incognito mode, for those of you who like to surf porn without having cookies and other temporary Internet files attached to your session.
At Google I/O, Google unveiled the Nexus Q, which it describes as “the first social streaming media player”. It looks like a ball, and lets you push content from your Android device to your TV. It’s unclear how this fits into the Google TV strategy, but Google now has another way to get into your living room, using Google Play.
“Anyone in the room can use their Android phone or tablet to control what’s playing and add their own entertainment to the mix,” Google says.
Here’s the promo video:
Here are some shots they showed during the keynote:
During today’s Google IO 2012 keynote, Google announced some amazing new stuff, including Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, complete with Project Butter, as well as the Nexus 7 tablet. In addition to the awesome new hardware and software, they also announced some cool new updates to Google Play, Google’s online app and media marketplace.
First off, they’ve added app encryption. Beginning with Jelly Bean, paid Google Play apps will be encrypted with a device-specific code before they are delivered. Encrypted apps are intended to protect developers by preventing piracy.
Second, they introduced smart app updates. Previously when a user wanted to download an app update, they were required to redownload the entire app. With smart app updates, only the portion of the app that has actually changed will be downloaded. Google’s data showed that when an app updated, only a third of the app changed on average. Smart updates, then, will save on time, battery power, and bandwidth, a big win for everybody involved.
They also introduced Google Cloud Messaging. This new feature allows developers to send information from their servers to their apps on users’ Android devices much more easily. Google Cloud Messaging handles the messages – which can be up to 4KB in size – smoothly and easily.
Finally, Google announced several major improvements to the kind of content available on Google Play. Now, Google Play allows users to purchase movies, not just rent them. Additionally, you can also purchase TV shows. You can buy TV shows by episode or by season. Google Play now also includes magazines. Google has partnered with a number of major magazine publishers. Most magazines can be sampled on a 14-day trial period.
Were you one of the lucky few in the U.S. who were actually able to get their hands on a Samsung Galaxy S III yesterday? Can’t get enough Portal? Why not create an entire Portal theme for your spiffy new Android phone? You can start with a new Live Wallpaper that puts Portal 2‘s Wheatley right in your smartphone’s background.
The Wheatley Live Wallpaper sets the background of an Android phone (one running version 2.2 and up, at least) to the likeness of everyone’s favorite dumb and insane personality core. Wheatley’s eye will follow the user’s finger around the screen as they navigate the Android home screens. Unfortunately, the wallpaper won’t feature Stephen Merchant’s voice or any witty banter. Users can, though, change the color of Wheatley’s eye. Check out the short YouTube video below that demonstrates the wallpaper’s functionality:
The Wheatley Live Wallpaper was created by a Malaysian developer named Wye Mun Chin. Chin has created other Live Wallpapers for Android, including one similar to the Wheatley Live Wallpaper based on the movie “The Ring” that has the ghost girl’s eye follow the user around the screen. He has also created a game for the Android operating system called UFO Pew Pew. The Wheatley Live Wallpaper can be downloaded for $1 through the Google Play app store.
Facebook runs their weekly Operation Developer Love to keep the development community up to date on the newest features hitting their platform. It’s pretty great and one of the many unique things about the platform. Some recent changes from Google make it seem like their pushing for more of an Operation Developer Love You And Never Let You Go.
The three new features that hit Google this week are extremely important from a developer’s point of view. There’s a need for feedback and collaboration that you don’t see a lot unless the developer sets up their own Web site or if they seek out forums and communities for it. Google did the hard work for them with the latest features hitting the Chrome Web Store and Google Play.
Earlier this week, Google unveiled a new commenting tool for developers. It allows developers to reply directly to user reviews on Google Play and the Chrome Web Store. It’s a great benefit to developers because they can now directly interact with the users without the use of emails or dedicated communities. It also has the added bonus of allowing developers to defend themselves against malicious attacks that take the form of reviews on Web sites like this.
The other big news for developers is Google Developers Live. It’s been described by the folks at Google as a Google I/O that lasts year round. In reality, it’s more of an expansion/continuation of the weekly Office Hours hangouts that various departments within Google hold. The expansion comes in the form of new programming for developers including game shows.
These changes show that Google is at least trying to make it look like they care about developers and it’s working. I’m sure most people have already forgotten the pain Google inflicted by not telling developers about the changes coming to Google+. It seems that Google is ready to be more open and forward with developers about changes coming to their platforms.
As part of their “Longest Day Deals” promotion at the Google Play Store, Google is offering several premium apps for $.99. Many of these normally retail for as much as $6.99, so these are actually deals worth taking note of, especially if you are into mobile gaming.
You can’t beat a copy of Mass Effect Infiltrator for a buck — or NBA Jam, or Grand Theft Auto III, or Guns ‘n’ Glory.
Google doesn’t specifically mention when these deals will end, but since this is the Summer Solstice, and hence the longest day of the year, it seems pretty obvious that the sale will only last for today. But who knows, Google may get a lot of downloads and extend the sale.
Here are all of the apps that are on sale complete with links their Google Play pages. Peruse and enjoy:
User reviews are one of those necessary evils when it comes to the Internet. There are a lot of good people out there who want to praise the hard work you put into your product, but there’s always that one person who has to make an attack on your product just because they can. Software reviews are especially bad since developers can never really defend themselves… until now.
Google has now added the ability for developers to reply to user reviews on Google Play. According to Android Spin, the change will be rolled out over time starting with those who have a “top developer badge.” It’s the smaller developers who need this ability the most to protect themselves against unwarranted attacks from Internet trolls so here’s hoping they get responses soon.
The change makes Google Play a more developer friendly platform compared to its competitors. Apple really needs to get on the ball with a similar solution to combat the absurd amount of spammy and outright deceitful reviews that go up on iTunes as well. I’m all for people being able to review a product that they own, but developers need a chance to respond to criticism and unwarranted attacks.
Looking on the positive side, the change will also allow developers to interact with their fans in a positive way. It’s a great way to keep fans engaged and let them know about upcoming updates without them having to find the developer’s Web site or other information repository.
Developers can check to see if they have the reply ability by visiting the Android Developer Console on Google Play. If a reply function is under the comments on the Android Developer Console, you have the newfound reply ability. If not, the wait shouldn’t be that much longer until you can start replying to reviews. We’ll let you know when the reply ability is made available to all.
Evernote is mostly known for its note-taking software on PCs and mobile devices, but the company dabbles in a little bit of everything. To perhaps compete with Foodspotting, Evernote Food came to be. The service allows users to take pictures and provide captions to the important food in their life. It’s essentially a way to catalog all the food that you like and would like to eat again.
Evernote Food has been available for some time on iOS, but it’s now available on Android. It’s the same experience that you get on iOS, but those on Android have not had a chance to try it out. Is it every bit as good as Foodspotting or is it just a mere imitator that brings nothing more to the table?
Just like with Foodspotting, Evernote Food is all about taking pictures. Whenever you eat, you are encouraged to take a picture of it with Evernote. Whereas Foodspotting is all about the experience of eating out somewhere and sharing where you ate with friends, Evernote Food is much simpler. Sure, you can catalog the food you ate at some fancy sushi place, but you can do the same for a home cooked meal.
That’s the core difference between the two services. Foodspotting is a social network centered around food, whereas Evernote Food is a personal food assistant. They both do very similar things, but there is a large difference between the two as well.
Of course, you may want to use Evernote Food like Foodspotting. You can do that too since Evernote Food utilizes Foursquare for location-based food tagging. If you got a restaurant and want to remember exactly what you had for next time you go, take a picture of the dish and tag it with the restaurant using Foursquare.
Another advantage that Evernote Food has going for it is that it syncs up with the entire family of Evernote apps. If you use a lot of Evernote apps, the meals you capture will display related notes that it thinks might be of interest to you. You may have written the recipe for a meal down on Evernote and Evernote Food will provide instant access to said recipe when looking at the meal created with it.
Evernote Food on Android took a little longer in the oven because it takes advantage of Share Intents. This means that Evernote Food can share meals with any social app on Android. It’s already been built to create a Web version of the meal to share with whoever has the URL.
It’s unfortunate that Android users have to wait a while longer when it comes to high profile apps, but the wait is usually worth it. The unique sharing features of the Android operating system lends itself to the creation of apps that can share more. If you want to grab Evernote Food, you can do so now on Google Play. If you’re an iPhone user that has yet to grab it, it’s also available on the iTunes App Store.
If you’ve paid very much attention to the world of iOS and Android gaming, you’ve probably heard of Temple Run. It’s an addictive little game wherein you help the main character – an Indiana Jones lookalike – escape from some evil skull-monkey creatures that he has angered.
Though it appeals to players of all ages, the game is particularly popular with kids (full disclosure: my son has played it a lot more than I have). Disney, it seems, has caught onto the game’s popularity and struck a deal with the studio behind Temple Run – Imangi Studios – to create a new version of the game based on the upcoming Pixar movie Brave.
In most respects Temple Run: Brave is identical to the original. You still spend your time running, jumping, and sliding as you try to get away from the monster chasing you. Only this time, instead of the would-be Indy, you’re playing as Merida, the main character of Brave. And since evil skull monkeys are rare in Scotland, you’ll be running from the large angry bear that serves as Brave‘s main villain. And you’ll also get the chance to try your hand with Merida’s bow. Certain sections of the game will present you with targets to shoot as you run, earning rewards. We’ll try not to think about why you can’t just turn and shoot the bear.
Temple Run: Brave hits the iOS App Store and Google Play on June 14th. Check out the official trailer for the game below:
And for good measure, here’s a trailer for Brave, which arrives in theaters on June 22nd.
Android has a problem – it can’t monetize itself very well. Some people blame it on the fact that the Android market is severely fragmented while others blame it on Google limiting the amount of options that developers can use to monetize their apps. Google is at least going to fix the latter starting today.
An announcement went out today signaling the beginning of in-app subscriptions for Android apps on Google Play. Previously, the only way to monetize an Android app through Google Play was to either charge up front for it or use in-app billing which allowed people to buy items in game through Google Wallet.
The next logical step is of course in-app subscriptions and Google is happy to comply. This means that developers can now set up subscription fees from inside their apps. Developers can now charge for monthly to annual fees through their apps for the services it provides. This kind of monetization is especially helpful for apps like mobile newspapers.
Google uses the example of gaming on Android. For a game that required a monthly fee in the past, the player would have to enter their credentials and pay for the game each month. Now with in-app subscriptions through Google Play, they can set up a monthly subscription and have Google Play take care of the rest.
The new feature is user friendly as well. All user have to do is visit My Apps in the Google Play store app to see any recurring subscriptions. They can cancel at any time. The only non-user friendly bit is that it auto-renews subscriptions so it’s up to the user to remember whenever a renewal is on the horizon.
The launch of this new service is also super helpful to developers. They can use a new HTTP-based publisher API to connect their Android apps with their Web apps. Users can subscribe via Google Play and the Web app will recognize that subscription. For example, MMOs would be able to feature a mobile component that carries over to the Web experience and vice versa.
Google Play subscriptions are now available to all developers. You can get started by checking out the documentation and sample app. Subscriptions will be available to all users running Google Play 3.5 and above.
Google Play allows users to share purchased songs and albums with friends, a brought over from Google Music. However, it only allows one play-through of the content – for any more it has to be purchased. To better organize and help users plan for that perfect moment to start up a special track, Google today announced a “Shared with me” button for Google Play.
The update announcement came in an post to the Google Play Google+ page, where the look of the feature, which you can see above, was revealed. The button is part of the sidebar for the Google Play “MY MUSIC” page, where users can listen to music they have uploaded or purchased. The “Shared with me” page will list all songs that have been shared with a user, but songs that are not listed in bold have already been played, and can’t be listened to. All of the songs can be sorted in the same ways as purchased or uploaded music (Name, Time, Artist, Album), but also by price or by who shared the song. That sharer’s Google+ picture will appear as a thumbnail next to the content he or she shared, and the prices in the “Price” column can be clicked on to purchase the content.
A small change, yet an interesting way for Google to promote music sales. Google still has a long way to go, though, if they hope to reach their 2010 goals for music sales. What do you think? Do you often share music with friends through Google+? Did you even know that you could? Leave a comment and let me know.
