15
May
io

[I/O 2013] Google I/O Day 1 Roundup: Keynote, Music, Games, Google+, Hangouts, Play Store, And More

Posted by in Google, News, Roundups

The first and most important day of Google I/O 2013 is drawing to a close. If you've just gotten home from a long day at work and don't have time to sift through a mountain of Android Police live coverage, fear not: there's a roundup for that. Here's a concise list of everything that's new and updated in the Googleverse.

Keynote

If you'd like to spend almost four hours watching Google show off all its new goodies, our Live Blog has the keynote embedded, plus Artem and David's reactions. In case you're wondering, Android activations have reached over 900 million worldwide.

13
May
unnamed

TuneIn Radio Updated With Google Play Music Store Purchasing

Posted by in Applications, Apps/Games, News

TuneIn Radio is one of the most popular streaming music services on any mobile platform, but it has just gotten a new feature for Android users. From now on when you hear a track you like, tap the Google Play button at the top of the 'now playing' screen to head right to Google Play and buy it. See the before and after images below.

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For those not aware, TuneIn Radio streams over 70,000 radio stations live, and it's not just music. There's general talk and sports radio, as well. The podcast directory also contains a huge number of feeds to peruse.

30
Jan
playmusic

Google Play Music Hits Version 4.5, Brings New Features And A Few Fixes

Posted by in Applications, News

While Google's fledgling music service is pretty good, it's still far from perfect. Most GMusic users could probably jot down a laundry list of issues with both the app and service at a moment's notice; however, Google's slowly-but-surely doing its part to correct some of those problems. Let's take today's Play Music app update for example.

1

v4.5.910I
* Instant mixes continue playing beyond 25 songs.
* Added ability to shuffle an album, artist or playlist.
* New default album art.
* Previous button added to widget.
* Pinning progress now shown on album and playlist pages.
* Fix for the Galaxy S3 freezing issue.

01
Jan
android-a-look-back-to-2011-and-a-look-forward-to-2012

Android: A Look Back To 2012, And A Look Forward To 2013

Posted by in Editorials, News, Rumors
Last Updated: January 7th, 2013

Happy New Year! It's that time again; with the new year comes our new annual prediction post. I tackled this last year, and rather than do a bunch of crazy, pulled-from-thin-air predictions, I ended up with a link-filled research-fest for the year. It worked out pretty well, so that's what's on the docket for today. First though, I'll take a look and see just how many of last year's predictions and rumors came true, and provide some updates for the more important topics.

A Look Back To 2012

What a crazy year. 2012 brought us two versions of Jelly Bean: 4.1 and 4.2.  We saw a complete transformation of Google Search with the Knowledge Graph, Google Now, voice output, and Google Goggles integration.

12
Nov
music

Google Play Music Updated To v4.4.811H, Brings Gapless Playback, Instant Mixes, And More

Posted by in Applications, News

Google just released an update for Play Music that brings a number of small, but desired features to the application. The biggest of the bunch is probably gapless playback support, a must-have for the more audio-conscious among us. Other than that, this new version also adds the ability to keep thumbs up, last added, and free/purchased music locally on the device, automatic playlist creation based on your favorite tracks, and other improvements.

What's in this version:

v4.4.811H
* Added ability to keep Thumbs Up, Last Added, and Free and Purchased playlists on device.
* Auto-generated Instant Mixes on Recent tab based on your favorite songs.

18
Jul
thumb

Google Play Music Updated To Version 4.3.606, Brings Improved UI, Enhanced Playlist Support, And More

Posted by in Applications, News

If you use Google Play Music, then you may want to check your app updates - Music just got a pretty decent one. This new version brings a handful of useful features and enhancements:

v4.3.606
* Now Playing queue that allows for queuing and reordering of currenty playing music.
* New UI for navigation with transport controls on the action bar.
* New large album art view on Recent.
* Playlist art is now constructed from album art of songs in the playlist.
* Now Playing widget has album art and support for thumbs up.
* Harder, better, faster, stronger.

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After messing around with it for just a few minutes, I can already say that this update is more intuitive and easier to use than previous versions of Music, as the swiping action is a much better way to navigate through the interface.