16
Aug
2012-08-15_15h18_23

[Update: It's Live!] Google Maps Is About To Get An Update To v6.10, Adds A Ton Of New Public Transit Info And Features

Posted by in Applications, Google, News

It's not quite live yet, but Google would like you to know that Google Maps 6.10 is on its way to handsets by the end of the day. "What's new for me, the public transit user?" I hear you ask. Quite a bit, in fact! First off, Google has announced that it now has data on more than one million transit stops worldwide, spread throughout almost 500 cities. In an effort to make that information more usable, the Transit Lines map layer can now me narrowed down to a single method of transportation. Um. Yes please.

googlemapstransit

In addition, station pages will now show departure times, which lines serve the station, and how far to other platforms nearby.

16
Aug
2012-08-16_12h45_40

Now You Can Add Your Discover Card To Google Wallet Straight From Discover's Site

Posted by in Google, News

When Google announced that it would support all major credit and debit cards, it was big news. What may have slipped under the radar, however, is that Mountain View also sent an open invitation to card issuers to sign up for tighter integration into the service. Today, Google is announcing that you can add your Discover card to Google Wallet directly from your account on Discover's website. You even get fancy card graphics now, too!

The process is stupid simple to set up:

To save your Discover Card to Google Wallet, just follow these short steps:

  1. Visit discover.com/googlewallet and sign into your Discover account
  2. Click “Add Your Card”
  3. Sign into your Google Account

And that’s it!

15
Aug
play

Google Play Movie Rentals Come To Germany, Hangouts On Air Spread Through Europe

Posted by in Android OS, Google, News

One of the most common complaints against Google's Play Store is the lack of certain content or functionality in countries outside the US. Google has been making progress in expanding access to other corners of the globe, though. You may remember, for example, that Play Books hit France just last month after Play Movies opened for the French in March and for Spain in June.

Today, Google (finally) brought Play Movie rentals to Germany, much to the delight of German users who have been asking for more Play content for quite some time. Strangely, the addition of movie rentals to the German market came without an official announcement, but was confirmed by multiple Twitter users and our own readers.

15
Aug
image

Google Is Gearing Up To Finally Introduce Play Store Gift Cards And A Wishlist [APK Teardown]

Posted by in Android OS, APK Teardown, Apps/Games, Google, News
Last Updated: October 17th, 2012

A new Google Play Store v3.8.15 apk started rolling out to Android devices today, but upon running through its UI, I was unable to uncover anything different from the versions before that. Yet the apk size gained a few pounds kilobytes, and not knowing what the 300KB of code and resources added was killing me. Not to worry, a few minutes later, I decoded both 3.7.15 and 3.8.15 and compared their contents.

Play Store Gift Cards

What I found inarguably points to Google gearing up to finally release redeemable Play Store gift cards - something we've been anxiously waiting for since the Android Market started supporting paid apps.

15
Aug
g logo

Google+ App Updated To 3.1.1: Now You Can Join Hangouts On Air From Mobile, Other Less Cool Features Added Too

Posted by in Applications, Google, News

Google has released an update to its social network app on Android today that should please Hangout enthusiasts both young and old. For starters, now you can join Hangouts on Air via your mobile device (like the one we use to broadcast our weekly podcast every Thursday at 8pm EST hint hint). This is fantastic news as Hangouts on Air are among the most useful application of the already-awesome Hangouts feature. Unfortunately, until recently, you could only join via a desktop, but no more!

g update1 g eventabuse g hangouts

Additionally, Google is now allowing teens to create and join Hangouts via mobile. Which, apparently, they could not do before.

14
Aug
2012-08-14_13h32_45

Google Adds 'Prior Art Finder' And European Patents To Its Patent Search Tool, Pretends There's No Subtext

Posted by in Google, News

Earlier today, Google rolled out a brand new feature for its online patent research tool: prior art search. Now, while looking at a patent, you can click a single button to pull up a host of results from Google Patents, Google Scholar, Google Books, with a bit of Google's typical search results sprinkled on top. The goal, of course, is to aid in researching whether a patent that's been filed is "new and not obvious." Which is far more complex than it sounds.

seafood-collateral_4

Reading between the lines, one could possibly infer that Google wants to make it easier on its partners (or itself) to prove their inventions are unique, or to avoid infringing patents that have already been granted (which is different from a patent that has been filed, mind you).

13
Aug
image

Googorola, Phase 1: Trim Product Lines And 20% Of Workforce, Focus On Making Just A Few High-End Products

Posted by in Google, Motorola, News

Just three short months ago, China approved Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility, effectively finalizing the deal. Apparently, neither company is looking to waste any time, as Motorola's new Google-driven leadership has already revealed the basics of the big turnaround plan. The first step: lay off 20% of its employees (including about 1,330 in the US) and close 94 offices around the globe. Given that Moto's phone unit has only made a profit in 6 months of the last 4 years, that's not so surprising.

What is perhaps more interesting is that Googorola will cut the number of devices made to "just a few," including dropping low-end devices from the portfolio entirely.

12
Aug
play_logo

[Weekend Poll] On Average, How Many Apps Do You Purchase Per Month?

Posted by in Apps/Games, Polls
Last Updated: August 19th, 2012

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see If Your Device Had Google Wallet Support, Would You Use The Service?

We've heard developers gripe that paid apps are very rarely successful numerous times in the past, be it because of piracy or because Android owners simply aren't willing to pay. About a year ago, we asked how many apps readers had purchased in the last month; 71% had purchased 2 or less, and 45% hadn't purchased any at all. But that was a year ago, and Android is a much more mature OS now. Time for an updated poll.

11
Aug
thumb

[New App] 'Gmail Canned Responses' Brings The Desktop Functionality Of The Same Name To Your Mobile Device

Posted by in Applications, News

Anyone who sends out Gmail messages containing the same body text over and over again knows how taxing that can be. Fortunately, there's a great feature in Labs called Canned Responses to help combat this issue by offering the ability to have pre-built responses directly within the compose window.

2012-08-11_15h12_50

Let's say, for example, you're out of town and won't be able to respond to most email in a timely manner, but don't want to set an away notice so everyone gets the same response. In that case, you could have several different canned responses ready to go for different purposes. If a client or partner emails, then you could have an appropriate, professional message ready to go.

10
Aug
googlelogo

[Whoa!] Google Will Start Down-Ranking Search Results That Receive Too Many Takedown Requests

Posted by in Google, News

This may not be strictly Android-related news, but it's safe to say that what Google does to search results is relevant to our readers' interests, no? Today, Google announced via its Inside Search blog that the company will start including the volume of valid copyright removal notices as a factor in determining how high or low a site ranks in its search results. Translation: pirate sites won't be removed entirely, but they'll start ranking lower than legitimate sites.

2012-08-10_13h52_10

Pretty soon, sites like the Pirate Bay won't be the #1 search result anymore.

The net effect of this change will likely be very minimal to the more hardcore pirates.

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