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Google's unstoppable march continues: the company just won't rest until every financial institution on the planet can use the Google Pay mobile payment system. Over the last few weeks we've been cataloging additional banks added to Google's various support pages, and there's been a notable uptick in new entries. That's especially true for Switzerland, where more than eighty banks added Google Pay compatibility last week.
Android Auto rolls out to 6 more European countries
Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden, since you asked
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Although a bunch of cars now come with advanced navigation systems, these can rarely beat the simplicity and expansibility of Android Auto. Sadly, though, Google's in-car service isn't globally available, leaving many users unable to properly use their favorite services from their ride's dashboard. Thankfully, Android Auto is expanding to 36 more countries, making it seamless to get directions, play music, and interact with Assistant, thanks to native integration with your car's infotainment system.
Samsung's watches now support ECG monitoring in 32 more countries
It still requires a paired Samsung phone
Samsung's Galaxy Watch3 and Watch Active2 both have hardware support for ECG monitoring, but it is taking a long time to show up for everyone, since the feature has to be approved by each country's health agencies. It was exclusive to South Korea until September of last year, when it was enabled for use in the United States, and now it's coming to 32 more countries.
Play Store accepting gambling apps in US and 14 other countries starting March 1
Non-gambling contests get a boost in new policies
Up to now, Google has only Android users in the U.K., Ireland, France, and Brazil to download apps from the Play Store to partake in real money gambling. But starting from this spring, the company will enact a policy update to expand their availability to 15 countries including the United States.
Google Pay is rolling out more widely across Europe
Coming to Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, and Romania
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Google Pay’s tight integration with the Android OS makes it one of the most widely available and widely accepted mobile payment solutions. However, many international regions still don’t have access to this nifty tool, keeping people from the convenience of tap-and-pay on almost any Android phone. That’s changing today, at least for ten European countries where Google Pay is finally debuting.
Little by little, Google's been making YouTube Premium and YouTube Music available to more and more users. Sometimes that means making the services available on new devices, or offering discounts to lower the barrier to entry. But a lot of the time, it's just about rolling them out to new countries. So far this year we've seen expansion into India, South Africa, and Latin America, and today that trend continues with a push further into Europe.
Any maps app thrives on accuracy. Incorrect data should be removed, fixed quickly, or at least it should be marked as such. The Google Maps team keeps a list of its coverage details with markers for availability and data quality, and updates it every now and then to reflect the current state of affairs. Since the last change in July, some improvements have been made, but also some countries have had their data markers downgraded.
Beyond being your awesome digital photo archiver, Google Photos offers to print copies of your pics if you prefer to keep those memories in a physical album. After launching in May of 2015 in the US, Photo books expanded to seven more countries over time (Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain), and they're now reaching five more.
Promo codes are a great way for developers to give paid content on the Play Store to certain people. But for whatever reason, these codes can't be issued everywhere, and Google has a list of countries that they can be given out in. After adding eight countries back in May 2017 and, more recently, three earlier this month, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, and Romania have made it onto the list.
Spotify has just launched in Israel, Romania, South Africa, and Vietnam, bringing the total amount of worldwide markets to 65. So if you live in one of those four countries and you've been patiently waiting to become one of 159 million users worldwide (or you're lamenting the loss of Spotify Dogfood), it's your lucky day.
Google has announced that Google News will soon be available in seven new languages - Romanian, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, and Thai.
You know those orange headphones that come pre-installed on stock Android devices? They pump tracks through a service called Play Music. It's a downright dandy offering, but it's only available in certain countries. As of now, that list has just expanded to include thirteen more.
Jelly Bean Updates Roll Out To Unbranded UK, Switzerland, Luxemburg Galaxy S IIIs And Branded Ones In 8 Other Countries
The pace at which Samsung is pushing out Galaxy S III Jelly Bean updates is picking up steam in Europe
The pace at which Samsung is pushing out Galaxy S III Jelly Bean updates is picking up steam in Europe with the much anticipated arrival of Android 4.1.1 for unbranded UK handsets. The Brits aren't the only ones getting it today - in fact, the list is quite sizeable. Here, check it out:
The floodgates seem be open, folks - the Jelly Bean updates for the Galaxy S III are now rolling out all over Europe. Last month, Samsung shared Android 4.1.1 with Polish users, took a break to fix some bugs, and restarted the process two days ago in Sweden. As of today, the list of countries has expanded quite a bit - France, Spain, Romania, and Austria. All signs point to a much wider rollout, and I wouldn't be surprised if even more territories and carriers show up within the next 48 hours.
