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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.
Google Opinion Rewards is a great tool for earning some extra money you can spend on the Play Store, potentially financing almost any app you could ever want to purchase or your subscription needs. And now, Android users in Thailand can also finally take advantage of it, seven years after the app became available in the US.
Spotify has been working on proper lyrics support for ages. It likely takes this long to implement the seemingly simple feature in part due to licensing issues surrounding songtexts, which already led to a lawsuit against Google. Spotify seems to have finally found a suitable solution, as TechCrunch reports that the company is planning to roll out lyrics synced with music to 26 markets today. The US, Canada, and the UK aren't among these, though.
YouTube Music and Premium are continuing their expansion across the world. After adding eight Middle Eastern countries in September, the service is now spreading to seven more markets in Asia. Most notable among these additions is Indonesia, the fourth most populated country in the world, and a potentially huge market for Google.
Google took the unusual step of confirming the existence of its upcoming Pixel phone this year, but we don't expect the full Pixel 4 unveiling for another month. That hasn't stopped some people in Southeast Asia from getting their hands on the phone. We have no idea what they're saying, but you get a good look at the phone in these videos.
We take the ease of billing on the Play Store for granted here in the US, but many other countries don't have as many or as flexible options when it comes to picking up apps, movies, books, or music via the service. But for customers in Colombia, Tanzania, Thailand, Chile, and Peru, new payment methods are now possible. Conversely, France and Saudi Arabia have lost some options.
Back in February, Google said that it would be adding 30 more languages to Google Assistant "over the next few months." Of the languages that had been name-dropped at the event, only Hindi and Indonesian have been added, but another has just joined the club: Thai.
Google has another major event lined up for today, where the announcement of the Pixel 2, Google Home Mini, Pixelbook, and other devices will likely take place. It looks like more countries could get the chance to buy Google hardware (maybe including the upcoming products), because the Google Store is expanding to more nations.
Samsung expanded its mobile payment solution, Samsung Pay, to more countries across the world in 2016. After launching in South Korea and the US in 2015, the service became available in China, Australia, Singapore, Spain, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Canada, and more countries. Thailand was expected to join the fun in 2016, but the service was only available as a limited early access test starting October 2016. Now it's officially launching country-wide.
Of the different mobile payment solutions, Samsung Pay may as well be one of the most successful so far at expanding to different countries and implementing new features. After launching in South Korea then quickly following up in the USA (and later Puerto Rico) in 2015, it has come to China, Australia, Brazil, Singapore, and Spain.
Slowly but surely, the creatures are coming. They advance, nation by nation, relentless, refusing to stop until the entire planet is their domain. Hundreds of millions have felt their impact. Politicians and titans of industry are not immune. And even mainstream news outlets are scrambling to find "22 Tips For Catching Pokémon - #12 Will Make You Scream!" Today developer Niantic continues its bid for global mobile gaming domination by expanding Pokémon GO to 15 new markets in Asia, including hundreds of millions of new potential players on iOS and Android.
Google Play Newsstand's paid content has been forging its way around the world, trying to catch up with the various Play entities that preceded it. Today marks its arrival in three new countries in East Asia: Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Before getting Google Play content onto our Android devices, Google has to dot its i's, cross its t's, and shake hands with the right people all over the globe. If a country doesn't have access to certain things in the Play Store yet, chances are Google is still jumping through hoops. After all, the company would love for as many people to use its services as possible.
Google has announced that Google News will soon be available in seven new languages - Romanian, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, and Thai.
Google has announced the expansion of Android One into yet another country. Now residents of Thailand will be able to pick up the i-mobile iQ II for 4,444 TBH (that's about $127). The specs are somewhat modest, but you get the latest and greatest version of Android and updates from Google.
Google's regular expansion of carrier billing, which lets customers charge apps and and other purchases to their next wireless bill, has been mostly focused on Europe for the last year or so. But if you're a customer of the Total Access Communication Public Company Limited of Thailand, better known as "DTAC," you now have the option as well. According to the support page for the Play Store's carrier billing, DTAC joined the list late last night.
Android 4.3 And Updated Camera UI Spotted On A Nexus 4 At Thailand Mobile Expo [Update: Video]
At least some Android enthusiasts were disappointed that version 4.3 wasn't revealed during Google I/O, despite a few leaks prior to the event. But rest
At least some Android enthusiasts were disappointed that version 4.3 wasn't revealed during Google I/O, despite a few leaks prior to the event. But rest assured that Google is hard at work on the next update to Jelly Bean, as at least one XDA Developers forum poster discovered firsthand. "challeen" took the following pictures at the Thailand Mobile Expo 2013, showing a display model Nexus 4 (allegedly) running Android 4.3. He took some candid photos of both the standard "About phone" settings screen, and what appears to be a new camera interface.