Google - 20/42 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Sep

Google Play Movies Come To Korea – Enjoy Hundreds Of Titles From Korea And Hollywood

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Google, News

One of the most common questions users have regarding Google's various content offerings is "Why isn't it available in [insert any number of countries here]?" Google has been working to change that, offering more and more of the Play Store's non-app content abroad. In that spirit, today it announced that Google Play Movies is now available in Korea (where we saw Eric Schmidt having some Gangnam style fun earlier this week).

We’re adding movies to Google Play in Korea, including films from Korean studios & Hollywood. Get started with Avengers:goo.gl/4Alrd

— Google Play (@Googleplay) September 28, 2012

According to the announcement, Korea's Play Movies includes "hundreds of full-length feature films from some local Korean studios and Hollywood." The post goes on to invite users to start their movie enjoyment with The Avengers.

Sep

Google Play Services Can Now Be Installed Manually From The Play Store

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, Google, News

Just after initially unveiling Google Play Services, Google has made the APK installable directly from the Play Store.

For those who missed the announcement, Google Play Services is an APK rolling out automatically to devices running Android 2.2+ that will allow Android apps to easily integrate with Google services like Google+. At present, the app (which is in version 1.0 "Asiago") includes components and relevant client APIs for OAuth 2.0 authentication, Google+ sign-in, and Google+ +1 buttons. Google assures users that "we anticipate more Google services to be continuously added, so be on the lookout for these updates."

The Google Play Services app began rolling out through the Play Store automatically, primarily in order to keep updates to the service independent of carrier or OEM updates.

Sep

Google Maps Updated To Version 6.12 With Desktop Syncing And History Across Connected Devices

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Google, News

We've all been there: you looked up the directions to the restaurant at home, and forgot them while you sat at work. Now your significant other is somewhat miffed because you're half an hour late, so you search for the address on your phone... and can't remember the French name with all the extra punctuation. Google's got your back: the latest version of Google Maps for Android remembers the searches you've made on the Google Maps website, and brings them up as you begin to type. Magnifique!

You'll also have access to your Maps search history, as well as a list of the places for which you've requested directions and/or navigation.

Sep

Google Acquires Nik Software, Maker Of The Incredible Snapseed Photo Editing App

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

It's almost become trite to hear that Google has bought another company that deals in photo editing software. Yet, here we are again. Today, Vic Gundotra announced on Google+ that Nik Software, creators of the impressive Snapseed app that we saw demoed at CES this year, will be joining the Mountain View team.

While there's no indication yet just which Google product will see the benefit of this new talent, it can only mean good news. When Google purchased web-based editor Picnik, for example, the app ended up being built right into Google+. Even if it remains fairly well hidden.

Sep

Google On Acer's Canceled Phone Launch: 'Non-Compatible Versions Of Android, Like Aliyun, Weaken The Ecosystem'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Acer, Android OS, Google, News

Last night, we reported on some pretty strange rumors concerning an Acer product launch set to take place Thursday in Shanghai. The rumor was that Google had put its foot down over Acer's announcement of an Aliyun-powered smartphone, and threatened to "terminate all android-related cooperation" with the Taiwanese manufacturer should it proceed with the CloudMobile A800's introduction.

In case you missed the story, Aliyun is an OS developed by Alibaba Group, China's largest Internet firm by transactions. The OS, while not explicitly marked as an Android fork, is pretty closely related to the original platform. The OS boasts a reliance on cloud storage, and can even run Android apps using a "virtual machine."

Today, looking to clear the air, Google released a statement on the issue, indicating that yes, the search giant had put its foot down.

Sep

Acer Reportedly Cancels Announcement Of Aliyun-Powered Smartphone Following Google Warning, Says Alibaba

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Acer, Android OS, Google, News, Rumors

Earlier this evening, Nasdaq reported that Taiwanese manufacturer Acer decided to cancel a press conference scheduled for Thursday, which would have seen the announcement of Acer's CloudMobile A800.

The smartphone, which would have been unveiled in Shanghai, was set to run on Aliyun, a mobile OS developed by a Chinese Internet firm called Alibaba Group, the largest internet firm in China by transactions. Acer indicated that the press conference was canceled after Google, according to Nasdaq, "expressed concerns about the smartphone."

An anonymous official at Acer commented that "Acer will continue to communicate with Google and the company still wants to launch the new smartphone based on Alibaba software."

Sep

Google Maps With Navigation Arrives In Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan And More MENA Countries

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News, Videos

Last Updated: March 12th, 2013

While we still wait for newer products like Play Movies or Play Books to reach a wider audience, Google's been hard at work bringing a slightly more useful product to additional countries: Google Maps with Navigation. After bringing voice navigation to India, nine more new countries are being added to the supported list for the Navigation beta. Including the following:

Egypt
United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
Kuwait
Lebanon
Bahrain
Jordan
Algeria

Unfortunately, the service will require Android 4.0 or higher. This is likely due to Arabic script API incompatibilities with older versions. Though, it's a little unclear on just when all the necessary features would've been added (for example, bi-directional text was only added in Jelly Bean).

Sep

Google Wallet Is Discontinuing The Google Prepaid Card, You Have Until October 17th 2012 To Use Remaining Balance

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

Well, that just came right the flip out of nowhere. Google just sent out an email informing Google Wallet users that, as of September 17th, you will no longer be able to add funds to your Google Prepaid Card. After that, you have one month to spend any remaining balance, before it's no longer available. You can still receive a refund for the balance here, though, so Google's not just stealing your money. You will have to wait about 8 weeks to receive a refund, though. Also, refunds won't actually start until October 17th.

The search giant explains that this move is happening because you can now add any debit or credit card to Google Wallet.

Sep

Google Drive Update For Android Brings Improved Presentation Viewing, Basic Table Support In Docs, And More

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, Google, News

Before I get your hopes up, no they haven't improved spreadsheets yet. However, that is on the way. What is arriving now, though, is the ability to add comments to your documents, view tables, and improved Google presentations viewing support. You'll even get speaker notes and the ability to swipe between slides.

There are more features on their way. Here at Android Police HQ, we've been eagerly awaiting proper spreadsheet editing (which is currently horrible to an unusable degree), and Google has seen fit to name check that very feature in its "More to come..." section. Hopefully it won't be too much longer, and we'll finally be able to see the results of that Quickoffice purchase.

Sep

Google Wins Multi-User Face Unlock Patent, Further Teases Our Multi-User Dreams

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Google, News

Today it was learned, through a US Patent and Trademark Office filing, that Google has been granted a patent concerning the logging in of multiple users by facial recognition.

Typically, the granting of yet another tech patent wouldn't be extraordinarily interesting news. But given the fact that Google's latest patent relates to multiple user support, and the fact that code meant for multiple user support has been sitting right under our noses in AOSP for some time now, patent number 8,261,090 is definitely worth discussing.

Without quoting the entire 17,000 word filing, patent '090 essentially covers methods that allow a "computing device" to recognize one or more users' identities based on facial recognition, and then give them access to resources specifically assigned to them.