Play Store: What it Is, Latest News on Google Android

The people at AndroidPit were really right when they thought my blog readers would be interested in knowing more about their resources for Android users.
The posts about Android have been super popular so first I’ll share about Play Store and then at the bottom I’ll link to the other posts about Android you may want to see.
Play Store is the new name for the official Google Android App Store that used to be called Android Market. In typical Google fashion, they changed the name and confused everyone. Why DO they do that?
Now people don’t know what to call the official Google Android Store or where to find it. They’re asking on Twitter and in forums.

On Twitter I’m seeing tweets about Google Play instead
of Play Store and buzz that people hate the new name.

Since AndroidPit appears to have all the apps and great reviews, if you need an Android App you could just use their site instead:

Just click the image above to visit AndroidPit or read these other posts about the benefits of using their site:
Disclosure: AndroidPit has compensated me for my time in reviewing their site and providing information about what they have to offer my readers.
Tagged as: android, android apps, gadgets, play store, smartphones

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[UPDATE 4] Ebuyer & Google dispatching Nexus 7 tablet

We’ve just received word from Ebuyer that the new Nexus 7 tablet will be ‘Out for Delivery’ tomorrow – the first that we’ve heard from any major retailer about a definite release date.  Assuming that Ebuyer stick to this (and Google don’t stop them from delivering the tablet), then a few of the CoolSmartPhone team should have their mitts on the device sometime soon.
We covered the Nexus 7 launch and aftermath here on CoolSmartPhone – click here to view our posts on the subject.

As of yet we haven’t heard  from any other retailers (including Google, as you can see from the screenshot above –  taken at the time of writing) about release dates – do you think they will release the tablet tomorrow or are Ebuyer jumping the gun? Let us know in the comments.
Update 12/07/12 17:58- A member of the Google support team has told us that no retailers are authorised to ship and that the Google orders are at the pre-shipping stage, meaning that the Google accounts are being loaded onto the device and then it will be shipped. The actual shipment will happen within the next day or two. We don’t know yet if this impacts on the previously-confirmed Ebuyer shipments tomorrow – more as we have it.
Update 2 12/07/12 22:27 - Ebuyer have confirmed the dispatch of Nexus 7 devices to several of the CoolSmartPhone staff. Still no word from anyone (other than Google) on when they will be fulfilling their pre-orders. Again, as soon as we hear more we will update this post!
Update 3 13/07/12 8:25 -

As you can see from the photo above, our very own Ravi Patel has received his Nexus 7 from Ebuyer.
Update 4 13/07/12 19:15 -

Google have updated their Pre-order information page to state that they have begun shipping the tablet to the first pre-order customers.

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Google+ Comes To The iPad

Yes folks, now you can Hangout with your friends and catch up on your streams on the iPad. Google have released an update for the iOS Google+ app which is now optimised for the popular Apple tablet and it includes Retina Support.
With Full iPad support, you can start or join hangouts, include video with up to 9 friends, add Instant Upload photos to your posts and create or view Google+ events + more.
I’m not a huge user of Social sites and I’ve been saying to friends that I need to start. Add me to your circles to help get me going and don’t forget, we have a fast growing forum where you could also join in the discussions. Our Forum

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Android.Dropdialer Identified on Google Play

Norton by Symantec have drawn our attention to the fact that they have identified a new malware posted to the official Google Play market.
Masquerading as two popular games titles, Super Mario Bros and GTA 3 Moscow City, they were posted to Google Play on June 24 and since then have generated in the range of 50,000  to 100,000 downloads.
Symantec say:

What is most interesting about this Trojan is the fact that the threat managed to stay on Google Play for such a long time, clocking up some serious download figures before being discovered. Our suspicion is that this was probably due to the remote payload employed by this Trojan.
In the case of Android.Dropdialer, the first stage was posted on Google Play. Once installed, it would download an additional package, hosted on Dropbox, called ‘Activator.apk’.
This additional package sends SMS messages to a premium-rate number. An interesting feature of the secondary payload is that it prompts to uninstall itself after sending out the premium SMS messages—an obvious attempt at hiding the true intent of the malicious app. The premium SMS is targeting Eastern Europe.

This discovery highlights the real need for a decent security package on your handset, with the growing popularity of the Android OS and the openness of the market threats such as this are becoming ever more prominent.
For full information see the blog post here.
Many thanks to Symantec for the heads up.

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Google Input Method: The New Translation Tool

Translations for words that convey the same tone and feeling aren’t always easy to achieve. Even translation tools such as a dictionary can’t give results to certain words, especially in regional lingo. If you’re lucky to get a result, the definition might fail to evoke the feeling you wanted.
It can be difficult for others to understand what a word means even if translation is possible at times. Google Input Method is offering a solution to translation and making it more effective to communicate across language barriers.
Translation is no longer a difficult task with Google Input Method. It studies the sound of a word rather than giving a direct answer.
First, you choose one of the 22 languages offered then a virtual keyboard for the region of the language you selected appears.
For example, if you chose to write in Russian then a virtual keyboard that matches it would come up.

The keyboard allows you to write in the foreign language
and it’s easier to find solutions to untranslatable words.

Google Input Method works by changing words from one language to another. The program performs by changing the sound of words you type from one alphabet to the other.
The word keeps the same definition but Google Input Method finds a word that conveys the same sound to it.
In this week’s episode of “The Future of Engagement,” Murray Newlands introduces you to Google Input Method and how you can use it.
Highlights:
Google Input Method takes translation to a new level by matching words with another region’s alphabet.The program allows you to translate in 22 languages.Find matches to words that were once untranslatable.
Click this link for a free white paper on social media monitoring.
Tagged as: google input, google input method, google translation, translation

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Google I/O: Google Confirm Nexus 7 Tablet

Google have today confirmed the new Nexus tablet manufactured in conjunction with Asus.
Called Nexus 7 and running Android 4.1 Jellybean, the display is 1280×800 HD, a Tegra 3 Quad Core CPU and a 12 Core GPU, Front facing camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, with 9 hours video playback time and 300 hours standby time and weighs only 340g.
The device is designed around the Google Play experience.

The Nexus 7 is the first device to ship with Chrome as the standard browser and an updated version of Google Maps.
The Nexus 7 will be available in the UK, US, Canada and Australia and will retail at £159 for the 8GB version and £199 for the 16GB version. Pre-orders are now being taken on Google Play.

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Google Maps (and many other apps) updated. Offline Maps are go!

Check into the Google Play store this morning and you’ll find a whole heap of updates from Google. Apps inluding Chrome, Google Play Books, Google+, Google Earth have been updated and Google Maps now has an “Offline Mode”.
What is this? Well, remember years ago when we used TomTom to navigate the roads and we never had to worry about data usage? That’s effectively what you have here. Before you set off, hook into your home WiFi, choose a town, city or area and then click “Make available offline”. Google Maps will then download everything it needs for that area and, whether you’re sat on the tube or in a field with no signal, you can browse around the maps and streets you downloaded.
To test things out I chose London – it’s a 6.6MB download for the area I selected. I then switched to “Flight Mode” and browsed the map I’d cached. It allows you to zoom right into the streets and lanes of London, although don’t go expecting “Street View” because that really WOULD be a massive download.
Give it a try yourself – it could save you a considerable amount of data use, so saving you money ! :)
More screenshots below. The last screenshot shows me browsing the cached London streets whilst in “Airplane mode” (don’t get me started on the fact that it should be called “Aeroplane mode”… :)

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Larry Page Is Destroying Google

Mar 15 2012   6:54AM GMT
Posted by: EdFrmBrighthand
Google
I realize the title of this post sounds melodramatic, but the sentiment behind it isn’t my own. It comes from James Whittaker, formerly the Engineering Director at Google. Whittaker says that, since Larry Page took over as Google CEO, the focus of the company has moved from making great products to making money at the expense of everything else.
Whittaker, who is now Partner Development Manager at Microsoft, says that when Eric Schmidt was running the company, revenue generating by Google’s ad business was used to create innovative products, like Android and Gmail. “Google was an ad company only in the sense that a good TV show is an ad company: having great content attracts advertisers,” wrote Whittaker in a blog post.
The former Google exec says the change came with the rise of Facebook. Because this is a social-networking service, it can provide advertisers with immense amounts of information about the interests of consumers, something Google couldn’t do. This apparently spooked the company to the point where Larry Page was brought back to chart a new course, which could be summed up as doing everything possible to gather data about users, allowing Google  to compete better with Facebook in advertising.
The most obvious example of this was the launch of Google+, a social networking service designed to go toe-to-toe with Facebook. Whittaker says that, in addition, many previous company offerings were reworked to gather user data, including the Android OS. Anything that didn’t directly contribute to that goal was canceled, like Google Labs.
“The days of old Google hiring smart people and empowering them to invent the future was gone. The new Google knew beyond doubt what the future should look like. Employees had gotten it wrong and corporate intervention would set it right again,” said Whittaker.
So far, that isn’t how things have worked out. Google+ still has a tiny percentage of users compared to Facebook. And recent moves by the company have made many people nervous, especially as they have made clear that Google is gathering as much information about them as possible.
Whittaker summed up his thoughts with, “The Google I was passionate about was a technology company that empowered its employees to innovate. The Google I left was an advertising company with a single corporate-mandated focus.”
My 2 CentsI decided to turn Whittaker’s comments into a blog post because they are the best explanation I have seen for what what happened to turn Google from a company that many people (including me) loved into something many people (including me) view with suspicion.
Famously, Google’s main policy used to be “Do no evil.” Now it seems that has been replaced by “Do whatever it takes to make as much money as possible.”
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