Tag: google

The Google Play update brings it closer to Apple

| March 18, 2015

The latest update of the app market for Android users lets users approach the iTunes experience.

Google Play has recently released a new update that many believe will help it to close the gap between itself and iTunes, especially since Apple has been recovering from a few blunders in their own App Store over the past few months.

Developers were paid a total of $7 billion over the span of 2014 in order to improve the Android marketplace.

This, according to a report from the Financial Times. Though that amount is notably less than the reported $25 billion that Apple paid its developers, it is still a considerable figure. This is particularly important as the results that Apple has been seeing have remained the same from June through the close of last year. Still, it paid $10 billion more than it usually would have, during that time, so it is expected that those developers will be seeing their earnings sliding downward. Conversely, Google Play developers will be watching their earnings increase.

For Android developers, this change in direction for Google Play should be seen as very positive news.

Google Play UpdateIt also means, according to many, that it appears that the gap that has existed between these two largest stores is now closing up. The latest update for the Android store is quite s clear indication of that. For people who use Android 2.3 and up, the Play 5.3.5 version of the app is now available. This represents the majority of users of Android devices. It now offers a range of different functions to its users, which includes the expansion of the various notification options that are available within the settings. It is also now possible to choose whether or not the notifications for an app will be displayed.

The music store at Google has also released an update, which has aligned its appearance much more closely with the Play Store. There is now a home screen search function. That said, this specific update will be available only to those with a version of Android Kit Kat or newer.

Fortunately for those who can’t access it, the majority of the changes are in the design of the experience, so that it more closely resembles that of Google Play. The majority of the actual functionality has not been changed.

Google wireless services will be exclusively for Nexus 6

| March 13, 2015

The company is expected to begin with these services on a small scale within the month of March.

The small sized Google wireless services are expected to begin before this month comes to a close, but it has also been revealed that, at least at the beginning, the only mobile devices that will be compatible with it will be the company’s own Nexus 6 smartphone.

The company has officially confirmed that it is looking into this type of offering of a wireless service.

Confirmation of the Google wireless plans came from Sundar Pichai, the senior vice president of Android, Chrome, and Google Apps. He stated that they are focused on bringing connectivity together with both hardware and software. In Barcelona, at the Mobile World Congress, Pichai’s keynote speech explained that “I think we’re at the stage where we need to think of hardware, software, and connectivity together.”

The first mention of the Google wireless business was made back in January and it should link smartphones to WiFi cellular.

Google Wireless - ExclusiveThe service will be based on connecting the Nexus 6 mobile devices to a WiFi cellular network. While the internet giant did say that it intends to add the service availability to a broader spectrum of different mobile devices in the future, the launch of the wireless plans will be exclusively for the smartphone that is manufactured by its Motorola Mobility.

Although it is believed that this mobile technology service will become available before the end of this month, it will be available in early April, at the latest. That said, the company is very well known for waiting until the last moment before they make any true announcements with regards to their products. As they have already made it clear that this one is on the way, it may be safe to assume that Google doesn’t expect it to be very long, at all, before it will be putting getting things started.

It has yet to be explained exactly why it has decided to choose only Nexus 6 for the launch of the Google wireless service. That said, it is only that specific model of the smartphone that will be compatible. Not even the Nexus 5, which had been created by LG, will be able to connect, at first launch.