YouTube and Google Play sign Paramount Pictures licensing agreement to add 500 new movie titles

E. Betters

YouTube announced a new licensing agreement with Paramount Pictures today that will bring 500 new rentable movie titles to its video-sharing platform and Google Play.

“With the addition of Paramount, we now have five of the six major studios and over ten independent movie studios offering nearly 9,000 movies for rent to millions of people around the world,” announced Director of Content Partnerships at YouTube Malik Ducard on the official YouTube blog.

The United States and Canada will have access to the new catalog over the next few weeks. A sampling of Paramount Pictures’ featured movies through Google include “Hugo” for $3.99, “Transformers” for $2.99, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” for $2.99, and “The Godfather” for $2.99.

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Ahead of Google Drive Launch, Dropbox is dropping extra Gigabytes for referrals

Seth Weintraub

According to recent reports, Google’s Drive is coming any day now. Dropbox, not wanting to lose an opportunity to get in under the wire, is doubling its referral bonuses. Instead of the normal 250MB, users can now get 500MB per referral for a maximum of 16GB of free space (both referrer and referee). If you are a pro/paid user, your maximum referral limit is 32GB of free space.

comScore: Android and iOS grab 80 percent US marketshare, Apple passes Motorola

Jordan Kahn

Following Nielsen’s latest survey that showed over 90 percent of United States smartphone buyers are choosing iOS or Android, research firm comScore today released its data of the top smartphone platforms and OEMs in the U.S. The survey included more than 30,000 people over a three-month period ending February 2012. It found Android was up 17 percentage points from a year ago with 50.1-percent of the U.S. smartphone market. In comparison, Apple’s 30.2-percent accounted for an increase of 5 percentage points from the same period a year ago.

According to comScore, Google passed the 50 percent milestone for the first time during February 2012. The numbers represent a 3.2-percentage point increase over previous three-month period for Google, and a 1.5-percentage point increase for Apple.

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Chrome Web Store adds new trending section and better search options

E. Betters

The Chrome Web Store now offers a trending section for the hottest apps and improved methods for finding the perfect extension.

Today’s automatic update allows users to view apps and extensions ranging from “warm” or “on fire” in the new “Trending” view of the Chrome Web Store. App subcategories were also included, such as “Music & Radio” under “Entertainment.”

A screenshot gallery is available below.

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Famed ‘Instagram’ app is now available at Google Play

E. Betters

The widely popular “Instagram” iOS app is now available for Android devices at Google Play.

The iTunes-friendly version showcases 30 million users and holds Apple’s 2011 iPhone App of the Year crown. The Android community patiently waited for a Google variant, and now it can finally propel mobile snapshots to the retro days with snazzy filters and effects.

“Today, we’re excited to bring you Instagram for Android,” announced Instagram on its official blog. “We’ve been meticulous about translating the Instagram experience to the Android platform. The Android app offers an extremely familiar Instagram experience when compared to the iOS app.”

A screenshot gallery is available below. 

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Potential Nexus Tablet image leak looks strikingly similar to iPad 1

E. Betters

The Android rumor mill is quick to debate the authenticity of recently surfaced image leaks (above) that have an albeit-slim “Nexus Tablet” association.

The Android Community (via PocketNow) dissected the rendering and concluded the tablet boasts standard buttons and Ice Cream Sandwich-specific apps on the display, which means the leak is a potential Nexus Tablet rendering.

It also features an ASUS-style tablet port, MicroUSB port, USB port, SIM card slot, and full-sized SD card slot. It is worth mentioning the Android Market icon is visible, even though the Google Play Store replaced it last month.

Reports fail to mention, however, that the slate in question looks uncannily similar to a first-generation Apple iPad (right). With that said, the image leak could easily be fabricated with a few spare Android tablet shots and a copy of Photoshop. Oh, and PocketNow’s absent source attribution begs the question of legitimacy.

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