Google recently made some behind the scenes changes to Google+ and today the company gave its social media platform’s Android app a cosmetic overhaul, aligning it with its new Material Design gospel. The revamped software features a flat layout with bright almost Kool-Aid red accents that really pop.
Nokia recently revealed plans to bring an Android-friendly version of its HERE Maps app to licensed partners, starting with Samsung, however a preview version of the software has recently hit the web and it appears to be working with handsets running Ice Cream Sandwich or higher. Reports are claiming that the application is fully functional, with HERE’s hallmark features remaining intact.
The online blogging and content creation platform Squarespace launched two new apps for Android this afternoon. Starting today, Squarespace Note and Squarespace Note are both available on the Play Store. For those unfamiliar, Squarespace is a service that features website building, hosting, and blogging capabilities for a monthly fee.
Google today unveiled The Physical Web, a project that will allow anyone to walk up to a smart device and use it without downloading an app. Google UX designer Scott Jenson published details on what he described as “an open web spec to “Walk up and use anything.” Jenson says “The Physical web isn’t about replacing native apps, it’s about allowing interaction for the times when native apps just aren’t practical.”
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Google announced today that it’s introducing some new features for its Hangouts video calling service with some nice improvements specifically for Google Apps for Work customers. First up, Google is adding the ability for Google Apps for Work users to invite anyone with a Google account to join a Hangouts meeting through a URL.
That includes either a work or personal Google account, but does have some restrictions that Google outlines here. Google notes that “Uninvited guests can join only from a web browser” and “Joining from a mobile device is not currently supported.” Previously Google required users joining a meeting to have a Google apps account.
In addition, Google is rolling out other improvements for all Hangouts users today including new features for screensharing when presenting to a large group and improved ambient noise filters:
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Roku, makers of the popular streaming set-top box for watching online content on your TV, announced today support for enabling screen mirroring from select Android devices to your HDTV with a new beta rolling out to customers today. Support for screen mirroring to Roku devices will also extend to select Windows 8.1 devices, the company says. Screen mirroring allows users to view content like apps, photos, games, and the web from mobile devices to the big screen screen in the living room.
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Google announced today that it’s rolling out a new design for its Google Play Newsstand app, which it released earlier this year as a replacement for its Currents newsreader app. Google says the new design makes some big improvements to readability for magazines and other content through the app, especially on smaller screens:
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Kamcord, the mobile gameplay recording platform that offers developers an easy way to implement cross-platform gameplay recording and sharing features, is today announcing its next big push in mobile gaming: competitions.
The company realized that its SDK provides a lot of unique opportunities for app developers interested in hosting competitions or tournament-style contests, so it’s now working with some to host competitive gaming events in their apps. First up: SEGA.
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After several requests, Dropbox for Android users can now export files to their device’s SD card. This new feature will help keep important items like documents and photos accessible whenever offline or switching from one device to another.
Spotify announced today that it’s finally expanding into Canada giving Canucks access to the music streaming service that was previously available in the UK, US and a long list of other European and South American countries.
The official announcement comes from Spotify’s blog following a beta period in the country in which the company invited select users to sign-up and try out the service.
Canadians that download the Spotify app will be able to access the service’s usual “fully licensed free tier.” That includes the ability to “shuffle play on mobile or play any song on tablet or desktop,” but users can also pay $10 CAD per month for the unlimited, on-demand experience with the highest quality audio and no ads.
A full list of countries that Spotify is currently available in is here.
Today, TiVo announced an update for its Android app that adds streaming support for live and recorded TV shows. This brings the Android application up to speed with its iOS counterpart, which received this functionality nearly a year ago. Compatible with most mobile gadgets running Jelly Bean or later, this software won’t work with Intel’s chips.
Microsoft updated OneDrive for Android today with some new features that change the way users view photos saved to the company’s cloud storage service. Bringing the app up to speed with its counterparts, the software maker added All Photos View to its mobile application, along with some new search features that make it easier for business customers to locate specific files.
Waze, the maps and navigation app acquired by Google last year, today gets an update that introduces a few new features to help improve navigation through user feedback.
First up, the app will now automatically remember and save where you park when using it to navigate to your destination: ”Your parking location will be saved automatically. Plus, you’ll help Waze learn where to find parking & how much time to account.”
Other new features included in today’s version 3.9 update: the ability to “easily add or edit places, business or residential” as well options for adding arrival photos and driving info for specific destinations. In addition, the update adds search autocomplete worldwide for all users.
The Waze app is available now on Google Play for Android devices.
The MLB.com At Bat app was updated today alongside a couple notable announcements including the league’s plan to live stream every World Series game and select Postseason games to all of its MLB.TV Premium subscribers through the app. The 2014 World Series is set to kick off on October 21.
The release notes add that the app will now also offer “Live Postseason coverage for every game through the 2014 World Series” and a Postseason.TV feature with “Live companion coverage featuring up to 10 alternate camera angles for the AL Wild Card, AL Division Series and AL Championship Series (TBS broadcasts only).”
The update MLB.com At Bat app is available Google Play for Android smartphones and tablets now. Regular $129 for the full year, an MLB.TV Premium subscription is available to purchase now for $3.99 for the remainder of the season, World Series, and postseason.
Vine for Android received an update today that introduces a handful of new editing features to the quick video sharing software. You can now import existing videos from your phone, as well as preview clips of any length and pare them down to six seconds or less. There’s also an undo last recording option, along with a flashlight mode that can be used to capture video in dark settings.
Google has updated the Play Store Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA) with a few notable changes that developers will likely want to pay attention to (via Android Police). First on the list, developers are now required to respond to customer service requests for paid apps and in-app purchases within 3 days.
For paid Products or in-app transactions, you must respond to customer support inquiries within three (3) business days, and within 24 hours to any support or Product concerns stated to be urgent by Google. Failure to provide adequate information or support for your Products may result in low Product ratings, less prominent product exposure, low sales, billing disputes, or removal from the Store.
Secondly, a huge change to how European VAT is handled is definitely going to make developers’ lives much easier. While developers have long been expected to handle the VAT tax for EU sales, Google is going to take over this task as of January 1st, 2015. Determining, charging, and remitting this tax is going to all be up to the fine folks in Mountain View.
Where Google, the Payment Processor or the Authorized Carrier is required by applicable (local) legislation to determine, apply and pay the applicable tax rate, Google, the Payment Processor or the Authorized Carrier (and not Developer) will be responsible for applying and collecting and remitting the taxes to the appropriate taxing authority. If Google collects and remits value added taxes on customer payments (where required of Google by applicable local law) and this remittance fulfils the applicable requirements for value added taxes on those customer payments, such taxes will not be passed on to Developer by Google. Where Google is required to collect and remit taxes as described in this section, Developer and Google will recognise a supply from Developer to Google for tax purposes, and developer will comply with the relevant tax obligations arising from this additional supply.
Google’s augmented reality game Ingress started out as a closed beta title, way back in 2012. Now officially up and running, the game has been downloaded by over 7 million players in the past year. In an effort to keep things fresh, the game’s developer Niantic Labs added a new feature to the title today that lets its community members create their own missions to challenge other players.
Google announced today that it’s rolling out an updated version of its Google Drive interface on the web for mobile devices. That means if you visit Google Drive from a browser on your device (instead of using the native Google Drive apps), you’ll now arrive at a refreshed user interface specifically optimized for the web on smartphones and tablets. Google still recommends you go with its native Drive apps, but if you have to visit the mobile version, you’ll now have a much improved experience.
Starting today, you’ll find a much improved mobile web version of Drive that’s faster and easier to use. The apps are still the most optimized experience, but if you find that isn’t an option, the mobile web will do the job better than ever.
The new UI is rolling out starting today and should become available to all in the coming days at http://drive.google.com.
Google is investigating an issue for a number of Google Drive users this morning after rolling out an updated UI for the service earlier this year. Google confirmed the problem on its app status website noting that users on the old Google Drive interface are unable to share documents externally.
Google is marking the issue as a service disruption, which means you should still be able to access all of the service’s other features while it looks for a fix. While the new user interface is being rolled out to users already, users still on the old UI have the ability to manually opt-in to the updated Google Drive.
Today, Google announced an update for its search app for Android that adds airfare price drop alerts to your list of Now cards. Currently, only available in the US, this new feature likely monitors flights that you’ve been searching for and notifies you when a price drop has occurred.
Following the renaming of its Google Currents news reader app to “Google Play Newsstand” on Android back in February, Google has now given a similar treatment to the iOS app. The app, like the Android version earlier this year, also receives a makeover in the process with a streamlined design and new features:
What’s new
• New navigation helping you easily access the articles and editions you love including:
– Read Now – Easily access articles you subscribe to and discover new articles and editions all in one place
– Topics – Subscribe and get news from topics you are most interested in
– My Library – All of your subscriptions will be found here
• A brand new design giving you a streamlined news reading experience
The Google Play Newsstand app is available for free for iPhone and iPad on the App Store now.
AndroidPolice points us to a new app called UnleashTheGoogle from developer Zhuowei Zhang (requires root access) that allows users to manually enable experimental Google Now cards and other interesting features not yet available publicly to Android users.
In addition to turning on experimental Google Now cards like Flight Price Monitor, Artworks Nearby, and Election Information, the app includes the ability to enable a number of other Google Now related API actions and access debug options and confirmation flags.
The app is available to download directly here and the developer has provided the source code on GitHub.
While Apple promised when it acquired the company that it would continue offering the Beats Music streaming service on Android and Windows in addition to iOS, the fait of the service is now uncertain. According to a report from TechCrunch, Apple plans to shut down the Beats Music streaming service it recently acquired through its acquisition of Beats. The report cites several sources close to the situation including “several prominent employees at Apple and Beats.”
Update: Apple tells Re/code that the streaming service is not shutting down. However, Re/code says that the branding could be altered at some point in the future.
Google will soon list a price-range for in-app purchases on items in Google Play. Hopefully this new policy will help reduce the number of misrepresented software lurking in the Play Store. In some cases apps, especially games are listed as free, but later reveal subscription fees and pricey in-game items that can be purchased with real world cash.
