Google Play Store

As Samsung works to capture more of the Android gaming market with the release of a new controller, a new analytics study shows Android gaming is on the rise. Apple may be considered the dominant leader in the mobile gaming category and it remains steadily in the driver’s seat, but 2013 indicated the Play Store is moving up fast.

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chUtv1kWIg8]

Cover, a brand new Android lockscreen first showed itself to the world at the tail end of October. The context-aware lockscreen notes which apps you want to use in specific locations and will present them on your lockscreen.

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Play Store gamers take note as Google plans to introduce a whole slew of new game categories to the Play Store in February of next year. The new categories began appearing for developers yesterday, however changes will not take place until the new categories go live for the public next year.

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On the heels of our editorial yesterday asking what is your favorite app of 2013, Google is adding their own selection of the “Best Apps of 2013.” The selection itself is filled with some usual suspects like Wunderlist, theScore or Photo Editor by Aviary. Thankfully, the best apps list also includes my own favorites with Circa and Duolingo.

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As December continues to tick away and as we look back at 2013, I’m about to cleanse my smartphones (plural) and kick out all the apps I haven’t touched in months. There’s little question that this year has been chalk-full of all-star apps and even some duds. It’s tough to narrow down all my favorites of the year especially when you factor in some app updates that made at least one or two of my favorite apps jump from the second or third page right up to my first page of apps.

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If you’ve been looking for a good book these days, Google just made selecting your next novel a little easier with a special Google Books sale. The Cyber Monday deal is good on over 100 bestselling books, with discounts up to 75% off the cover price.

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We’ve already had a glimpse at Google’s Cyber Weekend extravaganza with deals on games, books, music, gadgets, magazines and TV series. However, even with our Cyber Weekend announce post earlier today, a new post with a broken down list of ALL the deals Google is hosting over the weekend was in order. Below you’ll find a list of all the hardware, software, subscription, music and game deals you will find from Goog this weekend. Credit goes to The Verge for compiling the full list but hit the Google Play link below to get your shopping groove on.

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9jA2km9TKM]

Google announced today Chromecast support for the HBO GO app for Android.

This means HBO GO subscribers can now push content from their Android Devices to their Chromecast-connected HDTVs. HBO GO casting is also available from the website from Chrome browser.
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Android Police reports that Samsung is offering a $50 Google Play Store credit to owners of its Galaxy Note 3 phablet.

The good news is that, unlike most promotions, this one appears to apply to existing owners – a welcome unexpected bonus. The bad news is that it’s U.S. only. Full details of how to get your credit below the fold … 
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Look, don’t take this the wrong way as I’m not suggesting buying the Nexus 5 from your carrier of choice is a bad move, except that’s exactly what I’m saying. The thing is, it isn’t even the carriers fault as they are simply passing on their cost of the Nexus 5 purchase from LG/Google directly to you. Sprint and T-Mobile have both confirmed that their cost of the Nexus 5 is $450 indicating that Google is subsidizing their pricing of the Nexus 5 via the Play Store. Just like last year’s Nexus 4. 

Yes, there is an argument to be made that not having to fork over the entire up-front cost is something that could appeal to many potential Nexus 5 buyers. However, in the long run I’d rather see customers saving the extra $100 and putting it toward apps, accessories or paying the electric bill. It’s likely Google is taking the $100 loss in the hopes of pushing customers into the Play Store where they will grab apps, books, movies, magazines and all the other things Google will make a profit on. More Nexus users means more Google Maps and search use, more money, more money…

[Ed. note: If you want to save even more money, T-Mobile still offers a super secret Web only $30/month pre-paid plan (meaning little-no taxes) that works great with your Nexus 5.  You have to scroll to the bottom of T-Mobile’s plans page to find it—->.  It includes unlimited data (throttled at 5GB), unlimited texts and a sparse 100 minutes of talk time.  If you aren’t a talker, you are looking at $360 for a year of unlimited data + $350 for the best Android phone (under $60/month total) out there!]

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Over the past few weeks, everyone has been heavily focused on the forthcoming KitKat update and Nexus 5, but Android Police has obtained screenshots of something that should be rolling out to everyone soon. According to the site, Google is currently in the process of redesigning the Play Store, yet again. The changes will keep up with what Google has been doing to its other apps.

The biggest user-interface change comes with the new slide-out navigation panel, which is commonly referred to as “hamburger-style” navigation. In the current version of the Play Store, all of the options are put into a single menu in the upper right corner. With this Play Store update, the menu options will be reduced to just settings and help, while everything will move to the navigation panel.

• Store home
• My apps, My movies & TV, etc., (varies depending on what section of the Play Store you are in)
• Shop (only appears at certain times)
• My wishlist
• Redeem

As far as release timeframe goes, Android Police expects the update to go live with Android 4.4 at the very minimum, but notes that it may go out earlier. It will compatible with all versions of Android back to Froyo. The blog also notes that the design is a work in progress and may very well change several times before release. 
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The Verge noted that Twitter user Nicolas Gramlich spotted one more change to the redesigned web version of the Play Store: support for Google Glass apps.

Google’s updated Play Store includes mention of Glass, implying that the company’s headset will be managed through the store soon. Users who have linked Glass with their Google account have been seeing the device in the site’s “compatible devices” list when viewing apps … 
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Earlier this week we reported on the XE7 update rolling out to Google Glass, which included features such as a web browser and improved voice actions, but the update also includes a few more unannounced lab features (via SelfScreens). As first noticed by +Andrew Wiggin on Google+, the XE7 update includes evidence of a music player, video player, Glass app store, a volume screen, and more.

The music player appears to be dedicated to showing what’s “Now Playing,” and given the lack of storage on Glass, it seems like it will be able to interface with an external iPhone or Android device. The update also includes a handful of labs features, which are features not yet meant for primetime and for developers to play with.

First off, there’s a labs feature entitled “VIDEO_PLAYER,” though no one has been able to figure out how it works just yet. It could be that it’s simply a way to playback videos taken with the device, but there’s always the chance of Glass being able to stream video from your phone. There is also a new Volume card that simply allows you to change the volume of your device .
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In a blog post on the official Android Developers site, Google has announced a new section on the Play Store dedicated to showcasing some of the best looking Android apps. The keys to having your app featured, according to Google, are smooth transitions, crisp typography, a clear layout, and subtle design touches.

Attention to detail makes an app truly beautiful: transitions are fast and clear, layout and typography are crisp and meaningful, and design touches that delight you in surprising ways are sprinkled throughout. Today, we’re publishing a new Beautiful Design collection on Google Play, which highlights 11 beautiful apps with these kinds of masterfully crafted design details.

Included in the collection are the following apps:

• Pattern – An app for discovering wallpapers
• Pocket – A service that lets you save articles for reading later
• Eye in Sky Weather – A weather app
• Grand St. – A service that aggregates beautifully designed hardware
• Pinterest, Expedia Hotels, Flipboard, New York Times, Timer, and TED
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Live from his D11 interview today (live blog here), Google’s head of Android Sundar Pichai just confirmed the rumors of a stock Android HTC One. The device will officially be launching on Google Play on June 26th, alongside Samsung’s Galaxy S4, for $599. HTC also announced the device on its blog today:

Response to the HTC One has been phenomenal with reviewers praising the gorgeous design and innovative features. We’ve paired the stunning all-metal unibody with innovative HTC Sense features and the result is something truly remarkable. Now, we’re excited to offer HTC fans and admirers alike a new experience on what we think is the best hardware available today.

The stock Android HTC One will come with 32GB, an unlockable bootloader, and will be SIM-unlocked for GSM networks like T-Mobile and AT&T when it goes on sale at the end of next month– the same day as the recently announced stock Galaxy S4. The new stock ‘Nexus experience’ HTC One will initially only be available to users in the US.

You can see how the new Nexus experience HTC One stacks up against the Developer Edition and SIM unlocked version direct from HTC in the comparison chart below:
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Samsung has proven almost effortlessly that the 5-inch smartphone has its place in the hands of the masses as it is on track to selling 10 million handsets in its first month, The Korea Times reports.

The company has plenty of room for sales to exponentially grow upward, possibly past their own already high expectations, as the smartphone that has taken the Android world by storm has yet to actually launch on Verizon in the States.

Verizon seems readily positioned to launch the Galaxy S4 as it announced earlier this week that it plans to sell the Samsung smartphone a week sooner than expected.

Samsung’s co-CEO Shin John-Kyun says the company expects the Galaxy S4 to be the fastest selling smartphone in the company’s history.

“We are confident that we will pass more than 10 million sales of the S4 next week. It is selling much faster than the previous model S3,” Samsung Electronics co-CEO Shin Jong-Kyun told reporters at an industry forum in Seoul, Thursday.

We got our hands on the Galaxy S4 last month for a review and gave it flying colors.
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You can now download at the Play Store with a lot of new features this year: