Last week, screenshots of an upcoming Play Store redesign leaked, showing off a much cleaner, Material Design inspired design, and today, the update finally started rolling out to users. The update bumps the Play Store to version 4.9.13 and packs a variety of enhancements and changes.
We knew that Google Play carrier billing would be available “in the coming weeks” for Verizon customers when Google confirmed on Twitter earlier this month. Today direct billing is officially rolling out to Verizon users with the new payment option now available form the Google Play store billing page pictured above (via AndroidPolice). Direct carrier billing is already available to most other Android users in the U.S. on AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. No word yet on whether or not Verizon will employ the rumored $25 limit for direct billing.
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We told you last week that Google was readying physical gift cards for Google Play content, and the company made things official today by announcing the cards will roll out to Target, GameStop, and RadioShack retail outlets in the coming weeks. The cards will be available in $10, $25, and $50, and they will initially only be available in the United States at the retailers mentioned above and through Walmart.com later this month.
-Explore millions of songs from top artists, thousands of your favorite movies and TV shows, the world’s largest selection of eBooks, and much more. Play your purchases instantly on the web or on the go — no need for wires or syncing.
-Shop for all the Android apps and games you love with your Google Play gift card. You can even use it to purchase extra levels, add-on packs, and virtual currency.
Shortly after Google switched the name of its content distribution hub from the Android Market to Google Play, the company filed a complaint over the domain name GooglePlay.com. Today, Fusible reported the Whois information for the domain now lists Google:
Despite a ruling not yet being published, part of the Whois information for the name was updated this week and now reflects Google Inc. as the registrant… Google registered several googleplay domain namesin late February through the brand protection company MarkMonitor, but wasn’t able to get its hands on GooglePlay.com at the time since it was already registered… At the time of this story, GooglePlay.com still doesn’t direct users to the official Google Play website.
