Google's Play to open a new revenue stream: paid content
Google Play is the company's attempt to link all of its content under a single banner, replacing the formerly separate Android Market, Google Music, Google Books and its video offerings. The company is trying to move away from revenue based solely on advertising, but has previously had problems getting people to pay for content on Android.
Mobile
Google Play accepting paid app submissions from four new seller countries
Google Play has expanded its market reach to four new countries, opening its doors to app developers in the Czech Republic, Israel, Mexico, and Poland. With today's announcement, developers in these four countries will now be able to sell their apps and in-app products on Google's freshly rebranded platform. Once they've created a Google Play developer account, users will be able to upload their apps and price them in any available currency, while receiving payments to their own local bank...
Google adds Play Store to the top navigation bar
You may have noticed an addition to the black navigation bar that runs along the top of most Google products in your browser — a link to the Google Play Store, helpfully labeled "New" in red block capitals. Google Play now has pride of place in between Maps and YouTube, signaling its importance to the company over services relegated to a drop-down menu like Translate and Reader. Will increased visibility for Google's newly unified store solve the issues it has with getting people to pay for...
Android
Google Play bug causes false Russian email app update to appear on some Samsung Android devices (updated)
A strange event today has a lot of Samsung Android owners rightfully worried about malware on the Android Market. We've received a raft of tips from users who have discovered an app titled "МТС Мобильная Почта" (MTC Mobile Mail) on their Samsung devices, an app they never installed and are finding it difficult to uninstall.
As near as we can tell, the issue appears to be this: Samsung has several pieces of software that it installs on it devices but that aren't in the Google...
Android
The Google Play problem: paying for 'Angry Birds' with battery life instead of money
Earlier this week, a report came out showing that some apps on Android use more than twice the power they actually need because they're running ads. Angry Birds in particular was called out, with 70 percent of its power draw dedicated to uploading information and downloading ads. That stark fact may be part of the reason why Angry Birds Space, which was released yesterday, has both a free and a $.99 "premium" version in Google Play.
Although it might not be entirely fair to single out Angry...
Android
Google Play may get movie purchases, says CNET
When Google debuted its massive Google Play rebranding of its app and media stores, one thing that was still missing was the ability to purchase movies — but that may be about to change. CNET reports that Google is considering adding the feature due to pressure from its content partners. Hollywood studios are said to be tying Google's continued ability to rent titles to the addition of purchases, which obviously come in at a higher price point — with more profit — than rentals alone....
Android
Google Music has daily streaming limit, but most users won't ever reach it
It turns out that Google's music service — now a part of Google Play — has a limit for how many songs you can stream each day, though for most users it's not something they'll ever have to deal with. The issue recently came to light when a Droid Life reader received a message saying that they had exceeded their streaming limit. Unfortunately, Google's support page didn't provide anything in the way of details about what that limit was. We reached out Google to see what was going on, and...
Android
Google Play Android app updated with sortable reviews
The (recently-renamed) Google Play store app has received an update that brings some of the review sorting abilities that were introduced in the web app back in December. Thankfully, each review now says which device the reviewer was using, so you won't have to count on them writing that info in themselves anymore. With the update the reviews screen also gives you the option of only viewing comments from those on the latest version of the app or those using the same phone as you, and you can...
Mobile
Google Play update appears to fix broken Market links on Motorola devices
That was quick. Yesterday we reported that Google's Play rebrand of the Android Market may have inadvertently broke the Market shortcut links on some Motorola devices. Now it appears that a new update to Play (version 3.4.7) makes everything work the way it's supposed to again. We can confirm that our RAZR Maxx and Droid X2 — the former of which Droid Life originally confirmed as having the problem — are both running Play Store 3.4.7, and the Market links on both redirect properly to the...
Android
Google forcing Android developers to use Google Wallet for in-app payments, Reuters says (Google: same policy as before)
Reuters is reporting this afternoon that at least some developers of applications in Google Play (née Android Market) are being forced to use Google Wallet (which now encompasses Google Checkout's functionality) exclusively — as opposed to competing services like PayPal — for in-app payments on threat of removal from the store. Papaya Mobile is cited as an example: "They told people that if they used other payment services they would be breaking the terms of use," CEO Si Shen says. R...
Mobile
Google Play update breaks Market links on some Motorola devices
Google's switch from Android Market to Google Play is causing the links built into Motorola's Blur skin to short circuit on at least some of the company's devices, reports Droid Life. It looks like when you tap links to the Market on an updated device, Blur will try to launch the Android Market app, and won't realize that it's really looking for Play. The end result is an irksome "Application is not installed on your device" warning whenever you tap the link. There's good news for those with...
Apps & Software
Google Play to get magazines and audiobooks?
Google Play is the company's attempt to unify its myriad content offerings under a single banner, and further additions to the service could be on the way. The Help page for Google Play has empty sections for "Audio books" and "Magazines and journals", suggesting they may well be added to the Play store soon. Such a move would help bolster Play's credentials as a robust alternative to iTunes, which features audiobook downloads and support for magazine subscriptions through Newsstand.
Of...
Web & Social
Hello, Google Play: Google launches sweeping revamp of app, book, music, and video stores
Google is taking a big new step in bringing all of its content arms under one roof — and that new entity is called Google Play. Starting today, Google will begin a rebranding of the Android Market, Google Music, Google Books, and its video offerings. Until now, all of those content hubs had more or less resided under the banner of the Android Market, and it seems like the company is interested in making users understand those disparate pockets of content as a unified whole. A company...
