Hasta La Gadget!

As expected, Google has issued a redesign to the Google Play store, and it’s starting to roll out now to Android smartphones and tablets running Android 2.2 Froyo and higher. Google says that the redesign is much more simple and clean this time around, and the new design also helps users find the things they want in a faster manner.

The new design is more heavily image based than before, which means that content will feature bigger images that “jump off the page,” not only making it appealing to look at, but to also make it easier to spot the content you’re looking for. Themed items are also grouped together, such as magazines, books, apps, games, etc.

Recommended content is definitely not absent from the redesign. Google has made sure that you’ll always see recommended content on the home page. As you scroll down, new recommendations will continue to appear, since “there is always more to see and explore.” However, for someone like me who can’t be bothered with such content, it may only come as a distraction.

However, Google says they simplified the check-out process, making apps, games, books, movies, etc. much quicker and easier to purchase. Google says they want users to start enjoying their purchase as soon as possible, but we can’t ignore the fact that a quicker check-out process is a great way for buyers to think less about putting the item back on the shelf. Android users in the US should see the update at some point today, while international users will get the redesign in the coming weeks.

Google Play rolls out new design and simpler check-out is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google has been rolling out new functionality to quite a few of its services lately, including full-size photo support for Google+, improved auto-complete predictions in Gmail, and data autosync for Chrome for Android, to name a few. Now we’re seeing another update, this time for Google Now. With this update, Android users will find additional Google Now settings in Google Search, including real-time package tracking.

Google Now is the handy service from Google that offers you everything you need right before you need it automatically, available to those running Android Jelly Bean handsets and the Google Search app. It does this via cards, which provide things such as airport and gate information as your flight nears, for example. If you’re not familiar with the service, you can check out our hands-on review of it here.

With today’s Google Search for Android update, which is available from the Play Store now, a couple new features have been added to Now, with perhaps the best update being to the package tracking feature. Once updated, users will be able to track packages in real time from supported carriers if they have a tracking number for the shipment. The card has been updated, as well.

Results are said to be faster with this update, but you’ll have to check that one out for yourself (let us know if you’ve noticed a speed increase in the comments!), and in addition, settings and information can be accessed about cards directly from the card via a small “i” icon, which allows users to, for example, mark the card as something they aren’t interested in to help generate better results in the future.

[via Droid Life]

Google Now gets new features in latest Search update is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Google Play store is no stranger to malware-infested apps or scam related apps, so we can add this one onto its list. According to its research, Symantec states that there are over 200 apps in the Google Play store that scam people into paying money in order to view adult-rated videos. They have discovered that there are at least 50 developers involved in the scam, and their apps have been downloaded at least 5,000 times in the past couple of months.

Symantec states that as of right now, the situation seems to be limited only to Japan, however these apps could easily be released throughout the world. It says that these apps are able to obtain up to $1,000 from just one person. It also states that since these apps have been operating for more than two months, it seems that the scammers are finding the fraudulent operations to be “worth the time and effort”.

These apps require little to no permissions to run. Some apps, at most, require only permissions to access your network. Normally, one-click billing fraud is limited to PC users, however, now that smartphone usage has skyrocketed, scammers are changing platforms. Scammers are also branching out to other methods of fraud as well. The same developers who released the apps with one-click billing fraud have also released fraudulent dating service apps as well.

So here’s a piece of advice that’s common to most of you: Only download apps from trusted developers. Like I said before, this isn’t the first time Google Play has been hit by dangerous apps. Late in 2012, a developer had released dozens of fake apps in the Google Play store that utilized the same names as some very popular apps, such as Temple Run. To further protect yourself, you should install an anti-virus program onto your Android smartphone.

[via Information Week]

Symantec: Over 200 Google Play apps integrated with one-click billing fraud is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google has been rolling out quite a few updates and improvements to the Play Store recently, preparing to make gift cards available in Canada and having launched Google Play Books in Mexico back on March 20th. Now Mexico is seeing another update, this time getting access to Google Play Movies. Android users in India will also be seeing Play Store Movies rolling out.

The announcement was made on the Google Play Store’s Google+ account, where it simply stated that users in Mexico and India can now buy and rent films via Movies in both countries. Users in Mexico have seen quite the content expansion this month, adding movies and TV shows on top of the book catalog they were given access to a little over a week ago, with both local titles and international bestsellers being offered.

Of course, while the expansion is a good thing, it does serve to remind many Android users that they still don’t have access to the content a lot of us enjoy, a source of frustration that many are happily sharing on Google Play’s G+ account. With the changes we’re seeing this month for select international users, however, it is reasonable to assume more content will become available to users in neglected countries as the year presses on.

Speaking of Play Store Movies, earlier today Google added actor info cards to the service, which presently only works on tablets running at least Ice Cream Sandwich. After pausing the movie or TV show, an actor’s face can be tapped to pull up an info card that contains relevant information, such as fun facts and personal details (age, place of birth, etc).

[via Google+]

Google launches Play Store Movies in Mexico and India is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We all hate it when we’re watching a movie or TV show and we can’t put a name with the face. It’s happened to the best of us, but Google has a solution that looks to take the embarrassment out of trying to guess that actor’s/actress’s name. Hot on the heels of Amazon’s expansion of its X-Ray feature, Google has added “info cards” to the Google Play Movies & TV app.

The feature only works on Android tablets running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or higher at the moment, but it allows you to pause the movie or TV show and tap on an actor’s/actress’s face, and an info card will pop up toward the side of the screen providing you fun facts and other information about the celebrity.

The info card display information such as age, place of birth, their character in that specific movie or TV show, and their recent work. You can also scroll through the info cards to learn more about the movie itself and even see the soundtrack so that you can know what that song is playing in the background.

The feature is now available for “hundreds of movies” on the Google Play Movies & TV app, and while the feature only works on tablets, Google says they’re working on bringing it to more devices in the future, as well as implementing it in more movies and providing the feature to more users in other countries.

Google Play Movies adds info cards for actors, actresses is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.