Hasta La Gadget!

To put things in a nutshell, gift cards make for perfect last minute gifts when you are all out of time and ideas. After all, it is somewhat close to giving cold, hard cash to the recipient, except that gift cards can only be spent at the store where the gift card is affiliated to. Word has it that Google is working on the latest v3.8.15 update to the Play Store app, where alongside a bunch of minor user interface changes, there are whispers of Play Store gift cards being implemented in the future after some of the more curious folk out there decided to dissect the APK file.

Right now, the gift cards will not be able to be used as they remain inaccessible to the user, but the future will see you being able to enter a gift card code while redeeming the amount on content that you would specifically like. Not only that, Google has also introduced a balance amount in your account when they began to be generous with a $25 payout for each Nexus 7 buyer so that they can blow this on the Play Store.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Get your Google I/O 2012 Conference Companion App from the Play Store, Google files patent for microphone/speaker orientation,

Two major updates later (three if you count the tablet-exclusive Honeycomb), and Gingerbread is finally starting to falter. According to Google’s latest two week survey of devices accessing the Play store, Ice Cream Sandwich is on the rise, filling out 15.9-percent of the Android user base. That’s a full five points ahead of Android 4.0’s July score, and it’s eating into the OS’ other flavors: Gingerbread (Android 2.3) dropped by 3.4-percent, Froyo (Android 2.2) by 1.8 and Eclair (Android 2.1) by a meager half a percent. Google’s latest confectionery update, Jelly Bean (Android 4.1), made an appearance as well, eking out a shy 0.8-percent of the market. Check out Google’s collection of charts for yourself at the source link below or let us know where your devices falls in the comments.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software

Ice Cream Sandwich takes a bite out of Gingerbread, represents 15.9 percent of Android devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 22:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And just like that it’s back. Following a yesterday’s temporary stay of the ban on Google’s HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus by Judge Koh, the soon-to-be Jelly Bean-loaded device is again up for sale at the Play store — and a bit earlier than expected. If you’ll recall, Google notes that Android 4.1 apparently mitigates the issues brought up within the dispute by Apple, which has until July 12th to issue a response on the matter. Orders are slated to ship in “two to three weeks,” (see update below) so we’d suggest you grab one quick while it’s fresh and tasty to ensure your taste buds get the latest Android sugar fix.

Update: Well that was quick. Just a few hours after going up for sale, the shipping estimate has been reduced from ”two to three weeks” to ”one to two weeks.” It’s so close you can almost taste it.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

PSA: Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ up for sale again at Google Play store (update: now shipping in ‘1-2 weeks’) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 15:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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