Hasta La Gadget!

Android Market may have a lot going for it, but most would surely agree that it could use some improvement when it comes to discovering apps that you aren’t specifically looking for. Thankfully, it seems Google has indeed been aware of those concerns, and it’s now announced five new features that should go so some way towards improving things. Those include some newly revamped top app charts that promise to be “fresher” and country specific, a brand new Editors’ Choice section that highlights apps chosen by Google, a new Top Developers feature that places a special icon next to the name of developers that make the grade (currently more than 150), improved related apps on individual app pages and, last but not least, a new trending apps section that shows the apps growing fastest in terms of daily installs. What’s more, while all of those features are currently exclusive to the web-based version, Google says they’re also “coming soon” to the Android Market on both phones and tablets.

In other Android Market news, Google has also announced that it will be adding support for larger apps — up to 4GB — in June, and it will be giving developers the ability to exclude specific devices to avoid compatibility problems, or make multiple versions of an app available under a single Market listing, complete with aggregated ratings and stats. All that, plus personalized recommendations based on your apps (details on it are still a bit light), and paid app support for an additional 99 countries (coming within the next week or so).

[Thanks, Ian and ZZ]

Google announces new ways to discover apps on Android Market, more tools for developers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 15:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve praised Plex in the past for delivering us box-free XMBC and for it’s prodigious media streaming proficiency. Problem is, its app wasn’t optimized for the Honeycomb OS and the upsized screen real estate of Android slates — until now. With the updated code comes tablet-friendly layouts and fast-scrolling in all grid and list views so you can zip through your large local media library. It also includes direct play and internet streaming sans-transcoding (just like the recently revised iOS app) for sating those right now vid cravings. The improvements serve smaller Android devices as well, which makes the newly egalitarian app more enticing than ever before. Best of all, it’s still only five bucks.

[Thanks, Andrew]

Plex plays nice with your Honeycomb slate after app update originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good news for Android users who hate paying for stuff: according to new numbers from Netherlands-based mobile analytics group Distimo, there are now more free apps available for Google’s mobile OS than the iPhone, at 134,342 to 121,845. There are a few things to consider here: first, when one adds free iPad-only apps, the total number of gratis iOS apps increases to a more competitive 132,239. And then there’s Apple’s sometimes rigorous vetting process, which has probably played a role in its numeric slippage — after all, this report doesn’t highlight things like legality, repetition, or the overall number of apps dedicated to making farting noises. Also, Apple has a lot more premium apps, giving it the overall lead at 333,124 to 206,143 — but between Android’s rapid growth and what the report terms iOS’s relative stagnation, Distimo expects Google to take the top spot in five months’ time, outnumbering iPhone and iPad apps combined — a rough scenario for Cupertino to stomach, no doubt, but at least the company will still have Windows Phone to kick around a while longer. [Source link requires registration]

Shocker! Free Android apps outnumber free iPhone apps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Staring at spreadsheets crushed down to unreadable sizes on a 4-inch phone screen is far from pleasurable but, clearly there is a demand. In fact, we’ve been clamoring for a proper Google Docs app for ages, even though sometimes we’re not entirely sure why. It was only a matter of time before Google finally got around to appeasing us mobile workaholics and put an official app in the Android Market. Well, our masochistic prayers were answered — the Mighty Goog unleashed the new, native Google Docs for Android app and we rushed on over to the Market, clicked the install button, and gave it a whirl.

Continue reading Google Docs gets an Android app, we go hands-on with tiny spreadsheets (video)

Google Docs gets an Android app, we go hands-on with tiny spreadsheets (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve done any Kindling on your Xoom or your G-Slate or your Transformer or whatever little slice of Honeycomb you’re calling home, chances are you’ve noticed the app isn’t exactly optimized for the relatively big screen of your slate. Well, now it has been. As promised, Amazon has just pushed an update to the Kindle app that makes it decidedly more 3.0-friendly. Gone is the ugly list of books, replaced by a lovely grid of titles including cover art. Just tap to start reading. Text itself within the books is higher-res and page turning seems snappier too. Worth the download? For sure — especially since it’s still free.

Continue reading Amazon updates Kindle app for Honeycomb, shows that tablets really do exist

Amazon updates Kindle app for Honeycomb, shows that tablets really do exist originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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