Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Google Android Market

Google Launches Android Design Website

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:32:51 +0000

Google has launched a new website called Android Design. Android Design will help developers learn about the principles and building patterns related to apps. If you are not satisfied with what is on the website right now, Google will continue to add more in-depth content in the coming months. [Android Developers Blog]

Google Android Market Hits 400,000 Apps

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:01:26 +0000

The Google Android Market has surpassed 400,000 applications. That means that 100,000 apps have been added between now and August 2011 and 200,000 more since April 2011. Of these 400,000 applications, about 2/3 are available for free in the Android Market. The percentage of free apps has grown month-over-month from 60% in April 2011 to 68% around the end of 2011. Now there are about 100,000 publishers that are active in the application store. [Distimo]

Google Adds “Buy From Android Market” Link To Songs On YouTube

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:14:18 +0000

YouTube has been able to capitalize on music videos that have been uploaded to the website in a couple of ways. Advertising is the primary source of revenue and the other way was by providing affiliate links to AmazonMP3 and iTunes. Today when I was watching this music video was the first time I noticed a link to the Android Market music store. In the design, it looks like AmazonMP3 and iTunes have been placed in on the next line using a
tag. Google launched Google Music last month with EMI, Sony, and Universal on-board.

Facebook Updates Android App, Makes It Faster and Easier

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:18:45 +0000

Facebook has updated their application for Android. Now it is easier and quicker to browse through photos and navigate. Photo albums are twice as fast as the previous Android app. Messages and notifications are now at the top of the screen so you can respond to people without leaving the page you are on. The menu has been moved to the left so you can quickly access News Feed, Groups, Games, and apps. [Facebook Blog]

Oh Wow! Google Android Market Apps Hits Over 10 Billion Downloads

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:05:56 +0000

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has just announced a HUGE milestone. The company has hit 10 billion Android Market app downloads. In the same blog post, Google said that Android users are downloading about 1 billion apps per month. To celebrate this milestone, Google is lowering the price of some of their top apps to 10 cents each for 10 days including Asphalt 6 HD, Color & Draw for Kids, Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro, Fieldrunners HD, Great Little War Game, Minecraft, Paper Camera, Sketchbook Mobile, Soundhound Infinity, and Swiftkey X. [Android Developers Blog]

Android Twitter App Updates Functions and Design

Riley Kennysmith — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:27:09 +0000

Twitter has updated the Twitter for Android app, with notable additions of push notifications and the ability to simultaneously run multiple accounts. The update is available in the Android Market. What the Twitter Blog announcement doesn’t mention is the sleek new UI of the updated app, which is even more intuitive and easier to use than before. [Mashable]

Twitter Adds Push Notifications and Multiple Account Support To Android App

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:00:24 +0000

Twitter has added push notifications and multiple account support to their Android application. These are two of the company’s most requested features.

Push notifications means that you will instantly receive a Twitter update in the form of a pop-up no matter what you are doing on your device at the time. In the account settings, select “automatic refresh” and choose to receive Direct Messages, @Mentions, and Tweets updates.

You will also be able to use multiple accounts on Twitter for Android without logging out. This makes it easier for people that have separate business and personal accounts.

[Twitter Blog]

WhitePages Frustrated with Apple, Launches Localicious in the Android Market

Riley Kennysmith — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:37:00 +0000

WhitePages has launched their new Localicious app in the Android Market instead of in the iPhone App Store because the company is dissatisfied with Apple’s slow app approval process. All Things D reports that iPhones are the target market for WhitePages, but that Chief Operating Officer Kevin Nakao has found that Apple holds apps “hostage” and doesn’t always allow apps the access they need. Currently, launching with Android instead of Apple means a company has better information and resources to plan the timing of a launch.

The Localicious app lets users search local listings by neighborhood rather than by proximity.

BeenVerified Now Offers Background Checks With Android and iPhone Apps

Riley Kennysmith — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:00:12 +0000

BeenVerified, the website that does background checks for users, now has apps for both Android and iPhone. The company previously offered an iPhone app in 2009, but it was taken out of Apple’s app store because of privacy concerns. Apple has now agreed to allow the re-release of the BeenVerified app. The app is free to download and offers one free background check a month.

After each month’s first free check, users can pay $9.95 for additional checks. BeenVerified has provided more than 10 million free background checks to date. The checks include age, criminal history and address history, which is all public information, but the company does not have full access to all of the criminal records in the US; according to TechCrunch, the app has access to criminal convictions in 46 states and arrest and warrant information from some areas of 35 states. Much of the information is kept (and thus distributed) by districts, and many counties have not yet publicly digitized their court records.

Hulu Plus Available for Six Lucky Android Phones

Riley Kennysmith — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:58:46 +0000

Hulu announced yesterday via the Hulu Blog that Hulu Plus will now be available on Android smartphones. The app is currently only available on six phones: Nexus One and Nexus S; Motorola Droids II, X and Atrix; and HTC Inspire 4G. Consumers with the right phones are excited, but most Android phones are left without the upgrade and, as Gizmodo notes, Hulu Plus is not offered for any of the Android tablets. The Android Market promises announcements of other supported devices in the future, but no word on exactly when those updates will happen.

A Hulu Plus subscription, $7.99 a month, is also required to run the Hulu Plus Android app.