During the keynote speech at today’s Google I/O conference, the company unveiled its latest offering — a music subscription service that appears to be intended for users of existing services like Pandora, Spotify and Rdio. [More]
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Facebook Home Earning Oodles Of Negative Feedback From Google Play Reviewers
By 4.15.13
Earlier this month, Facebook announced Facebook Home, the massive upgrade of its Android smartphone app that basically puts the social networking site front-and-center on your device. The app began rolling out to customers late last week, and some of the responses may have you waiting to press “update.” [More]
Facebook Android App Wants To Bypass Google Play Store For Updates
By 3.15.13
As most Android users know, one of the nice things about the operating system is that you don’t always have to get your apps through the official Google Play app store. But usually, any future updates to an app come through whichever store you downloaded the app from. Except now Facebook is asking some Android users to accept an update in the app itself that would allow future updates to be pushed through without notice. [More]
Want Ad-Blocking Apps On Your Android Device? Don’t Expect Google To Sell Them Anymore
By 3.14.13
Until yesterday, Android users could go into the Google Play store and find a bunch of apps developed to block ads from showing up on your wireless device. But now Big G has decided these types of apps violate its policies. [More]
Gift-Givers, Beware Of Google’s Short Return Window For Nexus Devices
By 12.13.12
Are you buying a product from Google’s Nexus line as a gift this holiday season, or for an upcoming special event? It’s too late for reader Joan, but she wants everyone to know that you should probably make your purchase from somewhere with a looser return policy than the Google Play store if your gift-giving occasion is more than two weeks or so away. That’s because you can’t return items more than 15 days after purchase unless they’re defective. [More]
Sorry, You Can’t Buy Nexus Devices With Your $350 Google Play Store Credit
By 11.19.12
Michael’s plan seemed like a really great idea at the time he hatched it. He wanted to make sure that he would have the money for a Nexus 4 set aside, so he purchased $350 worth of credit for the Google Play store. The phone’s available for sale there, so this made perfect sense. Until the phone actually launched. When he could finally get through to place his order, he learned that Play Store credit specifically couldn’t be used on Nexus devices. Oh, no. [More]
Verizon Closing Its App Store Because You Can Buy Apps Everywhere Else, So Why Bother?
By 11.6.12
Those Verizon Wireless customers with a Blackberry or Android phone will soon have one less icon on their phoens come January 2013, as Verizon announced it’s killing off its branded app store at that time. Why? Simply because with all the other ways for customers to access apps for their phones, the company says it’s not needed anymore. [More]
It Gets Worse: Galaxy Nexus Takes 3.5 Months To Show Up Using 2-Day Shipping
By 10.23.12
Just a few hours ago, we shared Dan’s complaint about Google Play and its inability to ship him a phone. Jameson responded to our call for stories about Nexus orders gone wrong shortly afterward, sounding a little guilty: maybe he could have saved Dan and other customers all this trouble. See, he ordered a Galaxy back in July, and it took three and a half months and a lot of wrangling with Google to get it to show up. [More]
Google Doesn’t Send My Galaxy Nexus, Doesn’t Know Why
By 10.23.12
Purchasing an unlocked Galaxy Nexus directly from the Google Play store is very easy. The problem seems to be in getting it. Dan ordered his phone almost two weeks ago, and wonders where it is. Google’s customer service representatives are very nice, but completely powerless and don’t have anything to tell him. The phone is supposed to be shipping now. Where is Dan’s? Is anyone else having the same problem? (Update: Yes, they are.) [More]
The Google Algorithm Has Become Self-Aware and Self-Hating
By 10.5.12
Reader golddog has been noticing some unflagged messages/false positives coming from Gmail’s spam filter, but noticed something in his spam box that really, really shouldn’t have been there. It was a message from Google itself, promoting a Google product for sale. The Gmail account that golddog uses on his Android devices flagged this message, naturally, as spam. [More]
Google’s Settlement With Group Of Publishers Means You Can Read More Before You Buy
By 10.4.12
It’s taken all of seven years and plenty of time in court, but Google and a group of publishers have finally reached an out-of-court settlement to resolve a dispute over the digitization of books for the Google Library Project. What does that mean? Hopefully that longer samples of books will be available in Google Play before consumers have to decide whether or not to buy it. [More]
Verizon Must Pay FCC $1.25 Million Fine, Let Android Users Tether For Free
By 8.1.12
Good news for people who enjoy tethering their smartphones, but dislike having to pay their phone company extra for the privilege. Well, as long as those people are customers of Verizon. Who have Android devices. And aren’t grandfathered onto an unlimited data plan. Yesterday, the Federal Communication Commission announced that Verizon Wireless has to allow customers access to third-party tethering applications. Verizon insists that they totally never told Google to withhold tethering apps from their customers in the Android Market/Google Play. But they’re “voluntarily” paying a $1.25 million fine as a result of the investigation, and have agreed to train all employees on why they can’t block users from downloading any (legal) apps. [More]
