There’s a new version of the Google Play Books app in iTunes and Google Play today, and if you’re one of a handful of readers who buy ebooks from Google I think you might appreciate this.
According to the changelog, the new iOS app will enable users to download and read ebooks which they had previously uploaded to the Google Play Books website. The Android app also gained that feature as well as a newly refreshed menu design and other features.
Few people ever plan to kick the bucket, but there is a high probability that it will happen to all of us at least once. That’s probably why Google announced yesterday that they were offering a new account management tool.
The Inactive Account Manager might have a awful name, but it fills a useful purpose. It’s there to help the digerati to plan for the inevitable. Turn it on, let your account sit for 3 or more months, and this service will email your digital next of kin with access info for your account. Another option is to simply delete the contents of an account unread.
This could be useful, but as I was playing with it today I noticed that some key Google services weren’t included. Let’s see if you can spot them:
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Google rolled out an update for their reading app for the iPad and iPhone yesterday, giving the app a couple sweet features that Android users have had since last year.
Readers can now select a place name in the book they’re reading and (with luck) see a description and a map of the place. The data for the entry is drawn from Google Maps (as well as Google’s other data sources like Frommers). Unfortunately this feature does not seem to work all that well; I tried it in several ebooks and wasn’t given a location option. Or perhaps it requires a more specific location than simply a place name – a city and province, for example.
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When Google bought the Frommer’s line of travel guides from Wiley in August 2012 it seemed more than likely Google was only interested in the digital value of the content they had just acquired.
That supposition was confirmed earlier this week with the news that Arthur Frommer, whose 1957 guide book launched the Frommer’s imprint, is going to license the Frommer’s brand and content and continue to publish travel guides in print.
The AP reported the news last night (and Google confirmed the news). According to Google’s statement:
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Google’s rumored same-day shipping service has just entered a public bata test in San Francisco.
Google confirmed the news this morning in a blog post. The new service is called Google Shopping Express, and it’s only open to invited participants (ask to join here). The service is free during the beta test, though of course participants will have to pay for the items they order from one of the retailers partners.
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Google Reader might not have the largest userbase of Google’s products but we are probably the most vocal, with over 143 thousand users signing a change.org petition requesting a stay of execution.
And now there are signs that Google may be listening. I just got an email from a reader a few minutes ago, and he pointed out a quiet change that Google has made without telling anyone.
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Is it just me or is Google’s business plan beginning to look more and more like Me-Too-ism?
I’m asking not just because of Google+,Google Play, Google Play Books, but also because in the past month Google retired Google Reader, a unique service that was the best in its field and today they decided the world would be a better place with yet another note-taking app.
You’ve probably already read that the new app is called Google Keep, and rude comments aside it looks to be a fairly useful but very basic app. I’ve been playing with it this afternoon and I have mixed feelings.
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Here’s some good news for readers in Mexico. Reports are coming in today that Google Play Books has expanded into Mexico.
I haven’t found an announcement from Google, but Google’s support pages confirms the news. It also indicate that the expansion includes only Mexico but not the rest of Spanish speaking Latin America and South America. Portuguese-speaking Brazil, of course, gained access to Google Play back in December 2012.
This is a rather odd move on the part of Google. I would have expected them to follow in the footsteps of Apple and expand access to include all of the Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas.
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Following Google’s announcement that they were going to kill off Google Reader on 1 July, Digg announced today that they are working on a replacement.
No, you didn’t read that wrong, and yes, I was as surprised as you.
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When Google announced yesterday that they were cutting me off from Google Reader, I (and many others) suddenly had to scramble to find a new dealer for my news addiction.
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