
Google Play - IgorPartola
http://play.google.com/
======
BrainScraps
I know that there is probably conflict between Google Wallet/Checkout - but
they need to get on this issue like last YEAR -

GIFT CARDS!

It just implies that they don'y know anything about who is using Android
phones in the U.S. I only have my gut to back this up (after observing who
carries Android for the past 2 1/2 years or so) but Android devs will be able
to make so much more money once Google starts selling gift cards in retail
stores.

Why? Metro PCS, Boost Mobile, and teenagers. My guess is that they're a large
part of the Android user base that is very unlikely to link up a credit card
to their account. They _would_ however be great candidates to use gift cards
bought for them on birthdays/holidays.

I swear if they don't do this soon, it'll only keep more and more developers
from releasing apps on Android. /rant

~~~
ben1040
As someone with a couple apps on the Market, I wish I could also issue
promo/gift codes for those apps (iTunes lets you generate promo codes).

I could send someone the APK file, yes, but then they'd need to sideload it.
And, they wouldn't get updates from the Market from it, so I'd have to keep
sending them new copies of the package. That isn't really a tenable solution.

~~~
jonursenbach
This was probably the single biggest reason why I didn't participate in the
last Humble Bundle. Having to sideload APKs of updated games is a huge
timesink that I'd rather not have to deal with.

~~~
BHSPitMonkey
Really? I was able to open my Humble Bundle download link on my phone, which
took me to a mobile-formatted page with direct links to the APKs. I just had
to tap on them, open the "finished download" notification, and tap Install.

~~~
jonursenbach
Yes, but every time they release an update you have to go to that page again
and redownload the APK. You can't just open up the market and click "Update
all".

And that's even if you hear about the updates. I've never seen any email from
them after I've purchased a game telling me about new updates; you have to
hear about that stuff through Twitter.

------
psychotik
"Google Play? Is that like Google Labs, where they play around with new
technologies? No, it's where you get apps for Android"

"Get music from Google Play. No, not Google Music. You play music in Google
Music, but you buy it in Google Play. Got it?"

"You get apps from Google Play too. No, not apps for your music. No, not apps
for Google services. Apps for your Android phone. Any type of app - from
Google Play."

Sigh...

~~~
ConstantineXVI
"Google Labs" => defunct

"Google Music" => "Google Play Music"

"Google Play Store" => where you buy things (apps + music + movies + books)

------
Kylekramer
I get the idea. Android Market is essentially Google's iTunes now, and they
want to push the music/movies aspect. Google Play makes more sense than iTunes
branding does (tunes are about 1/8 of what it does these days), but there is
some weirdness. Play works well for music/movies/games, but not really for
apps/books. I was introduced to the brand with an update to Google Books app
saying it was now Google Play Books, which made me think Google was expanding
into sports team management or something.

~~~
vibrunazo
No name will ever be ideal for every scenario. It always has pros and cons.
But statistically, most people looking for apps are looking for games. So this
name is better for the majority of the cases. So I'd guess the pros outweigh
the cons.

~~~
eavc
Exactly. It also evokes the idea of 'playing' with a new program or gadget,
something done with non-game applications all the time.

------
bookwormAT
I like the new name because it makes it clear that this is one of Google's
apps, not a part of Android.

'Android Market' was confusing a lot of people. I've seen more than a few
journalists thinking that, for example, the Amazon Kindle Fire is not a
complete Android based system, because it does not ship with the Android
Market. Some even called it a fork.

~~~
MatthewPhillips
It is a fork (as are all non-stock Android devices in the wild).

~~~
fluidcruft
You're confusing Android with AOSP. "Android" is like "UNIX", it's more of an
definition and API but not a specific product. Just like you have Solaris,
IRIX, AIX, etc that are all UNIX because they satisfy the UNIX definitions;
likewise AOSP, Sense, Blur etc are kinds of Android. I assume all known
Android variants are derived from AOSP, but they don't _have_ to be.

------
jcampbell1
This is a great concept, but the execution leaves something to be desired.
Google really needs some detail obsessed folks. How do they not notice the
flicker on the transitions of the app market carousel? Also, a linear
transition? Yuck.

~~~
mixmax
Agree.

I'm reading this on an ipad, and in portrait mode this page
<https://play.google.com/about/features/> is unreadable because the text
slides behind the pictures.

Apparently noone has thought about whether the site is even usable for someone
with a horizontal screen resolution of less than 1024px - which in this age of
mobile devices is probably a double digit percentage of users.

~~~
eavc
It looks fine in my phone's browser.

~~~
mixmax
probably because you're getting a mobile page of some kind.

I just checked it in firefox on my laptop, and if you scale the window you'll
see the text slide behind the graphics leaving the text unreadable.

------
CodeMage
Just what I needed. Yet another service that doesn't offer any content in my
country and even if it did, it doesn't seem like they would let me download
the songs I paid for. Screw that.

Edit: I stand corrected about downloading. Thanks for the info, abraham.

~~~
abraham
Music users can download uploaded and purchased music.
[https://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?hl=en...](https://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1233029)

------
benatkin
There was a strong freedom connotation in the name "Android Market", both in
that it used the Android brand which is associated with an open source
project, and in the meaning of the word "Market". No such connotation exists
with "Google Play".

Sad, but not surprising.

------
nickpresta
For those developers wondering where <http://market.android.com/publish> went,
you can find your apps here: <https://play.google.com/apps/publish/Home>

------
ConstantineXVI
Their new app badges[1] say "Get it on Google Play". It's not clear at all
what platform you'll be getting it for. Most people know they have "an
Android", not "something with Google Play". Bit of a step back.

[1] <http://www.android.com/developers/branding.html#google_play>

~~~
jrockway
The app badge says "Android app on... Google Play". I'm guessing that the
other badge is for non-Android-specific content, like a song or a book.

[http://www.android.com/images/brand/android_app_on_play_larg...](http://www.android.com/images/brand/android_app_on_play_large.png)

------
MindTwister
> We're sorry. The Google Play music player is currently only available in the
> United States.

Should've known...

------
zaidmo
If you are not from the US, UK, Canada, Australia or Japan, you may only be
able to download apps. No ebooks, games or movies. They should at least add
private, non-commercial podcasts. No benefit to me in South Africa. Source -
[http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/introducing-google-
pl...](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/introducing-google-play-all-
your.html)

------
methodin
Anyone know if the apps will work on the Google TV? If so this is a lot more
compelling. I'm assuming a pure Google Reader would be the next logical
hardware step, in which case Google is ramping up to become a bigger threat to
Amazon, which should prove to be very interesting. Apple vs Microsoft vs
Google vs Amazon. That's a battle of the giants if I've ever seen one.

~~~
radley
Android apps run on Google TV, but it requires layouts for a different screen
as well as responding to the unique input device (Logitech mousepad/keyboard).

------
brown9-2
Anyone care to guess what's up with these crazy long URLs? For instance
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bithack.ap...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bithack.apparatus&feature=editorial-
apps_editors_choice#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIxMSwiY29tLmJpdGhhY2suYXBwYXJhdHVzIl0).

The ?t= part doesn't seem relevant to the document being shown as you get the
same page without it.

~~~
chrismsnz
I'm guessing it's a tracking string.

It's actually past the # in the URL so it's not being used by the server,
rather it's probably being picked up and reported with Javascript.

------
rbreve
We're sorry, the document you requested is not available in your country. :(

~~~
CWIZO
Yep ... same old same old :/ Why do these people (and I don't mean google)
refuse to take my money?!

~~~
jrockway
Google would really like your money, but in order to get it, they'd have to
spend a lot of money. The reality is that there are so many laws about IP and
money that it's nearly impossible to sell music or collect money in the US.
Any business that does this successfully only does so after much hacking
around US-based corporations and laws. Each new country is a fresh start, and
the intersection of laws between two countries is almost always the empty set,
meaning that there is no scaling effect. It's like swimming to shore while
being sucked out by a rip current. You die.

A Google engineer implementing payment processing rules costs the same as a
Google engineer inventing the space elevator. So Google is not going to do
something like launch a brand new super complex product in every country,
because that's money that could be spent on something actually cool.

~~~
kiloaper
It's getting easier though, at least in Europe... a common currency (mostly)
and an ongoing harmonisation of data protection (just started), business and
IP laws. It's not there yet but at least it'll make European countries a lot
easier to enter eventually.

------
vibrunazo
Maybe this is a preparation to unify the Android Market and the Chrome Web
Store? This is a brand that would make sense for both android and web apps.

------
buster
evertime.. everytime the same thing. Why are those services most of the time
not available in my country? Makes me mad.. Google Voice, Google Music, Google
Play, netflix, hulu, pandora, etc etc etc(!!!)

pff... :(

------
rb2k_
Or as it's known in Germany: "Leider ist das gewünschte Dokument nicht in
Ihrem Land verfügbar."

Stupid geo restrictions...

------
joejohnson
The animation on this page renders very poorly for me (Chrome, OS X)

<https://play.google.com/about/>

~~~
ronaldj
That's because they are animating top and left instead of using CSS3's
translate, so they aren't getting nice smooth hardware acceleration.

------
adunsmoor
It doesn't work well with Google's account switching yet.

I happen to have 2 google accounts (personal and work) and was logged in to
both. With mail and docs I can switch back and forth between them.

In Google Play, there wasn't a way to switch from the "default" account to
purchase music unless I signed out of 1 and signed in with the other.

I'm sure that'll come along later, though. I realize my usage is an edge case.

------
cek
Google Play is a smart attempt by GOOG to gain more control of MO/OEMs.
Platform fragmentation exists across 5 axes (UI, Device, OS, Marketplace, and
Service).

By bundling these services together they may make it harder for MO/OEMs to
implement their own and reduce fragmentation across both the "Service" and
"Marketplace" fragmentation axes.

------
bostonvaulter2
While I like the overall concept I find that the navigation on Play is
horribly broken. For example from Google Play Music I don't see any way to get
back to the main Google Play store to buy apps or movies:

<https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#start_pl>

------
DHowett
The Market autoupdate mechanism is going to ensure that the Market icon
spontaneously disappears on all devices running 2.2+ (with Google branding) in
unison, much to the confusion of every single user who just knows "I press the
'Market' thing and I get games."

------
moeffju
Once again, not available in my country (Germany). Which is extra
dissatisfying because Google Music worked just fine (I was in the early beta).

Is there any way for me to get a US credit card and bind it to a German bank
account, or PayPal, or whatnot?

------
bbrizzi
Had to read quite a few comments to understand what was happening. Accessing
the site from France, I only see Android apps and games.

What is on the US site exactly? Movies and music? Would anyone mind posting a
screenshot?

~~~
mgeraci
here you go: <http://i.imgur.com/5Bdmk.png>

~~~
bbrizzi
That makes more sense, thanks!

Here's the version I get if anyone's curious:

<http://i.imgur.com/HIb4d.png>

(Notice the 1 $ = 1 € conversion...)

------
JVIDEL
For a moment I thought Google was getting into gaming...

Hey, after Valve's Steambox anything is possible, and if rumors are true they
are trying to emulate Android's model with OEMs.

------
GBKS
Hm, it looks like market.android.com now also redirects to Google Play. Wasn't
Android supposed to be a separate entity from Google?

~~~
nextparadigms
The Android Market has always been separate from Android.

Also, I think Google should've adopted the same strategy with Android as they
did with Chrome and Chromium. Basically, they make everything open source, but
they only promote the "Google Chromium", known to us as Chrome.

They should've done something similar from the beginning, because it's obvious
Google wants a "Google Experience Android" to be separate than the Android
that is accessible to anyone. If the projects had different names, it might've
avoided some of the confusion about others using "Android" to make their own
projects (like Amazon, B&N, and some Chinese companies).

Also, it would've forced manufacturers to keep it mostly the same (Would you
get a Samsung branded Chrome?). But because they promoted Android instead of
the "Google Experience Android", now they are coming out short in some ways,
and manufacturers get to do almost whatever they want to Android. I'm not
saying this is good or bad - just that it's bad for Google, and for their
sake, it would've been better to use the Chrome/Chromium strategy.

Now they're trying to do this by renaming everything into "Google X" instead
of using Android anymore. It might work, but it should've happened from the
beginning, and it might be a bit confusing to do it right now.

~~~
eavc
On the flip side, they've only been able to get as far as they have on the
strength of alliances that may not have flourished with such a clear line
drawn.

------
dazbradbury
Appears some of the apps have been put on sale as part of the launch.
HotUkDeals has a list of what's available for those that are interested:

[http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/android-market-play-sale-
app...](http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/android-market-play-sale-apps-
game-49p-great-deals-1161744)

------
rglover
For having as much money as Google does (presumably), they really don't invest
in design talent all that much. This UI is killing me.

Edit: Which is kind of bizarre because they hired this guy a while back:
<http://dribbble.com/KounterB>

~~~
mdonahoe
Prediction: he has a blog post in 5 months about google, creative restriction,
and why he quit.

------
ed209
I find their departure away from their usual logo styles pretty interesting. I
like the logo, but it doesn't really say "google" to me. Maybe that's what
they were intending <http://cl.ly/053t0P2T1w441L3h3P0w>

~~~
antimatter15
A lot of new google properties have that style, eg.
<https://developers.google.com/> and the Google Apps icon.

~~~
sherwin
But that at least is using the bold primary colors associated with Google's
logo. The Play logo uses off-colors (this goes beyond the logo, look at the
main page: movies/music/apps and games/books are in the same colors as the
Play logo). I thought this was weird as well -- all of the other Google
favicons (gmail calendar, docs, spreadsheets) have strong, bold colors used in
the Google logo -- just glancing at the favicon I couldn't tell this was a
Google site.

I wonder if this is intentional though; it seems very odd to depart from their
traditional colors.

------
VonLipwig
This is the least exciting thing I have seen today. There are hundreds of
these throw away games which are nothing more than a time sink and contain no
more depth than an A4 sheet of paper.

So there is an new/improved platform store to buy/sell these apps.
Greeeaatttt....

------
notlion
Gah.. The logo looks like something Microsoft would come up with.

------
TwistedWeasel
There are a total of 71 movies listed, or am I missing something?

~~~
TwistedWeasel
Ok, I see the rest, apparently I was looking in "Staff Picks".

I don't see a way to buy, is this rental only for movies?

~~~
abraham
Yes.

------
troymc
This brings many of Google's stores under one brand, but the Chrome Web Store
remains separate. (It has web apps, extensions, themes, etc.)

------
tree_of_item
Why isn't the Chrome Web Store a part of this?

------
halayli
It looks like a carbon copy of Apple App store / iTunes.

~~~
jrockway
It does look similar, though it does have cloud-based music syncing, more
books, and other nice incremental improvements.

~~~
ellie42
The only problem with Google is they just have no taste.

------
kaiju
And still no API for music.

