| Google Play Store gift cards arrive in Australia later this month Aug 20th 2013, 19:49, by Cory Gunther Like many of Google’s services, their Play Store gift cards initially launched with availability being in the US only. Slowly but surely we’ve seen their Play Music and other services expand to other regions, and the gift card option is doing the same. We’ve recently been tipped that gift card support is coming to Australia later this month. 
After a few exclusives last month in the country, we’re now hearing that August 26th Play Store gift cards will officially launch at multiple outlets and be readily available down under. Users in Australia have been seeing the “redeem” option in the Play Store, and some new Google pages have confirmed this as well. According to AusDroid, the Google Play Store gift card support page now shows the country as having $20, $30, and $50 denominations. This isn’t anything extremely exciting, but we know many have been waiting for the option to use this method. Gift cards to the Play Store are readily available in the US, the UK, France, Germany, and many others, and recently hit Canada back in March. The word on the street is August 26th for those in Australia to be able to buy them online, and at many big box retailers. VIA: AusDroid |  | Google Play services 3.2 global rollout now complete Aug 20th 2013, 19:22, by Robert Nelson Google has announced that the Google Play Services 3.2 update has finished rolling out. This includes devices around the world that are running Android 2.2 Froyo or later. While the Google Play Services listing is easily found in the App info section, it isn’t one that many users likely ever concern themselves with. Needless to say, this time around the Google Play Services update brings talk of performance and power saving improvements and more. 
The remaining items addressed in this update include enhancements to the Location Based Services, maps, InstantBuy, Google+ and PhotoSphere. Keeping in mind some of the specifics are addressed to developers, the Location Based Services portion deals with something called the “Fused Location Provider” which Google says will support a low-power mode for times when multiple location updates are requested. Developers will also have the option to fire off mock locations for better app testing. There was also some updates to the geofencing APIs which now support hardware-based GPS geofencing. This applies to devices such as the Nexus 4 which has supported hardware, but means those devices with support should see battery improvements. This one is good for the developer and end-user as apps will be able to automatically take advantage of this new functionality. This update also touched on a new Snapshot feature in the maps API. This one brings the ability to capture a bitmap image of a current map (to improve performance) when an interactive maps ins’t needed. Otherwise, Google has also brought some additional features for those who have added the Google+ sign-in to their apps. This means developers will be able to take advantage of the simplified sharing control (which makes it easy to share directly to Google+) and some added “butter” to the Google+ sign-in animation. Finally, Photo Sphere now has a compass mode that allows users to explore these images by moving their phone or tablet and the InstantBuy implantation has been improved with goodies to include increased efficiency, improved latency, a cleaner UI and more. Bottom line here, while some of these items are aimed more towards the developers — the end users should be happy to learn that Google is working to improve the battery life of your devices. SOURCE: Android Developers Blog | | Instagram aims to stop App developers from using 'Insta' or 'gram' in title Aug 20th 2013, 18:38, by Cory Gunther As one app developer has stated, “This is Twitter all over again,” because it appears that Instagram is getting strict with their API and naming policies. Sources have learned that Instagram has begun sending out letters to app developers asking them to cease using the word ‘insta’ or ‘gram’ in their titles. And are giving them 48 hours to comply. 
To clear up any immediate confusion, this isn’t like Apple’s ‘app store’ or some other similar situations where Instagram doesn’t want any app at all to use either of these words. They simply don’t want 3rd party app developers that are accessing and using some of Instagram’s APIs to use either of the words. The example is Luxogram, who uses a portion of Instagram’s APIs to access some of their features for the gallery and other popular tools, and the same can be said about Webstagram. Previous rules stated developers could use one or the other, but not both, but now it sounds like Instagram doesn’t want anyone using either. Instagram already has a pretty tight grip on what they’ll allow 3rd party apps to be able to do, such as trying to post pictures to Instagram without using the app, and things of that nature. They do have some APIs available for developers, but now if they want access, they can’t use ‘insta’ or ‘gram’ in their title. Any current apps available have 48 hours or a reasonable amount of time to reply and change their names. They’ll let you use their APIs as long as you don’t use their trademark name, seems fair to us in a way. And hey, this worked out great for Facebook a few years back with ‘face’ and ‘book’ for those who remember that ridiculousness. VIA: The Verge | | MHL 3.0 spec unveil brings promise of 4K video support Aug 20th 2013, 18:28, by Robert Nelson MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) is something that allows Android users to send video from their devices. And while many users have likely never heard this term, we are now seeing the latest specs coming from the consortium. This includes details of MHL 3.0 which brings the promise of 4K video support, support for simultaneous multiple displays and more. 
First things first though, details show that the MHL 3.0 specification will be available for download in early-September. Of course, this isn’t something that will be downloaded and installed by the end user. Instead this is being made available for the manufacturers which means MHL 3.0 is something that will begin showing up on devices at some point in the future. That being said, the MHL 3.0 specification list includes the following items; - Improved Remote Control Protocol (RCP) with support for peripherals such as a touch screen, keyboard and mouse
- Power charging up to 10W
- Latest HDCP 2.2 content protection
- Enhanced 7.1 surround sound with Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD
- Support for simultaneous multiple displays
- Simultaneous high-speed data channel
- Connector agnostic – uses as few as five pins
And as one would expect and/or hope to see, MHL 3.0 brings backward compatibility with 1.0 and 2.0. Touching back on the 4K support and we learn that MHL 3.0 will bring support of 4K formats up to 2160p30. Breaking this down a bit further and we find that MHL talks of the “experience” which includes home theater, mobile gaming, office and automotive. These items bring the promise of being able to send 4K video from your smartphone to your television, be able to play your mobile games on a 4K screen with no lag (while the television is powering your smartphone), be able to transform a mobile device into a full workstation by attaching a keyboard, mouse and monitor(s) and to be able to access and control your smartphone using the in-car system (while the car powers your device). | |
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