Google Currents is hot off the press

We strive to give you beautiful and simple ways to experience all the content the web has to offer, such as sharing photos on Google+, watching YouTube videos and discovering books, movies and music from Android Market. Today we’re expanding our content offering with the introduction of Google Currents, a new application for Android devices, iPads and iPhones that lets you explore online magazines and other content with the swipe of a finger.

Ready for consumers
We’ve worked with more than 150 publishing partners to offer full-length articles from more than 180 editions including CNET, AllThingsD, Forbes, Saveur, PBS, Huffington Post, Fast Company and more. Content is optimized for smartphones and tablets, allowing you to intuitively navigate between words, pictures and video on large and small screens alike, even if you’re offline.

To get started, simply download the app and choose the publications you want to subscribe to for free. You can also add RSS, video and photo feeds, public Google+ streams and Google Reader subscriptions you’re already following. In addition to consuming your favorite media, you can also use the trending tab to discover related content that matches your tastes.

Ready for publishers
Alongside Google Currents, we’re also launching a self-service platform that gives publishers the flexibility to design, brand and customize their web content. For example, if you’re a small regional news outlet, a non-profit organization without access to a mobile development team, or a national TV network with web content, you can effortlessly create hands-on digital publications for Google Currents.

Great content needs a great audience, which is why Google Currents is integrated with Google+ so users can share articles or videos they’ve enjoyed with their circles. Publishers can also associate their account with Google Analytics in order to increase their awareness of consumers’ content preferences, device use and geographic distribution.

Google Currents is now available for download in Android Market and the Apple App Store for US users. Whether you’re a reader or a publisher, we hope that Google Currents helps you easily experience the best content on the web. Try it here now and stay tuned for more to come.

Now playing: Faster movie search on Android and iPhone

With the December movie season in full swing, we’ve just made it even faster and easier to discover movies, showtimes and theaters, all from your smartphone. Now when you search for [movies] or your favorite theater like [century san francisco] on Google.com from your phone, you’ll see interactive results for movies in a new swipeable ribbon, with the most relevant information displayed at the top of the page.

For each movie, you’ll see the movie poster, a short summary, ratings and the nearest theaters and showtimes. Designed to help you quickly browse what’s playing in theaters now, this information instantly updates as you slide through the movie posters -- no need to wait for a page to load or to use the back button.

 

To learn more about a movie, tap the movie title to find details like the cast and a full summary. And if you see a play button on the movie poster, you can tap to view the official trailer. You can even buy tickets directly from your smartphone by tapping on underlined showtimes -- and skip past those long holiday box office lines!

So the next time you head out to see sagas of vampires, the world’s biggest Muppets fan, dancing penguins or nearly impossible heists, try the new interactive results for movies by visiting Google.com on your iOS or Android phone’s browser and searching for [movies], [theaters] or a movie title. This feature is available in English, in the US.

Galaxy Nexus now available in the U.S.

Starting today, Galaxy Nexus by Samsung will be available in the U.S. on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Network. Visit google.com/nexus to buy it online, or go to your nearest Verizon Wireless, Best Buy, Costco or Radio Shack store. Galaxy Nexus is also available through our carrier partners in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Korea and Japan. Soon, it will be available in Australia, France, Russia, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and elsewhere!

Galaxy Nexus is the first phone with Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich and combines the latest Google software with cutting-edge Samsung hardware. With a super slim profile, Galaxy Nexus features a 4.65” Contour Display with a true high definition (720p) resolution HD Super AMOLED screen. Galaxy Nexus also features a lightning-fast dual-core 1.2GHz processor combined with 4G LTE or HSPA+ technology. To see Galaxy Nexus in action, check out this video:

Paired with Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest Android software, Galaxy Nexus is simple and beautiful. WIth innovations like Android Beam, a camera with fun Live Effects and zero-shutter lag for instant photo capturing, a deeply integrated Google+ experience, and a new People app, Galaxy Nexus is beyond smart. Galaxy Nexus is also the first device to feature Face Unlock, which uses state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to unlock your phone. For a look at how powerful your smile can be, check out the video below.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro vs Motorola Droid

Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro and Motorola Droid (also known as Motorola Milestone) were released in the second quarter of the year 2010. Both Smartphones were bundled with several advanced features, but those features were not same. Here is a comparison between the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro and Motorola Droid, rather, you can say Symbian OS 9.4 vs. Android 2.0.

Display
Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is having a 3.2” TFT touchscreen display with 16M colors and resolution of 360 X140 pixels. Whereas, Motorola Droid is having a 3.7 TFT-capacitive touchscreen display with 16M colors and resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. So, Motorola Droid display is better than Vivaz Pro’s display.
Winner – Motorola Droid

Camera
Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro is having a 5 Mega Pixel camera with LED flash, autofocus and 4x digital zoom. It is capable of taking pictures with maximum image resolution of 2560 x 1920 pixels and 720p video @24fps. Motorola Droid is also having the same camera features, but Vivaz Pro camera provides a continuous autofocus and video light while capturing videos.
Winner – Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro

Operating System
Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is running on a latest version of Symbian operating system, Symbian OS v9.4. Whereas, Motorola Droid was using Android v2.0 (Éclair), when it was launched, which is been updated to Android 2.2(Froyo) operating system. Vivaz Pro is running on a latest version of Symbian OS, whereas Droid is not using the latest version of Android OS. Moreover, User Interface of Symbian^3 operating system is better than the UI of Android v2.2 operating system.
Winner – Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro

Music and Video
Both Smartphones is capable of playing multimedia files and support several audio and video formats. However, Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro has integrated FM Radio with RDS, whereas Motorola Droid is missing this feature.
Winner – Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro

Data and Connectivity
Both mobile phones, Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro and Motorola Droid, are offering GPRS and EDGE network connectivity, Wi-Fi connectivity, and Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP technology. So, data transfer rate is almost similar in both mobile phones.
Winner – Tie

Power Management
Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is having Li-Po 1200mAh battery model, which gives 440 hours stand-by time and 5h 20m talk-time. Whereas, Motorola Droid is having Li-ion 1400mAh battery model, which provides 350 hours stand-by time and 6h 30m talk-time. Again, both are having approximately same battery life, so it is a tie.
Winner – Tie

Performance
Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is powered by 720 MHz processor and PowerVR SGX CPU with 256MB RAM, whereas Motorola Droid is powered by ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz and PowerVR SGX530 graphics with 256MB RAM. Although both are using the same amount of memory, Vivaz Pro is having the more powerful processor than the Motorola Droid, so it is faster than the Motorola Droid.
Winner – Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro

As you can see that, Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is having the more advanced features than the Motorola Droid or Motorola Milestone.

Nokia N8 vs. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Both Smartphones, Nokia N8 and Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, were released at the same period and are offering excellent multimedia features. However, there are several differences in their design, features, connectivity, etc. So, let us look at the key areas of their performance and features to decide the winner.

Display
Nokia N8 is sporting a 3.5” Active-matrix OLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels and 16M colors. It is also having a Gorilla glass protective layer.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is having a larger 4” capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels and 65K colors.
As you can see that Xperia X10 is having a larger screen size and high resolution, but Nokia N8 is offering 16M colors and is also having a Gorilla glass protective layer. So, there is no doubt on who is winner.
Winner – Nokia N8

Connectivity
Nokia N8 is integrated with latest Bluetooth 3.0 technology, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with UPnP technology and 2G/3G network support. It is providing 10.2Mbps HSDPA and 2Mbps HSUPA speed. It is also having a HDMI port.

Sony Xperia X10 is integrated with Bluetooth 2.1 technology, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with DLNA technology and 2G/3G network support. It is having a 7.2Mbps HSDPA and 2Mbps HSUPA speed, but no HDMI port.
It is very much clear that who is the winner here.
Winner – Nokia N8

Operating System
Nokia N8 is running on a latest version of Symbian operating system, Symbian^3. It is also having an inbuilt Java MIDP 2.1 and Flash Lite 4.0 support.
Sony Xperia X10 is using a Google’s Android 1.6 operating system, which is upgradeable to Android 2.1(Eclair), but not above 2.1. Java is supported, but via third party application.

As you can see, Xperia is running on an older version of Android operating system, whereas Nokia N8 is using a latest Symbian version.
Winner – Nokia N8

Performance
Nokia X8 is powered by ARM11 680MHz Samsung processor with 256MB of RAM. It is also having a 16GB of internal memory and expandable up to 32GB with microSD card.

Whereas, Sony Xperia X10 is powered by 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 1GB of Ram. It is having 8GB of internal memory and expandable up to 32GB with microSD card.

Nokia N8 is not powered with the powerful processor and is also having 1/4th amount of RAM, when we compared it with Xperia X10.
Winner – Sony Xperia X10

Camera
Nokia N8 is sporting a 12MP camera with Xenon flash, 2x digital zoom and auto focus, which is capable of taking pictures with a maximum resolution of 4000 x 3000 pixels. It is also capable of shooting video at a resolution of 720p@25fps. Nokia N8 is also integrated with a secondary VGA camera.
On the other hand, Sony Xperia X10 is sporting a 8.1 MP camera with LED flash, 16x digital zoom and auto focus, which is capable of taking pictures with a maximum resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels. It is capable of taking video at WVGA display@25fps and 720p videos (only via Android 2.1 OS). It is not having a secondary camera.

Nokia N8 is not only having a high megapixel main camera, but is also having a secondary camera, which can be used for video calling. The picture quality is better in Nokia N8, when we compared it with Xperia X10’s picture.
Winner – Nokia N8, no doubt.

Battery Life
Nokia N8 is having a 1200 mAh Li-ion fixed battery, which gives 12hrs for GSM and 5hrs 30mins for WCDMA talk-time battery life and 390hrs for GSM and 400hrs for WCDMA stand-by time.

While, Sony Xperia X10 is having a Li-Po 1500mAh battery, which gives 10hrs for GSM and 8hrs for WCDMA talk-time battery life and 415hrs for GSM and 425hrs for WCDMA stand-by time.

It is very clear that, Xperia is having a maximum battery life, on either a 2G network or a 3G network.
Winner – Sony Xperia X10

The final result– N8 scored 4 out of 6, whereas Xperia X10 scored 2 out of 6. Therefore, Nokia N8 is offering advanced key features than Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

10 Billion Android Market downloads and counting

One billion is a pretty big number by any measurement. However, when it’s describing the speed at which something is growing, it’s simply amazing. This past weekend, thanks to Android users around the world, Android Market exceeded 10 billion app downloads—with a growth rate of one billion app downloads per month. We can’t wait to see where this accelerating growth takes us in 2012.

To celebrate this milestone, we partnered with some of the Android developers who contributed to this milestone to make a bunch of great Android apps available at an amazing price. Starting today for the next 10 days, we’ll have a new set of awesome apps available each day for only 10 cents each. Today, we are starting with Asphalt 6 HD, Color & Draw for Kids, Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro, Fieldrunners HD, Great Little War Game, Minecraft,Paper Camera, Sketchbook Mobile, Soundhound Infinity & Swiftkey X.

Of course, none of these apps would have existed if it weren’t for the developers who created them. Every day, these developers continue to push the limits on what’s possible and delight us in the process. For that, we thank them.

Please join us in this 10-day celebration and check in every day to see what new apps our developer partners are making available on Android Market - for only a dime.

A new Android Market for phones, with books and movies

Recently, we’ve been hard at work improving Android Market to give you new ways to find great applications and games, purchase books, and rent movies. Today, we’re releasing a new version of Android Market which makes all of these available on phones (Android 2.2 and higher).

In the U.S., you’ll be able to rent thousands of movies, starting at $1.99, right from Android Market on your phone. With the Videos app, available in Android Market, there’s no more waiting for downloads, syncing, or worrying about storage space. Simply sign into Android Market with your Google account, and you can rent movies from anywhere – the web, or your Android phone or tablet – and start watching instantly. You can also download movies to your device so they’re available for viewing when you don’t have an internet connection.

Also in the U.S., you can now purchase books from Android Market on your phone. Like movie rentals, books are linked to your Google account, so they’re instantly available across all of your devices – computer, phone, or tablet – without the need for wires or downloads.

You’ll be delighted to find we’ve overhauled Android Market to make it faster, easier, and more fun to discover great apps, movies, and books. We’ve created more space to feature some of the most interesting content of the week on the home page. We’ve added more top charts, with newer, more relevant items, and we’ve made it easy to swipe through these charts as you browse the store. We’ve also introduced new collections of great content, like staff picks and Editors’ Choice apps.

 

The new Android Market will be rolling out in the coming weeks to Android 2.2 and higher phones around the world. You don’t need to do anything - the update is automatic on supported phones. If you’re in the U.S., you’ll also be able to download the Videos app, rent movies, and buy books once you receive the new Android Market.

Your phone is about to get a lot more interesting! Enjoy the new Android Market.

Share and personalize your Google Goggles experience with Goggles 1.4

Since its launch, we have worked to make Google Goggles faster and more accurate when returning search results for a wide variety of images. Today, we are taking several steps to make Goggles a better and more personal experience. Goggles 1.4 for Android devices introduces an enhanced search history experience, the ability to suggest better results to Google if we are not able to accurately match your image, and improved business card recognition.

Enhanced search history
The new search history experience lets you search your Goggles results, make personal notes on specific results and share your results with friends. When you add a personal note to a Goggles result, the note will appear in your search history. I’m trying to learn more about wine, so when I taste something new, it’s easy for me to add a note to help me remember what I liked about the wine. Later, I can search my search history for words in my note to help me find that bottle that went so well with steak. Read more about how to enable search history for Goggles here.

 

To make a personal note, tap the pencil in the corner when viewing a search result.

Notes are intended to help you better organize your search history, so if you choose to share a result with a friend, your notes will not be shared. However, you can always add a personalized message to your friend when you share your results with them.

 

Share a result by sending a link to your friends.

Suggest a better result
We are constantly working to improve the accuracy of Goggles at recognizing certain categories of items, but visual recognition is still a complicated task. With Goggles 1.4, you are now able to suggest a better result when Goggles cannot find an image match, or the quality of the result is poor.

To send your suggestion to Google, tap “Can you suggest a better result?” on the results page. You can then select the relevant part of the image and submit a tag. Tags will be used to improve recognition in object categories where Goggles already provides some results, like artwork or wine bottles.

 

When suggesting a better result, you can crop the image and add a description.

Improved business card recognition
Business card recognition is one of the most popular uses of Google Goggles, so we're rolling out some new updates to make the experience even quicker and easier. Additionally, instead of simply recognizing the content as text, Goggles now recognizes the information as a contact, making it easier to add to your phone's contact list.

 

Call or add the person directly as a contact

Google Goggles is available for Android 1.6+ devices. Download it by visiting Android Marketor by scanning the QR code below:

Introducing the new Google Docs app for Android

Increasingly, people are using mobile phones to access information -- from email to web browsing to editing documents. Part of getting work done on the go is being able to easily access, edit and share content, which is why we’re happy to announce the new Google Docs app for Android.

With this new app it’s easy to filter and search for your content across any Google account, then jump straight into editing docs using the online mobile editors. The app also allows you to easily share items with contacts on your phone, right from within the app.

The Docs app also allows you to upload content from your phone and open documents directly from Gmail. You can also add a widget to your home screen for easy access to three core tasks: jumping to your starred documents, taking a photo to upload, or creating a new document with one tap.


And my favorite feature: Using the app and your phone’s camera, you can turn photos with text into editable Google documents with the power of optical character recognition (OCR). Just create a new ‘Document from Photo' or select the camera icon from the widget, and your converted document will appear in your documents list shortly after you snap the picture. You can also convert photos already stored on your phone by sharing them with the Google Docs app. OCR does a pretty good job capturing unformatted text in English but won't recognize handwriting or some fonts - stay tuned, it will get better over time!


The Google Docs app is currently available in English and works on Android 2.1+ phones. Try it out by scanning the QR code below or by visiting Android Market.


Let us know what you think of the new Google Docs Android app in our forum.