UPDATED 09:36 EDT / JULY 13 2011

Google Android Market Gets Movies and Books, Looking More Like iTunes

Google’s Android Market, which was released last year, has suffered much criticism with their security and design, and to add insult to injury, the unbearable comparison to Apple’s iTunes Store.  So with much research, upgrading and revamping over the months, Google presents the public with the new and improved Android Market, available for phones running on Android version 2.2 or higher.  The upgrade will be automatic and will happen as the weeks press on.

Google’s Mobile Blog said, “Today, we’re releasing a new version of Android Market which makes all of these available on phones. 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.”

The upgrade includes a more streamline interface, movie rentals, e-books and the updated version of the Google Shopper.  The improved feature promises a faster and more enjoyable experience.   You can rent a movie or a book, and even download it for offline viewing.  Being Google, this comes with the convenience of having your content available on all supported gadgets, because everything is linked to your Google account.

Google Shopper was also updated, and presents Google Offers which presents consumers with the latest updates and discounts to their favorite shops.  But the Daily Deals are available only in selected areas for now.  The app has a new dashboard for alerts, local deals and saved coupons.  Expect integration with Google Wallet (and maybe Google+) in the future.

This improvement is crucial as it concentrates around the personal cloud content, and could also help developers in app progress and better marketing strategies.  Google has been finding ways to make a unified feature available in different forms, just in time for Apple’s upcoming iCloud release.  Google is pushing the personal cloud storage to be easily available to the public, leveraging the web and cloud storage for access and delivery.

But as we all know, you can’t always please everyone.  Much like the original Android Market, the revamped version already has critics scrutinizing it.  One of the earliest quirks detected is searching for the things you like or want.  The new interface is beautiful, but if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, then the great interface fades into the background.

In other Google-related news, lawsuits are still on the go, but this time Google’s on the offensive side.  Ever dealing with privacy issues, Google Google was recently asked by  the authorities in India to postpone their Street View project for security reasons as terrorists are using these information to plot their attacks.


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