UPDATED 15:32 EDT / JANUARY 16 2014

NEWS

Google Play Services 4.1 update brings location based advertising opportunity for developers

New Android versions are always a cause for celebration as Google works some interesting new features into its mobile OS. Similarly, updates to Google Play Service should be met with the same kind of enthusiasm as Android app developers get more features to play around with.

Google has announced a new version of Play Services, an app that is closely related to the Android operating system. The update improves battery life, among other things, for some users complain about the consumption of Play Services app.

In addition, the latest release of Google Play services has begun rolling out to users. It includes new turn based multiplayer support for games, and a preliminary API for integrating Google Drive into apps. This update also improves battery life for all users with Google location reporting enabled. Once the rollout has completed, developers will be able to download the SDK using the Android SDK manager and get started with the new APIs.

The new version of Google Play Services was announced via its developer blog has been given version number 4.1. According to the Internet giant’s new version brings with it improvements that should ensure a longer battery life, especially if they are turned on. Google’s location service users have been complaining for some time about a lesser battery life by Play Services.

With Play Games, the games service that Google Android previously introduced, it is possible to upload to Play Services, after which they will be shared automatically with other players. There is support for gaming up to eight players.

Location based Ads, Google+ and Google Drive for developers

Developers can now use the new Google Drive API integrated into Google Play services. This allows them to store and retrieve files from Google Drive. Google has also updated the Google+ features into play services and content sharing with Google+ users should become easier. The new API Google Drive will be able to read and write files on the account of a user of Google Drive.

The advertising opportunities in Play services expanded. Google Play services developers can use ads from Google Mobile Ads. These ads may now be targeted by adding location data.

A better experience of sharing Google Plus that makes it even easier for users to share content with their friends from the app. The update also includes improvements to auto-complete contacts from Gmail, the contacts of the device, and persons in Google Plus.

With Google Play Service 4.1, the Google Mobile Ads SDK now fully supports DoubleClick for Publishers, DoubleClick Ad Exchange and Search Ads for Mobile Apps. You can also use the new API to provide Google with the position of the device at the time of the request of the advertisements (according to Google, the location-based ads can improve the type of ads shown).


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