Training app

Nike Training Club: Because I can guess what the most popular new year resolution is, I'm going to recommend this app. It gives you your personal trainer anytime, anywhere. With more than 114 custom-built workouts, you can get lean, toned and stronger in no time. You can choose different workouts that fit your specific goal. You can set your workout to your own music. Exclusive workouts from Rihanna's personal trainer and professional athletes like Paula Radcliffe, Alex Morgan and Hope Solo (consider me convinced ). Here's the link. From the phone search for "nike training club" and install.

Restaurant review app

Zagat: Very useful app especially when traveling. Much better way to find restaurants. It has access to over 30,000 restaurants in the world's top destinations. You can refine your search with a lot of filters, including cuisines, Zagat scores, cost and a lot of dining features (patio dining, open table, child-friendly and more). You can also leave reviews and help others find their favorite restaurant. Here's the link. From the phone search for "zagat" and install. Note: this app requires Google+ membership (Google+ is kind of like Facebook but better).

Shopping app

Etsy: This app will allow you to shop for the things you love from your phone. The app provides access to over 17 million unique items from 800,000 sellers around the world. All these items are hand crafted and unique. The app puts you in contact with small companies you won't find otherwise. You can save the stuff you like and can also see what other people like. My daughter uses this app a lot. She seems to like it. Here's the link. From the phone search for "etsy" and install.

Game

Shipwrecked: So, you get stranded on Lost Island. What do you do? Well, you and the other members of your party can build your own civilization on the island. The game has adventure, magic and romance as you explore the mysterious jungle, discover hidden secrets and build a beach paradise. Easy game that will keep you interested for a long time. Here's the link. From the phone search for "shipwrecked" and install.

Social app

Banjo: This is a cool social app that integrates all the popular social networks ( Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare and Linked In) to provide an on-the-ground view of what's happening anyplace at anytime. You can always see where your friends are (around the corner or around the world). That way you'll know right away if one of your friends is close by (maybe when you're out in town or waiting in an airport) and you can connect with them.You can also receive notifications when a friend is nearby. Here's the link. From the phone search for "banjo" and install.

Magazine app

Zite: Zite is a personalized magazine for your phone. It automatically learns what you like and gets smarter every time you use it. It provides access to great news, articles, blogs and videos. It also helps you discover new stuff you'll love. Have access to stuff you like not what others think you should like. Here's the link. From the phone search for "zite" and install.

Santa app

Talking Santa: With Christmas approaching fast, it is time for us to get this app. The app lets you speak into the microphone and hear Santa repeat your message. You can also poke, swipe or tickle Santa and see his reactions. You can be nice to Santa by offering him milk and cookies or you can be naughty and slap him or send a giant snowball his way. You can send customized Christmas cards to your friends (email, text or Facebook) or record videos and upload them to YouTube or Facebook. Here's the link. From the phone search for "talking santa" and install. Ho, Ho, Ho!!!

Statistics app

Google Zeitgeist 2012: This app is designed by Google and presents you with different statistics for the top searches on Google in 2012. You can search by a whole bunch of categories and find out what people around the world searched for this year. The app also has a very, very cool 2012 Year-In-Review video. It's worth installing the app just to watch the video. Here's the link. From the phone search for "google zeitgeist 2012" and install.

Introducing Magazines on Google Play for the UK

Following hot on the heels of the recent launch of music on Google Play in the UK, we’re pleased to announce that from today, you’ll also be able to buy digital versions of your favourite magazines for reading on the go.

Popular titles from some of the world’s leading publishers such as Condé Nast UK, Dennis Publishing, Future, Haymarket, Hearst UK, Immediate Media and IPC Media are now available for purchase on your Android phone or tablet.

Get in shape with Men’s Fitness, cook up a storm with olive, work off all that turkey and Christmas pudding with Slimming World, catch up on the latest must-have gadgets with T3 and read a preview of The Hobbit in this month’s edition of Total Film.

You can stay abreast of the week’s key events with Hello!, New Statesman and The Spectator and keep on top of the latest lifestyle news with Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Tatler. Petrolheads can pick out some new wheels with What Car?, while domestic goddesses can take their inspiration from Good Housekeeping.

Browse the Play Store to find your favourite magazines, discover new titles with a 30-day free trial, buy single issues or purchase a money-saving monthly or annual subscription to leading titles such as Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and Wired. New Nexus devices even come pre-loaded with free issues of Men’s Fitness, .net and Vogue to get you started.

All your latest issues will be instantly available on your Android tablet or phone, or online, using our web reader, and organised in your collection in the cloud. You can flip through your magazine carousel to quickly decide what to read next or simply search for a specific title in your magazine collection.

Magazines are available today to enjoy on the sofa or on the go via your Android devices and on play.google.com, so please take a look.

Posted by Avi Yaar, Product Manager, Google Play

Sound Search for Google Play widget, now available on Google Play

“What's this song?” Starting today, the Sound Search for Google Play widget is available to download from the Play store, so you can start identifying music playing around you, directly from your Android device’s homescreen.

 

Sometimes, you hear a song you like while you’re out and about but don’t want to download it right at that moment. The Sound Search widget syncs across all of your devices, so that song you recognized with your phone in the coffee shop can be quickly purchased from your tablet at home.

For devices running Android 4.2, you can add the widget directly to your device’s lockscreen, letting you recognize songs without even unlocking your phone, making it even easier for you to catch that song at the club.

The Sound Search for Google Play widget is available on Google Play for devices in the U.S. running Android 4.0 and above. After you’ve installed it, go to the widget picker and drag the Sound Search widget onto your homescreen. You can click on the widget at any time to start recognizing music around you.

Posted by Annie Chen, Software Engineer

New in Google Currents: Scan through your favorite categories, editions and breaking news

Keeping up on the news out there can be overwhelming. That's where Google Currents comes in—an app that allows you to discover, share and read your favorite news outlets, blogs and online magazines (what we together refer to as “editions”) on your smartphone or tablet—even when you’re offline. Currents is filled with great editions like The Los Angeles Times, CBS Sports, Android Central, The Guardian, Shortlist, and Forbes. Today, we’re revamping Currents to make it even easier to scan through all your favorite categories and specific editions with just the swipe of a finger. And, we’re using some of the technology behind Search to bring you breaking stories on those celebrity scandals, that fiscal cliff negotiation or hottest holiday gift.

Scan through categories 
We’re now grouping editions into categories to help you keep track of your existing subscriptions and discover new ones. Check out editions related to your interests through categories like Entertainment, Sports, Lifestyle and more. All of your content will be grouped in these categories, accessible from a sidebar. And you can organize your editions in each category with favorites on top.

We’ve also made it easy to quickly browse through top articles from all your favorite editions in a category—just swipe horizontally. If you subscribe to more than a dozen News editions like The Atlantic, ABC News and The Telegraph, you can quickly swipe through the entire category and dive into editions with articles of interest.

 

Scan through editions 
We’ve also made it easier to scan headlines in a particular edition—just swipe vertically. Want to see what’s new in Popular Science? Just swipe through through the headlines. After you view a story we’ll mark it as read, so it’s easier to see new content each time you use Currents.

Scan through breaking stories 
To help you stay up-to-date with the latest news, Google Currents now uses some of the technology behind Search to deliver the hottest breaking stories in categories such as World, Entertainment, Sports, Science and more. You’ll find new articles from hot topics that interest you, while discovering existing Currents editions you can subscribe to. Breaking stories are customized to your country and language—so we’ll only show you relevant news.

Currents optimizes editions to look great on whatever type of device you're using. Now articles shine, with larger images and layouts that are intelligently optimized for your device, whether you're on a phone or a tablet. Check out some of our newest featured partners like Cars.com, Voice of America News and New Scientist.

Back in April we expanded Google Currents internationally. Since then millions of readers around the world have downloaded Currents, reading over 700 publisher editions and tens of thousands of self-produced editions. The updated app is now available for download on Google Play and coming soon to iOS. We hope that today’s updates make keeping up with the latest news fast, easy and fun no matter where you are or what device you’re using.

Posted by Mussie Shore, Group Product Manager

New Google Now: the perfect travel companion for the holidays

Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen! For Santa’s holiday travel this season, Google Now is just the prescription.

As you head off this holiday season, the latest update to Google Now makes it even more useful for traveling. Before you even leave your house, Google Now will tell you what the weather will be like at your destination (just in time to make sure you remember to pack those mittens). At the airport, your boarding pass is automatically pulled up, helping you breeze through to the gate (launching shortly for United Airlines, with more to come). And once you've arrived at your destination, Google Now can help you uncover some great activities, by showing you events happening around you, suggesting websites for you to explore as you research things to do, or allowing you to learn more about specific pieces while you’re at a museum (using Google Goggles).

All of this builds on top of some of the other cards designed for travel, like the currency conversion, translation, and flight status cards -- hopefully taking a little bit of the stress out of holiday travel so you can focus on family and fun.

We're also making Voice Search even more powerful: you can find out the name of the song that’s playing (“What’s this song?”), quickly find product info (“Scan this barcode”) and post updates to Google+ simply by using just your voice.

These goodies are waiting for you in the updated Google Search app, available on Google Play for devices running Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, or higher.

Posted by Baris Gultekin, Product Management Director