Google Play Gift card now available in India

Google has announced the availability of physical Google Play Gift cards in India. Google announced prepaid cards in June in India. The cards available at the moment are priced at Rs 750, Rs 1000 and Rs 1,500. These cards can me used to buy Apps, Games, Magazines or Movies from Play Store using the Redeem Code provided in the card.

Cortana for Android now available as Public Beta

Microsoft's voice assistant Cortana for android was leaked many times and now Microsoft has made the app available as Public Beta. But it seems that it is available only in US.

Google Chrome Dev version is now available for Android

On Android, Google’s Chrome Web browser has long had a Beta version in the Play Store for eager people to try. Yet until today the Dev channel releases that Chrome regularly gets on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux did not have a correspondent for Android.

If you love living on the bleeding edge of browser development, then you’ll be happy to know that starting today you can try Chrome Dev for Android too. This is already up for grabs in the Play Store, but it seems geo-restricted for now, so you may not be able to download it depending on your location.

Chrome Dev for Android will act as the Dev channel of the browser for the search giant’s mobile operating system. It will be “published on roughly the same schedule as other platform Dev channels”, according to Google itself. The first release is version 44.0.2384.4.

If you use Chrome Dev, remember that features and functionality will be rough around the edges, and things may break or stop working at random times. If you’re fine with that, don’t forget to give feedback by following the bug filing procedure outlined at the Source link below.

Facebook’s new Hello dialer is Truecaller mashed up with Google Dialer

A month after getting accidentally leaked in the company’s Android app, Facebook’s dialer and caller ID app “Hello” has become official. The company released the application in Google Play earlier today for free, but it seems to be US-only right now and Facebook has not revealed any plans for expanded availability.

“Billions of calls are made everyday on mobile phones and people often have very little information about who’s calling them. Today we are starting to test Hello, a new app built by the Messenger team. Hello connects with Facebook so you can see who’s calling, block unwanted calls and search for people and places,” wrote Andrea Vaccari, Product Manager at Facebook, in a blog post.

Developed by the Facebook Messenger team, Hello offers four basic functions apart from what any normal dialer app comes with – automatic look-up for unknown callers, search for people and businesses on Facebook, block unwanted calls, make VOIP calls using Messenger.

According to the company, the app uses Facebook database to identify unknown callers or to offer details of local businesses and people. The call block feature in the app allows the users block specific numbers and adjust whether they want to automatically blocks calls from commonly blocked numbers in settings. All the blocked calls go to voice-calls, so that they can be reviewed later.

Concerned about your privacy, Facebook only shows information on people that they have already shared it with you or publicly on Facebook.

Hello will be competing with Truecaller, which is most popular caller-ID app on Android, and also offers its dialer app in Google Play for free. Truecaller Dialer however doesn’t include local search. Google’s own dialer, which comes bundled with Nexus and Google Play edition devices, does provide in-built local search support. So basically, Facebook has bundled the best for both these apps in the Hello, but it remains to be seen whether Facebook’s caller-ID or local businesses database trumps the Google and Truecaller databases, both of which are tried and test and quietly possible the biggest in the industry right now.

Google announces Google Play redesign, rolling-out now

After a slew of leaks, Google has officially unveiled the redesigned Google Play Store for Android users. Company today noted in a blog post that the redesigned Play Store is slowly being rolled-out to all Android phones and tablets that are powered by Android 2.0 or above.

The company expects the roll-out to complete in the next few weeks for all global users.

The Google Play redesign brings Google Now like cards design as well bigger images to Play Store.  Now, Google Play will also group the similar content together to help with the discovery.

“The new design focuses on bigger images that jump off the page. Similarly themed content is grouped together so you can hone in on a magazine to read or an app to try. As you move down the page, new recommendations continue to appear so there is always more to see and explore. We’ve also simplified purchasing so you can breeze through checkout and get to enjoying your movie rental or other content,” Google noted in a blog post.

While, the phones and 7-inch tablets have similar Google Play design, Google has better used the bigger display real-estate in 10-inch tablets.

There is no redesign for the web-version at the moment, but we would certainly like to see it getting revamped soon. May be at Google I/O 2013?

Nexus 7 3G, 32GB Wi-Fi tablets launched in India, starting INR 18,999

Join the already available Nexus 7 16GB tablet in the country

Soon after the launch of Nexus 7 16GB Wi-Fi only version in the country, now Asus India has announced the release of Nexus 7 Wi-Fi only 32GB version as well as Nexus 7 3G version in the country. The 3G also comes with 32GB of internal storage.

Earlier, Google has started selling the Nexus 7 16GB version via the Google Play store in the country for INR 15,999.

Google Nexus 7 tablet packs a 1.2GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 1GB RAM, Android 4.1 (Android 4.2.2 update available OTA), 32GB of internal storage and 1.2MP front camera. The tablet also comes with Wi-Fi connectivity, 7-inch 1280x800p resolution IPS display with Corning scratch-resistant glass.

“We are elated to announce the most awaited ASUS Nexus 7 to the Indian consumers. We have received an assenting reception for this tablet from the users globally and we are happy to cater to the growing demand in India by making it easily available in the country. The ASUS Nexus 7 is a promisingly thin, light and portable marvel which will revolutionize your computing experience and to become your permanent travel companion. It is one of the finest products available at an affordable pricing with exceptional speed and performance,” said Peter Chang, Regional Head – South Asia & Country Manager, System Business Group, ASUS India.

Pricing and availability

The 32GB version of Nexus 7 Wi-Fi tablet has been priced at INR 18,999, while the Nexus 7 3G tablet with 32GB of storage will be sold for INR 21,999. Both the versions seem to be only available via Asus channel partners, as we are yet to see them listed on Google Play.

Update: We have a confirmation from Asus India that the new versions (3G and 32GB) won’t be available via Google Play and will go on sale through their retail partners.