Now that Google I/O is wrapping up here in San Francisco and we finally have a chance to take a minute and breathe, we decided to sit down and do an overview of the new Google Play Music app along with its accompanying All Access service. Announced on Wednesday as a subscription-based Pandora and Spotify competitor, All Access is an important piece to the media puzzle for Google. The future of music appears to be in streaming services. 

We have heard rumors up until this point, but today during their keynote, Google made their new streaming music service official. Google Play  Music “All Access” gives users the ability to search through Google’s huge amount of songs and the ability to play them instantly. An all new UI allows you to swipe away songs if you don’t want them and the ability to make radio stations instantly based on one song. The price of this new streaming service is $9.99 per month, but everyone gets a 30 free trial. If you are an early adopter and sign up before June however, your price is only $7.99.

The I/O keynote is still going on, come and join us!

Update:  The service is now live! Get to it here. 

We’re at the Google I/O keynote and Google just announced their new Google Play game services which include cloud save, achievements, and leaderboards. They also announced that it will be cross platform, so that iOS users can take advantage. As if those new, awesome features weren’t enough, Google+ sign-in has been integrated into this service and once games are installed with this API you can invite friends from your circles on G+ and they will receive notifications to join directly into your game. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as we learn more about this new awesome service.

If you are not there already, join us in our liveblog to watch the event!

Well, Google Play Games has been confirmed by a number of app updates before the Google I/O keynote has even started. As you can see in the changelog for the update to TripleTown (and Modern Combat 4 below), we’re getting “Google Play game services” that include leaderboards and achievements as long as you sign into the game with your Google+ account. 

As we approach Google I/O’s keynote tomorrow, all sorts of changes are beginning to happen in and around the world of Android. We just saw the new Google Play store version 4.1.6 go up and become available for download. It features a tweaked section button experience from the home page, new Wishlist appearance, and spaced out buttons on app pages. Following that news, we have the new Google Play Services app version 3.1.36 that includes new toggles for “App Data” and “People Details.” 

A day ahead of the Google I/O keynote, an update is rolling out to Google Play, version number 4.1.6. Inside the update is a new look for the home buttons (Apps, Games, Movies, etc.), giving them a more colorful appearance. On top of that, it appears that each application page is laid out better, with the  ”open” and “install” buttons being separated a bit more. In the previous version, they were a bit cramped and I know we voiced our minor frustrations about that during one of our DL Shows. 

The value of comments anywhere on the internet can range from very bad to very useful. When it comes to Google Play, the best way to get feedback on an application is to read the reviews from the people who have actually used it. To cultivate more interaction in reviews, Google now allows all app developers on Google Play to respond to reviews on their applications. 

One of the bigger surprises to come out of last year’s I/O keynote was the announcement of the Nexus Q. The spherical entertainment system was meant to bring Android and Google Play right into your living room, but for the price of $300 many weren’t sure if it was worth it for what it did. After only a month of sale, Google put the Q on hold indefinitely and now with I/O coming up again, rumors are contradicting each other over whether or not the Q might be given a second life.