There is a ton of good stuff coming out of this year’s Google I/O, so while we take a break from the madness, let’s try to get you caught up on the happenings. Last night, an update was pushed out to Google Play Books, allowing for users to upload their own files such as PDFs and EPUBs. There is also a refreshed design for your library and table of contents pages. 

The announcement during yesterday’s I/O keynote that showed off the “Nexus Edition” Samsung Galaxy S4 surprised a lot of people. It was as if Google listened to what we have been saying forever – we want great hardware with stock Android and we want it now! Of course, minds started spinning over the possibilities, but HTC quickly put on the brakes by saying they have no plans for a Nexus Edition One. 

Yesterday, Kellen and myself got back to the hotel and immediately started messing around with Google’s new Hangouts app. While attempting to make a video call over mobile data on AT&T’s network, we got the following message, “You must be connected to a Wi-Fi network to join a video call.” Well, that’s a downer. 

This morning, Google announced the availability of Google Wallet for new Android devices. The newly approved devices are Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 2, along with the HTC One on Sprint. US Cellular also got some love, as their Galaxy S4 is also now compatible with the mobile wallet service. 

To say that readers were disappointed at the lack of SMS support in Google’s new Hangouts application is probably somewhat of an understatement. People are 100% ready to make Hangouts their number one way of communicating via phone, but if SMS (text message) support isn’t there, it becomes difficult, because not everyone you know is going to be up for switching their life over to Hangouts. We had heard through sources of ours that Google Voice support was eventually coming, but that it wouldn’t be a part of the service at launch – something that ended up being true.

Now, according to Google’s G+ community manager of Hangouts and Chat, Dori Storbeck,  SMS is one of their most requested features and will be “coming soon.” 

It’s the eve of the launch of the Google Play Games Services, which apparently means it is time for the exit of Google+ Games. It was short lived, one that will probably not be missed by too many people. Google+ introduced games for their service just a few months ago, allowing users to play games together much like on Facebook. 

Google Hangouts, the new unified and cross-platform messaging service announced by Google at I/O, is now live on all platforms. For most of us, we care about Chrome and Android, but if you are an iOS user, you can find it in the App Store as well. Go grab it!

To install to your phone, you’ll need to install through the web Play store for the time being. This replaces Google Talk. Screenshots after the break! 

During today’s Google I/O keynote, Google and Vic Gundotra announced Hangouts, their new messaging service (previously codenamed Babel). It works across platforms, meaning it works on Chrome, Android, and iOS. It also utilizes cross-device notifications, which allows you to check one device and have the notifications on others clear away. This is the unified chat that has been rumored for weeks now.

The service should go live some time today.

Update:  Hangouts in live in Google Play!