With the release of the Jelly Bean operating system, it brought many new features for Android users to take advantage of. One of new features is called Sound Search. Sound Search can be directly compared to other applications like Shazam and SoundHound, the main difference being that Google’s Sound Search utilizes their own servers to recognize the music and then direct you to Google Play to purchase the song.

Google created a Sound Search widget that you can easily place on any homescreen for you to find out what that certain song is. Let’s go ahead and set it up. 

First, you will need to place the widget on a homescreen. To do this, follow these directions.

Setting up the widget:

1.  Open the app drawer. In the top left you will see two sections. One for “Apps” and one for “Widgets.”
2.  Hit “Widgets.”
3.  Scroll to the right until you find Google’s Sound Search widget.
4.  Long press on the widget to place it on a homescreen.

You have now successfully enabled the Sound Search widget.

Using Sound Search:

Using Sound Search is just as easy as setting it up. Follow these directions to use Sound Search properly.

1.  While the song is being played, tap on the Sound Search widget.
2.  Place your device close to the speaker to make sure the device can hear the song/audio being played.
3.  After a few seconds, if the song is recognized by Google, album art and the song’s title will be displayed.
4.  Along with this information is a price for the song on Google Play, followed by a refresh button for you to identify a new song.
5.  To purchase the song, click on the price tag and you will be directed to Google Play to buy the song or the entire album.

*Android Beginners Guide is a way for people new to Android to get to learn how Android works. We will be posting many tips and tricks on how to optimize your usage of the Android operating system.

How to: Use Jelly Bean’s Sound Search [Beginners' Guide] is a post from: Droid Life

One of the many awesome features that Jelly Bean has brought to the Android table is Google’s new Sound Search or “Ears.” It is designed to replace well known applications such as Shazam and SoundHound by hearing music that is played, recognizing it, and then linking to Google Play to buy the track.

When first ported, it was only working on root-only devices, but now, it’s been made available for everyone running non-root Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 and above. Simply download and install as you would any other third-party application.

Download Link: Google Ears.apk

Via: MobilePhonesFan

Google’s Sound Search App from Jelly Bean Made Available for Non-Rooted ICS Devices is a post from: Droid Life

A few interesting updates await you in the Play Store today if you head on over. First up is an update for arguably the best app of all time, Google Maps. The application will now show you Google Offers based on your location, so if you’re walking around downtown you can find where to go to lunch and save some money. The map view of this is particularly handy. Also tucked into this update is “360 degree panoramas inside restaurants and stores” and indoor walking directions for the US and Japan. Both of which can be pretty interesting once they become more widespread.

Shazam also has an update waiting for you, one that enables NFC if you have it. You can “swap tags and share your favorite music” through Android Beam just by tapping your two phones together (provided you both have NFC). Now you can really be that guy who shares the music with all of his friends.

Play Links: Maps | Shazam

Google Maps Update Brings Offers and Indoor Directions to Your Map, Shazam Update Enables Android Beam Tag Sharing is a post from: Droid Life

What’s with all of these app companies outing new versions of Android ahead of time?  Yesterday, we saw Rdio claiming to now support Ice Cream Sandwich – something we found sort of hard to believe.  Today though, Shazam received an update that says it now supports Android 3.3, a newer build of Honeycomb than anyone has seen.

We all know that Android 3.2 introduced support for a variety of tablet screen sizes, SD card (read-only) support, and a useful new zooming feature for apps, but had not heard of a version to follow it yet.  Could 3.3 be just around the corner?  Any ideas on what it may include?  Or should we assume that Shazam simply meant 3.2?

Update:  I should point out that both my XOOM and Galaxy Tab are not showing as compatible with Shazam and I’m also hearing that Transformers on 3.2 can’t see it, so maybe 3.3 is the real deal.  Maybe Shazam is introducing a tablet version with 3.3.  Fun, fun.

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Cheers @Samlehman90!

Shazam Receives Update to Support Android 3.3? (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life