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Google Unifies Media, Apps Into Google Play 146

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the enslavement-was-never-so-much-fun dept.
eldavojohn writes "Google has just announced Google Play to merge their existing solutions for music, movies, books and apps in the new cloud based storage system promising that you will never have to worry about losing or moving them across devices ever again. You'll be able to store 20,000 songs for free. The region breakdown is: 'In the U.S., music, movies, books and Android apps are available in Google Play. In Canada and the U.K., we'll offer movies, books and Android apps; in Australia, books and apps; and in Japan, movies and apps. Everywhere else, Google Play will be the new home for Android apps.'"
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Google Unifies Media, Apps Into Google Play More

Google Unifies Media, Apps Into Google Play

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  • Will Apple file a lawsuit? (Score:5, Funny)

    by walterbyrd ( 182728 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @03:58PM (#39266391)

    Seems like it might infringe on the idea behind iTunes, or App Store, or something.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by imamac ( 1083405 )
      I don't think it would infringe, but it is certainly Google's "me too" moment of the day.

      • Re:Will Apple file a lawsuit? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by oakgrove ( 845019 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @05:51PM (#39267755)
        It's called business. Apple makes a lot of money and is in a sector ripe for real competition. It's the war of the ecosystems and with MS and Apple playing for keeps you better believe Google is going to step in the mix.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by imamac ( 1083405 )
          Oh don't interpret my comment (as some mods did) as negative or attacking Google. I'm completely for this. Competition is good. I hope they continue this type of relationship (without the lawsuits) to spur competition and keep making better products and services.

      • Google Music has been out before Apple's equivalent cloud offering. And they had a web interface to Android market long before iOS got one.

        This thing is really just an aggregation of existing Google cloud services under a single brand.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Threni ( 635302 )

      Something, yes. Obviously, the cloud - that is, another computer connected to your computer over a network - was invented by Apple. I'm surprised Google has the front to try and rip them off so blatantly. This will not end well.

  • Why store songs? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    When I get almost the entire catalog via Pandora or Spotify?

  • Yay! (Score:5, Funny)

    by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @03:58PM (#39266395) Journal

    At last, somewhere to store all my pirated music and movies!!!!!

    • Just use archive.org for that. It may take half a year for new files to show up, though.

    • And get caught!

      • Exactly! That's why I'm planning to buy 20000 copies of Madonna's Like a Virgin at a discount price of 15000 USD and store them in my Google account. That way, since elsewhere a song costs 99 cent each, I'll save 4800 bucks. A bargain, if you ask me.

  • I don't want my cloud provider to know type of media that's on there - if they know they'll pull it down at request or in case of apps possibly if the publisher just doesn't renew.

    also a little birdie told me thet bitcasa beta is open.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Encryption.

    • Re:I don't want my cloud provider to know type of (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Americano ( 920576 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @04:44PM (#39266963)

      If security, confidentiality, and permanent ownership of the stuff stored are such overriding concerns, then it's likely that a cloud service isn't for you, and you should avoid using one.

    • Then go with a zero-knowledge provider like SpiderOak [spideroak.com]. All of the data is encrypted on their servers. Your password is encrypted before it even leaves your computer. (If you lose your password, your recovery option is "I'm fucked".)

      Moreover, even if the feds came knocking on their door, all they could say is that you have x gigs of data on this particular server. The company can't even view your files, no matter how much they (or law enforcement, or a court) might want to.

      • Then go with a zero-knowledge provider like SpiderOak [spideroak.com]. All of the data is encrypted on their servers. Your password is encrypted before it even leaves your computer. (If you lose your password, your recovery option is "I'm fucked".)

        Moreover, even if the feds came knocking on their door, all they could say is that you have x gigs of data on this particular server. The company can't even view your files, no matter how much they (or law enforcement, or a court) might want to.

        Unfortunately many countries [wikipedia.org] have laws under which you can be forced to give up your encryption keys to law enforcement. God only knows how the US has resisted implementing laws like this so far, although I don't see this situation lasting long considering how the government lately seems hell bent on eliminating the human rights of its citizens.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by geekoid ( 135745 )

          And every country has a guy willing to wield a lead pipe.

        • What if you create an encryption key, upload a few files, and then forget the key and lose any written copies? How can they force you to provide something which no longer exists?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by gl4ss ( 559668 )

          it's still miles away from being auto-profiled for lawsuit based on the mp3's you have.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by afabbro ( 33948 )
        Or better: Tarsnap [tarsnap.com] - "online backups for the truly paranoid".

    • Re:I don't want my cloud provider to know type of (Score:5, Insightful)

      by JohnFen ( 1641097 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @07:25PM (#39268737)

      Then don't use cloud-based services. That's the route I take -- I just don't use them. I do use an Android phone and apparently will be using the cloud for apps, but that's all.

      If you want cloud services, then use encryption -- but understand, if you're truly concerned, that encryption will not guarantee that your stuff stays private. All public key encryption is breakable without difficulty to someone who has access to a large sampling of your encrypted data and lots of CPU cycles to throw at the problem. Such as cloud providers do.

  • Some background (Score:5, Informative)

    by DeathFromSomewhere ( 940915 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @04:01PM (#39266447)
    It's worth pointing out that all of this functionality is already available. There is nothing new here except the name and an icon. Not even an interface change. Much ado about nothing.
    • It's even more worth pointing out that good re-branding can increase sales and bad re-branding can bankrupt companies ( Qwickster anyone? )

  • All my stuff in the cloud... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Picass0 ( 147474 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @04:12PM (#39266577) Homepage Journal

    ...until I wake up one day and it's not.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      I have moved a lot to the cloud.

      I recently set up a computer.
      Install Steam,
      get games,
      install Chrome
      Done.
      No buying software,. no installing office like tools, no looking for game disks, no copying over music, no duplicating the file structure.

      Easy, peasy.

      If you back up now, then you can back up your docs from the cloud. If you don't back up now, then stop being an idiot and do so.

      *Any browser, but I use chrome.

    • Routinely back everything you store in the cloud locally. Problem solved.

    • ...until it RIAANS?

  • WHY? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DarthVain ( 724186 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @04:17PM (#39266621)

    USA: Music, Movies, Books, Apps
    CAN: Movies, Books, Apps
    UK: Movies, Books, Apps
    Au: Books, Apps
    Japan: Movies, Apps

    Um, does this not seem odd? Only the US can store Music in Google Cloud? Is this because the RIAA can sue people there? Why the mashup of various media in various places. I wonder does this have more to do with law in the country in question, or the county of origin? Considering the stellar privacy stuff lately, I think I would rather figure out how to host my own server to take my stuff anywhere I like.

    Oh and Books? Really? I mean you can fit like what a million on a micro SD card these days. Hell even music, unless you have a 20,000 song library, you can fit more music than you could ever really want on a 16GB smartphone... 32GB even more.

    Video is intriguing. I can just imagine what is going to be uploaded there.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Each of these industries are entrenched in more than a hundred years of business law and protect their regional fiefdoms viciously. They do so because they all know the internet makes them completely obsolete. They know that without the anchor of a physical pretense some small company anywhere in the world can beat them.

      • Re:WHY? (Score:4, Informative)

        by rsborg ( 111459 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @06:23PM (#39268083) Homepage

        Each of these industries are entrenched in more than a hundred years of business law and protect their regional fiefdoms viciously. They do so because they all know the internet makes them completely obsolete. They know that without the anchor of a physical pretense some small company anywhere in the world can beat them.

        Yet, with Apple, you can do all of this and more with iCloud + iTunes Match in 19+ countries. What it means is that Apple figured out there is no winning against the MAFIAA, and have paid their cut. Google is slowly starting to get with the program.

        It's unfortunate, but it does appear that the media industry is going to win vs. the internet by balkanizing or eliminating it entirely.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Threni ( 635302 )

      > I wonder does this have more to do with law in the country in question, or the county of origin?
      > Considering the stellar privacy stuff lately, I think I would rather figure out how to host my own server
      > to take my stuff anywhere I like.

      I'm guessing it's to do with licensing.

      Oh, and some of us have much, much more music than will even begin to fit onto a 32GB `smartphone`.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by nurb432 ( 527695 )

        Oh, and some of us have much, much more music than will even begin to fit onto a 32GB `smartphone`.

        Right, and we stream the files from home, where we don't have to worry about someone searching thru them on some public server, to see what we have that they can nail us to the wall with.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )

        when do you plan on listening to it all?

      • Oh I do not doubt. So do I. However do I have a need or even want to carry around 32GB of music? Not really. Most of it is music I haven't used in ages.

    • ...

      Video is intriguing. I can just imagine what is going to be uploaded there.

      Not the generic "Video" it's "Movies" and it is Google's movie rental service. Near as I can tell there is no uploading, although you would think they would wrap YouTube in there somehow.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rhook ( 943951 )

      Video is intriguing. I can just imagine what is going to be uploaded there.

      Nothing since you only get access to video's you purchase/rent from Google.

    • Um, does this not seem odd?

      No, it's copyright law. "Odd" with copyright law would be "Appears to have some logic behind it other than greed."

      And if things ever DO seem "odd" (in the sense that they make sense) with copyright law, be very afraid: they REALLY have you where they want you.

  • The problem with clouds (Score:4, Insightful)

    by kawabago ( 551139 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @04:28PM (#39266741)
    is dissipation.

  • Dumb move. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by __Paul__ ( 1570 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @04:39PM (#39266905)

    "Google Play" sounds like an environment for children. Why would people look there for serious applications?

  • I can't be the only one that thinks the new name, Play Store, sounds a lot like something that would come from a children's toy mfg. Not the image you want to brand on your serious apps. Should've kept it Market.

    • Play Store, sounds a lot like something that would come from a children's toy mfg. Not the image you want to brand on your serious apps. Should've kept it Market.

      Ah, "Market Play", indeed.

  • Looks like RIM is going to have to find a new name for their tablet now that Google is using the "play" prefix.

    This new Google Play thing even has a Play Books section!

  • First test (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jeti ( 105266 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @05:09PM (#39267303)

    I just tested the new Google Play apps. Here's what I found:

    Google Play Books: This item cannot be installed in your device's coutry
    Google Play Music: This item cannot be installed in your device's coutry
    Google Play Movies: This item cannot be installed in your device's coutry

    (German user)

    • Again, all is broken, i am still waiting for my google voice in portugal..... google looks like my ex always changing the shitty furniture around the house to look the same in the end.

      • Hello, fellow Portuguese guy!

        Google Voice actually became available in Portugal a few months ago! Go give it a try!

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Google Search taught me what my life was worth. Google Docs lets me write at home in my socks. Google Mail, I get so much I want to wail. Google Maps led me into a criminals trap. Google Play, another way to make me Google Prey.

  • Vetted Apps (Score:3)

    by WindBourne ( 631190 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @05:21PM (#39267407) Journal
    It would actually be better if they would create a secured server in which only vetted apps are in it. My parents and in-laws are now on Android, and I worry about their downloading apps. Basically, it would be better for them to pay $.99-5 / app KNOWING that it is safe, rather than have access to so many apps of which a small number of them are insecure.
    • If you're that paranoid, word has it Amazon is running some kind of Android app store. If the rumors are to be believed you can even go to their website on your Android device and install the installer.
      • I did not say that it was for me. I said that I wanted this for my parents and in-laws. They are in their 70's. And the ipod would not work for them. All of them got the samsung Galaxy S II because of the screen size as well as the voice. It makes sense for google to offer up a different market that is secured, while allowing me to run appbrain.

    • It would actually be better if they would create a secured server in which only vetted apps are in it.

      I suspect that this isn't so easy to do, based on the fact that nobody is doing this in a really effective way yet. Google does as good a job of it as anybody else.

  • So, they still don't want my money... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by gshegosh ( 1587463 ) on Tuesday March 06, 2012 @06:28PM (#39268141)
    ...just because I live in Poland or some other "obscure" country. I say fuck you and go back to piratebay.

  • promising that you will never have to worry about losing or moving them across devices ever again.

    You know, until they shut down the service in 18 months because it isn't popular enough...

    • Or arbitrarily block your account without giving you a reason beyond "ToS violation", and then a few days later, restore access, again without explanation.

      I wish this stuff worked. I wish you could rely on it. It would make life so much easier ...until they blocked access to my account.

  • As if finding something in Apps Market wasn't hard enough!

  • A few years ago I downloaded some test video from Google Video... doesn't work anymore since they shut things down.

    So it's kind of amusing that Google is trying to solve a problem they themselves took part in at one point.

    In contrast any video downloaded from iTunes still works - even if it's not in the store anymore.

    However, given the nature of DRM video I still think of all DRM protected video as a rental. It might be a long term rental, it's great if it still works but I'm not silly enough to expect it always will. Until the video content providers managed to get their eyelids forced open Clockwork Orange style and made to see the same light the music industry saw, very little will change about online video as much as Google (or Apple) might claim you can access it "forever".

    Here's to hoping whatever Apple comes up with un regards to a newer version of AppleTV is a step towards the video industry seeing that light.

  • How long will it be before civilians are no longer allowed to purchase/own storage media, I wonder. I mean, all it's ever used for is piracy, right? According to the RIAA/MPAA?

    Then again, there's probably more money to be made in litigation than in actually making/selling music/movies.

  • How nice, all unified, except that quite a number of users have, since last week, not been able to edit their google docs. Searching for "help docs trying to reach google.com" shows how bad this problem is, and also displays google's apparent lack of interest in fixing it.

    I can't wait to see the response when a problem occurs on this unified system of theirs :(

  • How come the US get to store music but we don't? I thought the US music comnpanies were far more hardcore than in the UK?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by lpq ( 583377 )

      Actually music is only supported in the US, where devices to allow easy transfer of music are generally not sold by agreements to keep them out of the hands of consumers. Like -- my last 2 phones -- no way to transfer songs to the phone over USB -- only to send them to the phone by paying to do it over the phone network where you are charged by the MB (after paying an initial $50 (~ £20-30)/mo for access.

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