TechCrunch notes that people who buy phones and tablets based on Android OS 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) are asked to join Google+ and enter a valid credit card as part of the new system configuration process. So, what does this mean for the Google+ social network and Google’s bottom line?
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Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews. 
Google’s revving up for a full assuault on Apple’s iTunes. They announced that the Android Market app will be updated “in the coming weeks” for phones running Android OS 2.2 or newer. The, which currently only supports app purchases, will also permit renting movies and buying ebooks. Movies can be downloaded and watched without a connection to the Internet. Movie rentals made on a phone are linked to the person’s Google account making it also available on an Android tablet or desktop computer.
A new Android Market for phones, with books and movies
Video courtesy of Google
It seems like there’s an app for everything, even for finding apps. Launched today, Mobilewalla is a slick new search tool that rates and ranks mobile applications sold on Apple, Android, Blackberry and Windows 7 app stores.
The interface is colorful and fun to navigate. Users can search for apps by category, name, price or keywords and will find them ranked according to the usefulness of the app as well as the reputation of the developer. Currently, Google Maps tops the list of “All Time Greats,” with an app score of 99 out of 100. Apple is also leading the app race with 373,052 applications made at time of this post, with Android following closely behind at 234,489.
“We aim to be for the app world a comprehensive consumer guide as well as an unbiased rating system,” said Mobilewalla founder and executive chairman Anindya Datta, Phd., in a statement.
Datta’s last venture, Chutney Technologies, was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2005. Mobilewalla, which is based in Atlanta, GA, received funding from private investors and scientific research grants from government agencies in Singapore.
CNN announced the launch of its CNN App for the Android Honeycomb tablet platform, available free-of-charge via the Android Market.
As the cable news network detailed earlier this month, the app includes iReport capture and upload functionality, live and on-demand video, and CNN Radio updates. The main screen can be viewed in Broadsheet mode, which presents up to 350 stories, along with images and headlines, as well as direct access to the other components mentioned above.
Users can comment alongside content on the screen and share text stories and images via email, Facebook, and Twitter, and they can also flip through story headlines and images directly on their home screens by accessing the app’s layered image widget.
The app marks the first time user-generated news community iReport is available on a tablet, and its live video takes advantage of HTTP live streaming capabilities.
