Google TVs in the UK, France and Germany will all welcome the Google Play store this month

Google has announced it is expanding the reach of its Google Play store on Google TV boxes, with the UK, France and Germany all gaining access to movies and music later this month.

Google TV has been around for a few years, but didn’t make it to Europe until mid-2011. Last month, Google added Google Play support to its set-top boxes, and thankfully it hasn’t taken another year for them to provide the same service elsewhere in the world, as today, Google has announced that it will be opening up Google Play for Google TV boxes in the UK, Germany and France on November 13.

With Google Play available on Google TV, access will be granted to the music and movie stores, but it has yet to be confirmed whether TV shows will be included. It’s also unclear how many studios and content providers have signed agreements with Google and for which countries, so expect them all to vary when it goes live. Finally, there’s no information on pricing for renting or buying content for Google TV either.

Initially, Google added Canada and Australia to its list of lucky new countries, but these have since been removed with an apology, and a promise that more locations will be added soon. Whether this was a mistake, or the result of some last minute legal wrangling, isn’t known. However, if it’s the latter, then they may appear again sooner rather than later.

If the news that Google Play is coming to Google TV in your home country has inspired you to seek out a box, your choice is slim, with Sony’s NSZ-GS7 being one of the only official, current options. It’s yours for £160 through Amazon in the UK. By contrast, Apple TV, the closest competitor to Google TV is a mere £75, and provides access to iTunes and its extensive collection of movies, music and television shows.

The November 13 release date will be a busy one for Google, as it’s the same day the new Nexus 4 smartphone and Nexus 10 tablet go on sale too.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Kindle Paperwhite now up for pre-order in UK, France and Germany

The Kindle Paperwhite finally made it across the pond. Amazon UK, France and Germany are already accepting pre-orders. UK users however, will be getting it a good month in advance.

Amazon UK has a suggested shipping date of 25 Oct, while both Amazon DE and Amazon FR expect it to launch on 22 Nov. The custom Paperwhite Leather Cover, which is capable of activating the reader magnetically, will be available around the same time, but it’s priced at the rather steep £31/€35 .

Speaking about prices, the UK version of the Kindle Paperwhite costs £109 for the Wi-Fi model, and £169 for the 3G-enabled model. The price in Germany and France is €129 for Wi-Fi version and €189 for the 3G one.

Interestingly, none of the three European stores mentions Special Offers, so I’m guessing the European edition of the Paperwhite will come unadulterated. Oh, but there’s a limit of two per customer.

Of course, if you need a charger, that’s an (overpriced) extra. The Paperwhite ships only with USB cable, much like most previous Kindle models. You can always use a charger from another device, or simply charge it off a computer.

The product pre-order campaign comes along with the related news that Amazon’s Kindle Owners’ Lending Library will finally launch in UK, Germany, and France. It’s a free perk for Amazon Prime subscribers. They can lend one e-book per month, picking it out of the growing library catalog. The Library will launch later this month – I’m guessing, just in time for the launch of the Paperwhite.

Stateside, the Kindle Paperwhite reviews have been raving so far. I’ve been eyeing a front-lit e-ink reader for a while now, so I went ahead and pre-ordered one from the European stock myself.

Are you getting one too?

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Google Nexus 7 available in the Netherlands, Italy and Japan, on pre-order in Taiwan

The availability of the Google Nexus 7 tablet continues to expand. Last week France, Germany and Spain got it, now it has reached Italy and the Netherlands too. It’s also cropping up halfway across the world in Taiwan and Japan too.

People in the Netherlands can grab a Nexus 7 16GB for €250 right now (16GB/€250 is the deal other Euro countries got too). We only managed to find the deal in a MediaMarkt brochure, but if you find it elsewhere, we’d appreciate a link.

MediaWorld Italy (which is part of the same chain as MediaMarkt) also has the 16GB tablet in stock for the same price. The Italian Asus Store on the other hand has the Asus-made tablet on pre-order with September 17 listed as the expected shipping date. Fnac.it is taking pre-orders with a September 14 shipping date.

Amazon Japan has both the 8GB and 16GB versions of the Nexus 7, but the smaller version is priced at 26,200 yen ($335). The 16GB version costs 30,500 yen ($390). Both are in stock, but there’s only a few of them left.

Taiwan Mobile is taking pre-orders for the 16GB Nexus 7 and expects to ship the tablets on September 12. It’s priced at NT$8,990 ($300).

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Amazon launches Android Appstore in Europe: UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain

Amazon has launched the Android Appstore in Europe. People in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain can now shop for apps on Amazon.

The European launch of Amazon’s Appstore for Android has been expected for a while now. The company has just announced that it is open for business in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain. Each country will enjoy a localized version of the mobile app store available now. This brings the popular “Free App of the Day” and other Amazon promotions to many European customers. It also means access to personalized recommendations, customer reviews, and 1-click payments.

Amazon’s Appstore offers something different from Google Play because, as Jim Adkins, Vice President of Amazon Appstore, points out “We evaluate and test games and apps before making them available in the Appstore”. That means a smaller selection, but potentially higher quality apps and games. The exclusive promotions that Amazon runs have been especially popular in the U.S. and so there’s little doubt they’ll prove popular in Europe too.

Existing Amazon customers with Android devices are likely to give the Appstore a try, but the company may need to release the Kindle Fire for the service to really take off in Europe. Amazon’s Android device is not currently available in Europe — it seems content licensing deals could be holding up the release.

Interestingly in Germany, France, and Italy it will be called the “App-Shop”, in Spain it is “Tienda Apps”, and in the UK it is the “Amazon Appstore for Android”.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Google Nexus 7 now available in France, Germany and Spain

Google has expanded the availability of their Nexus 7 tablets to three additional markets. Users in France, Germany and Spain will now be able to purchase the Nexus 7 from the Google Play Store.

The 8GB model is priced at €199 ($249) and the 16GB model is priced at €249 ($312), which, as you can see, is a bit higher than what it costs in the US. Also, it doesn’t seem like you will get any extra credit, such as the $25 you get in the US. Lastly, the Play Store in these other countries also doesn’t have some of the contents such as magazines that you will find in its American counterpart.

Despite that, these are still good prices and many people will be glad that they now have the option of purchasing the tablet officially, extra credit be damned. Hopefully, Google will expand to other markets shortly.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com