Google Play Music Comes to iPhone (Free Month of All Access service)

I didn't expect this to happen but Google has launched it's amazing music service and application Google Play Music for the iPhone. This is a really good thing for iOS users! I have been using Google Play Music and Google Play Music All Access since they have launched and they have been two of my favorite Google services. Google Play Music allows users to upload 20,000 tracks from their computers to their Google accounts in the cloud. Afterwhich, all of this music is accessible from any Android device and now iPhone or web browser. All playlists, ratings and libraries are synced and can be streamed at any time. The mobile app also allows for caching music on the device for playback when there is no network connectivity.  Additionally, iOS newcomers will get one month free All Access streaming services (normally $9.99/month) which gives you access to over 20 million tracks, custom radio stations (like Pandora with more features), and smart features that recommend new music based on your listening habits. Google launched a similar deal at launch on Android also offering a $7.99/month deal for early adopters. I bought in early, convinced within the first hour of my free month trial.

This is an app and service I have been telling all of my Android and iPhone friend s about and I'm glad my iOS friends finally get to experience Google Play Music. Even if you don't want to subscribe to the All Access service Google Play Music is worth a look just to have a free cloud streaming service for your own music library. Google Play Music allows you to upload any of your music regardless of where/how you obtained that music. Whatever goes in the folder you designate for it to pull from goes into your library in the cloud and is accessible to you anywhere including iOS now. Google Play Music also has a tool to easily sync your music from iTunes. Google says the iPad version as well as some of the more advance features are on the way.

Check out the video below for full details on Google Play Music.

How many of you love Google Play Music? Any iPhone users excited to check it out?

Google Nexus 5 Finally Officially Announced

This Halloween finally Google gave the Android community the treat they've been waiting on for months. The Nexus 5 was finally announced! Due to the excessive amount of leaks over the last few months there weren't many surprises, but still good to see things officially confirmed. The Nexus 5 has a 5-inch 1080p screen, 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16 or 32GB of storage, an 8-megapixel camera (with OIS), 2300 mAh battery and 4G LTE connectivity for a lot of different bands. The $350/399 (16GB/32GB) asking price is for an off contract completely unlocked phone with support for AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, sorry VZW customers no Nexus love again for you!

The long awaited Nexus 5 announcement is a treat this Halloween for tech-nerds like myself, unfortunately there was a trick in store also. The device sold out in under an hour of being announced! While caught up at work running a stupid graduation test I was unable to place my order the second it went official. By the time I was able to order my black 32GB Nexus 5, the wait was out to 2-3 weeks for 32GB and the 16GB is sold out completely. So as one countdown comes to an end a new one begins and as excited as I am about the phone I'm pissed that the wait continues. Some were lucky enough to get their orders in as soon as it went live have already received shipping confirmations, and a few lucky people have already received theirs. Google said they'd be ready to ship by November 8th for initial orders but with some coming early lets hope that maybe all the orders go out ahead of schedule.

In the mean time I'll be watching Best Buy, Amazon, Radio Shack and Sprint, who have all said they will sell the phone. I've called around a bit and most of these places don't seem to have official info on release dates, prices, or reservation processes yet. Sprint will have the phone on November 8th for $150 on contract (now taking pre-orders online for those buying on contract). I'm hoping that they will also let it go off contract at the same $350/399 price point that Google is selling it for. That will let me buy it with my Sprint account without extending my contract and then finally free me to bail on Sprint for T-Mobile as the one single Nexus 5 US model will work on Sprint, T-Mobile or AT&T. I will be buying it from whoever can get it in my hand first and cancelling my Google Play Store order if necessary. Anyone else planning on grabbing the Nexus 5?! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Nexus 5 hardware specifications

Screen	4.95” 1920x1080 display (445 ppi) Full HD IPS Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
Camera	1.3MP front facing 8MP rear facing with Optical Image Stabilization
Dimensions	69.17x137.84x8.59 mm
Weight	4.59 ounces (130g)
Battery	2300 mAh Talk time up to 17 hours ** Standby time up to 300 hours ** Internet use time up to 8.5 hours on WiFi, up to 7 hours on LTE ** Wireless Charging built in
Audio	Builtin speaker, 3.5mm stereo audio connector
Processing	CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 800, 2.26GHz GPU: Adreno 330, 450MHz
Wireless	Dualband WiFi (2.4G/5G) 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac NFC (Android Beam) Bluetooth 4.0
Networks (North America)	GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz CDMA: Band Class: 0/1/10 WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8/19 LTE: Bands: 1/2/4/5/17/19/25/26/41
Networks (Rest of World)	GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8 LTE: Bands: 1/3/5/7/8/20
Memory	Choose 16GB or 32GB internal storage (actual formatted capacity will be less) 2GB RAM
Ports and Connectors	microUSB SlimPort™ enabled 3.5mm stereo audio jack Dual microphones Ceramic power and volume buttons
Sensors	GPS Gyroscope Accelerometer Compass Proximity/Ambient Light Pressure Hall

Chromecast Is Back In Stock

The Google Chromecast is finally back in stock in the Google Play Store, after selling out in minutes when it was announced a few months ago and then subsequently being sold on eBay and Craigslist for up to 2x the actual cost.

The Chromecast is an amazing little device, slightly larger than an USB jumpdrive that plugs into your TV's HDMI port and allows users to instantly stream content from YouTube, Google Play Music, Google Play Movies, Netflix and tabs from your Chrome browser to your TV. The device is small enough to hide behind most TV units and draw power from a simple USB port. The $35 price tag made it one of the most irresistible impulse buys of the year. It easily does a large majority of what most people need from a smart tv device at a fraction of the cost, with even more features promised to be coming soon (including Hulu and rumors of HBO Go). The Chromecast is controlled via an Android Device, iOS Device or even a Laptop running a chrome extension. The fact that it supports multiple platforms instead of being locked into a certain manufacturers ecosystem is a huge selling point in my book.

I was able to find two in another state at Bestbuy and others are saying Amazon has them back in stock now also. I highly recommend grabbing one if you use any of these services. I've been loving mine and will be posting a review soon. This is one of those devices that is priced so well you can't afford not to grab one.

Android is KING!

Those of you who have read BHT in the past probably have picked up on my subtle affinity towards Android devices... Ok it's not really subtle, I really don't like Apple "i-devices" that much and lean towards Android pretty much unanimously. Though I doubt I'd switch, Windows Phone 8 and their tablet offerings definitely look interesting and I hope RIM can make a comeback with BB10 (whole other future post I guess).

As an Android-lover there hasn't been a more exciting time than now in my opinion. I'd almost go as far as to claim 2013 as the year of the little green robot. In previous years I feel like it was at least arguable which OS/platform was better but that time has come to an end! I'm declaring Android the champ! Now there's alot of different ways you could take this debate and I'm not saying that an iPhone or iPad isn't the best device for some people; but for the first time since Android came out I feel that I can recommend at least one or two excellent Android phones on each carrier to people without fear that it will not give the end user problems. For the first time that regardless of your tech-ability level I am confident that there are Android options that will absolutely work for you and work well; consistently.

Furthermore, things look like they are getting better and it's happening faster and faster. Google has done an excellent job with UI improvements and streamlining  the Playstore. They've released Google Play Games to clean up and organize the gaming experience. Google and Android have made moves to start invading the living room more and more with gaming and entertainment and Google Music and its All Access subscription has become one of my favorite features, something I can't see going with out now.

On the hardware side Google Glass is expected in 2014 and a Google smartwatch is rumored for the end of this year. We should also be seeing a new Nexus phone and Nexus 10 tablet to accompany the recently revamped Nexus 7. Chromecast, Google's budget TV media streaming device, once back in stock is likely to really open up the living room entertainment arena for Google and there are rumors of an upcoming game console as well.

Yes, 2013 has been a solid year for Google with it dominating or moving into a position of imminent dominance in almost all metrics from market share, app offerings, and more. Even better it looks like Google and Android are still gaining steam and are poised for another great year in 2014. It's a good time to be on #teamandroid!

What do you think? What are your favorite Android features, apps, and Google services? Or do you prefer a different mobile OS? Let us know in the comments.