Google Play is new name for Android Market, Google Music and more

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The new brand sees Google bring all its entertainment offerings under one name

Google Play

Google has rebranded its Android Market as Google Play. The new Google Play service now incorporates all Google's entertainment offerings.

Google Play will incorporate not only apps from the Android Market but music from Google Music (sadly still not launched in the UK) and also videos and books.

The official Google blog announced the news, billing Google Play as "a digital entertainment destination".

The cloud-based service will allow users to access apps, music, movies and books on any Android smartphone or tablet, with new sections of the service branded Google Play Music, Google Play Movies and Google Play Books.

In the UK we'll have to settle for apps, movies and books, with an official UK launch of Google Play Music still unconfirmed.

One Google account login, the same that's used for a Gmail email account, will allow you to login to all services, while any existing accounts and downloads will simply carry over to the newly-named service.

Google is offering a selection of cut-price apps and other downloads to promote the change.

Google Play now offers more than 450,000 apps and games, the largest selection of eBooks and movies to rent or buy in SD and HD.

Expect an update to rollout across various Android devices in the coming days, while the Google Play (previously Android Market) website has already been updated and is live.

The move sees Google rebranding itself as a one-stop entertainment brand, with the emphasis on the Google name rather than Android, the name of the company's operating system for smartphones and tablets.

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Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff and The Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).