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Google Set To Launch Newsstand Competitor Google Play News?

Google Set To Launch Newsstand Competitor Google Play News?

March 16, 2013
Google may be bidding farewell to Google Reader, but it's apparently about to say hello to a different kind of news delivery service. The folks over at Android Police have come across an interesting discovery through an anonymous tipster. Apparently, Google is preparing to launch a new News section to go along with the Apps, Music, Books, Magazines, Movies, and Devices sections in its Google Play store. The imminent launch of the new section, dubbed Google Play News, is hinted at by some of the contents of a JavaScript file from the Web version of Google Play:
  • To read Google Play News, you must have a supported Android phone or tablet.
  • Please sign in to get this News edition.
  • Please sign in to purchase this News Issue.
  • Please sign in to purchase this News Edition Subscription.
  • Subscribing you to this news edition…
  • You have subscribed to this news edition. It is now available on your device.
These particular lines of text point to the prospect of a new Google service that could compete directly with Apple's Newsstand. Google Play News is expected to make digital newspapers available by issue or by subscription, which Newsstand has been doing since its launch in October 2011. Google had actually been rumored to launch a "digital newsstand" months before the arrival of Newsstand. I guess it's only now that the company is finally getting the service ready for release. And in case you're wondering what the color of the Google Play News section will be, Android Police notes from a Google Play CSS file (see image below) that the upcoming section will be #ffd700, or simply yellow.

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