Looks like Android's Google+ app just got a nice little update to add some more features -- including the ability to search! -- and squash some bugs. Here's the full changelog:

• Search
• +1 photos
• +1 comments
• High resolution photo upload support
• See if someone's online and currently typing in Messenger conversations
• Start Messenger conversations by just entering a phone number
• Links to posts or profiles can now open inside of the app
• Instant Upload supports videos again
• Several stability improvements and bug fixes

It's live now on phones and in the web Market. Have at it!

Thanks, @J_Godd, for the tip!

SoundTracking, an iOS user favorite that impressed our friends over at TiPb, is now available on Android. SoundTracking is reminiscent of Foursquare for music: ID a song you're listening to or that is playing in the distance and SoundTracking will tag it and share it via Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. You can add your own photo and your current location to the tag, which will then be available for a 30-second preview to your friends. Your tags can even be played on Spotify and Rdio by anyone you share with. You can download SoundTracking for free from Android Market at the link below, or at the source link.

Source: SoundTracking

We're on Day 2 of Google's 10-day, 10-cent, 10 billion app download celebration in which 10 apps will be sold for a dime.

Google hasn't updated its promotion portal yet today, but here are the new apps we're seeing on sale for 10 cents, as relayed by reader r007:

• NFL Rivals
• Reckless Racing
• Read it Later Pro
• Flick Golf
• Fruit Ninja
• Christmas HD live wallpaper
• AirSync by doubleTwist
• Star Chart
• Beautiful Widgets
• The Berenstain Bears' Bedtime Battle

Thanks, everbody, for helping to track these down!

Let's face it, while app reviews in the Android Market might be helpful to developers and potential customers for finding out some of the best and worst features of the current release of an app, they haven't been altogether too informative, and could be skewed to show the app as being worst/better than it really is. Old reviews can still weigh heavily on the user's choice, especially if those reviews mention glaring bugs that had been fixed in recent updates or that were only present on older Android phones. Also frustrating is when developers see a review with good feedback that they would like to save/share later, only for it to get lost in the thousands of other reviews for that same app - going back in to find it later is like trying to find a specific needle in a pile of other similarly formatted needles.

The web version (not on your devices yet) of Android Market has solved those two concerns with a simple and effective update. Users can now see the type of device that the reviewer was using the app on (such as the LG Optimus 2X in Juan's review above) and the version number of the app that they were reviewing (version 2.9, again, in the screenshot above).

On top of that, developers (and anyone for that matter) can now grab the permalink to individual reviews for sharing or reading later. To the right of every reviewer's nametag and device info you will see the universal symbol for "link". Click that icon and the page will reload with that review on top and a fresh URL that you can send anywhere.

In the future it would be nice to sort reviews by specific devices or app versions being used, rather than asking us to browse through or link them all individually (it would also be great if they reproduced this in the mobile app soon), but for now this update is a welcome change.

Thanks for the Tip, Stephen!

With the holidays right around the corner, we're staring down the ugly double-barrel of gifts and the inevitable New Year's resolutions. Finding the right gifts for the fitness freak in your life can sometimes be a chore, but here at Android Central, we've got you covered.

And what about those folks who'll pledge to be more active and exercise more in the new year? Well, there's gifts for them on this list, too.

Join us after the break for the whole shakedown of what'll get yours (or their) blood pumping.

It's been teased for sometime now, but it's now been revealed that the 10 year anniversary mobile edition of the epic Grand Theft Auto III shoots it's way onto selected Android handsets on Dec. 15.

It'll set you back a measly $4.99, way less than we paid for it 10 years ago but sadly, at launch at least, not everyone will be able to enjoy this masterpiece. 

Supported devices at launch are: 

• Phones: HTC Rezound, LG Optimus 2X, Motorola Atrix 4G, Motorola Droid X2, Motorola Photon 4G, Samsung Galaxy R, T-Mobile G2X
• Tablets: Acer Iconia, Asus EeePad Transformer, Dell Streak 7, LG Optimus Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Sony Tablet S, Toshiba Thrive

There are going to be a lot of disappointed people out there, not least anyone who's just bought or planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. But, our guess is that more devices, especially the Nexus, won't be far behind. Meanwhile if you're fortunate enough to own one of these devices, salivate over the Android version screenshots after the break, and try to wait patiently for the next 9 days.

Source: Rockstar Games

We're not short on messaging solutions on the Android platform, so the latest offering, Hub from Yahoo, may not seem particularly enticing. BBM is undoubtedly the king of mobile messaging, but can Yahoo really offer a similar experience? 

Hub lets Yahoo users enjoy group conversations and send text messages for free over your wifi or mobile data connection. The cool thing here though is that text messages can be sent without your recipients needing to have the Hub application installed on their device. They can even reply via their own mobile text services. 

Yahoo have said though that recipients may be charged by their mobile providers, so something to watch out for. At present too, the service is only available in Canada, Indonesia, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Philippines, Pakistan, Thailand, United States and Vietnam.

Other features include push notifications, and the ability to easily view and add participants to any conversation thread. Currently in beta for Android 2.1 and above, hit the download links below if you fancy trying it out. 

via PC Mag

The Financial Times may have parted company with the iOS App Store, but they haven't given up on native applications completely as the financial news powerhouse brings their Android offering to the table. 

First things first, if you own a shiny new Galaxy Nexus, hold off a moment as the beta available for download isn't yet compatible with Ice Cream Sandwich. If you're somewhere above Android 2.2 on phones and 3.1 for tablets then you're in luck, and it promises to automatically optimise for your device's screen size for the best user experience. Auto-downloads of the latest edition for offline reading are also along for the ride.

The app is free to download, but the FT does operate as a subscription service. The free registration allows access to eight articles per month, so it's at least possible to try it out without ponying up the cash first. 

We're just going to let this one from Verizon hang out there:

Recent reports that Verizon is blocking Google Wallet on our devices are false. Verizon does not block applications.

Google Wallet is different from other widely-available m-commerce services. Google Wallet does not simply access the operating system and basic hardware of our phones like thousands of other applications. Instead, in order to work as architected by Google, Google Wallet needs to be integrated into a new, secure and proprietary hardware element in our phones.

We are continuing our commercial discussions with Google on this issue.

Whether it's Verizon doing the blocking, as 9 to 5 Google's anonymous source reportedly said, or if it's just not allowing the app, or whatever -- or if it's the current deal with Sprint that's keeping Google Wallet off every other Nexus device -- it's still bad for Google Wallet in short term, not to mention disappointing for those who don't want to hack their phones. Will Google Wallet survive in the long term? Just have to see. 

Source: Verizon

Our intrepid readers figured it out a little early this morning, but Google's just made it official: The Android Market has surpassed 10 billion downloads. And as you can see from the chart above, the numbers have skyrocketed over the past several months.

And the really good news: Google's not just promoting the same 10-cent apps for the next week and a half. Check back each day over the next 10 days for all new 10-cent apps. It's a great gift from the maker of the world's best damn mobile OS, that's for sure. 

Source: Google+; more: Android Market