Google Play takes on Apple iTunes in key content battle

Google has launched Google Play to replace the Android Market and to better compete with Apple iTunes.

While we tend concentrate on the latest shiny new gadgets coming out of
the Apple, Samsung and Huawei labs, it's easy to overlook the issue of
content distribution. 

But there's an awful lot of money to be made, and customers to be won over, by getting content delivery right.

Evidence of this comes from the insistence of the smartphone
manufacturers such as Sony, Samsung and Nokia to keep trying to rival
Google and Apple for content distribution. And one reason why it is such
an open playing field is because no one has really got it right yet.

To this end, Google Play is upping the stakes in the Android vs Apple
wars. While Android handsets are starting to out-distance their apple
rivals, store downloads for Apple are almost double that of Androids. So
what has changed?

Like iTunes, Google Play now puts all the available movies, music
(currently only in the US), apps and audio books into one central
website available cross platforms (phone, tablet, PC etc). It also drops
the Android name, which Google thinks may have put people off from
buying items not realising they were available beyond the Android
platform.

The Google Play interface is very slick, clear and, well, iTunes like.
Android apps and ebooks are downloadable, while films are rentable (to
watch either through YouTube of or the Google Play movies app on
smartphones). Music is not currently available on the website in the
UK. 

It's a good move from Google, if it gets it right. Apple iTunes is
fantastically convenient and a great one-stop shop for all your
downloads, but it isn't without its quirks. Android handsets are far
less fussy about what you can and can't transfer and share between your
devices, for example, while syncing errors are a constant cause for
complaints.

source: http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/news/20120308-google-play-takes-apple-it...