Google partners with HTC, Redington for sales and after sales support for the Pixel in India

Google has reportedly partnered with HTC to provide after sales support for the Pixel phones in India. HTC will provide after sales service in 56 service centres spread across 30 cities, while Redington, will be Google's national distributor for "all channels," reports The Economic Times.

This partnership means that the Pixel phones will be available across more than a thousand retail channels in India. The report also suggests that the Pixel phone will be imported into India and sold via HTC's retail network and chain stores like Vijay Sales, Chroma and Reliance Digital.

The Google Pixel and Pixel XL phones represent a change in track for Google. The company's earlier Nexus program was primarily targeted at developers, offering them a capable platform to work on. Through the Pixel program, Google is offering consumers a chance to experience the Google ecosystem at its best.

The Pixel and Pixel XL offer the same hardware, a Snapdragon 821 with 4GB of RAM and 32/128GB storage options but are in different form factors. The Pixel offers a Full HD 5-inch screen while the Pixel XL offers a 2560×1440 (2K), 5.5-inch screen.

Pre-orders for the Pixel smartphones begin tomorrow i.e. October 13 while deliveries are planned for the month end The official pricing for the phones starts at Rs 57,000.

Source: The Economic Times

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Google Play Music Service Finally Comes to India, but the Subscription Service is Missing.

The wait is finally over for the users in India waiting for Google has introduced its Play Music service in India. Google has quietly opened its Play Music store in India, with songs and albums now available for purchase. The Play Music was rumored to launch back in July but it didn't happen back then. Its worth noting, the subscription service - known as Google Play Music All Access - is not yet available in the country.

The news comes after the Google for India's event on Tuesday where the company launched a bunch of apps and new features suited for the Indian users. However, there is no official announcement by Google India to add to the same on its blog. With the new Play Music service, Google will enter the digital music market in India to compete with the likes of Apple's iTunes and Airtel's Wynk Music.

Google Play Music doesn't let you stream music as of now, with no Google Play All Access subscription plan, no radio, and podcasts services in India. You can only buy songs and albums individually on the app. With no support for streaming, Google may fall behind Apple Music, Saavn, and Gaana that currently occupy the streaming market in India.

Detailing on the pricing, Google Play Music hosts individual songs of the genres like Bollywood, regional, Indian Pop, and International starting Rs. 15 per song, while an entire album costs within the Rs. 100 - Rs. 200 range. You can preview the tracks and pay for them as per your suitability using your debit/ credit card, or with Google Play cards.

The Web version of Play Music is also live with a support for Google Chrome extension for desktops in case users want a player app.

Interestingly, the Play Music app on iOS didn't let us successfully sign into the app, suggesting the service might roll out on iOS platform later.

Users can also upload music via Google Play Music on the web - users will be required to download the Music Manager app, which then allows you to upload files from your computer, or playlists via iTunes and the Windows Media player. Users will then be able to listen to the uploaded music anywhere once they sign into the Google Play Music service, whether on Android or the Web.

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Google to Now Show Song Lyrics in Search Results

Google will soon start showing song lyrics in search results thanks to a multi-year licensing deal with one of the world's largest lyric licensing services. The Toronto-based LyricFind announced on Monday that it signed a deal with Google under which it will offer lyrics from over 4,000 publishers in Google's search results and within Google Play Music app.

Announcing the partnership, LyricFind CEO Darryl Ballantyne said, "We're happy to expand the depth and quality of lyrics available on Google's services. We're working together to make lyrics available to a larger audience in a faster and more efficient way."

The partnership will provide new source of revenues for music publishers and songwriters, points out Billboard. Under the partnership, Google started showing lyrics in search results in the US from Monday and will soon rollout the feature to more markets.

"LyricFind has been the main driver behind creating a legal and global lyric infrastructure for all platforms, and its partnership with Google further strengthens this mission. LyricFind collects new royalties for songwriters and rights holders, and benefits music fans who engage more easily than ever with lyrics that inspire them," said LyricFind team in a blog post.

This partnership means that now users won't be required to open third party apps or websites for reading the lyrics of a song and can do the same in search results only.

Ballantyne told Billboard, "It should be a significant revenue stream. I can't get into the rates, but we expect it to be millions of dollars generated for publishers and songwriters as a result of this. It's all based on usage. Royalties are paid based on the number of times a lyric is viewed. The more it's viewed, the more publishers get paid."

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