Google+ has undergone several changes since the dap debuted last year, and another one is in the pipeline. Google SVP of Engineering Vic Gundotra announced today that there would be design changes to the Google+ Mobile app coming soon. There’s no word on an exact date when those changes will be, but you can get an early idea based on the iPhone upgrade that just went live. Yes, the iPhone app got the update first, but Google+ members can “expect this to show up on Android in the next few weeks (with a few additional surprises),” Gundotra wrote on his G+ page. A blog post containing screenshots and a description of the changes showcase what users can expect. I’m not sure if Gundotra meant that all of these design changes would come to Android, but I’d bet my next to last paycheck that he means these new features will arrive but with tweaks closer to Android design conventions
Google+ UI refresh coming soon to Android with new “surprises,” seen already on iPhone
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Google Maps for Android now tells you where to go even when you’re inside a building. The 6.7 update now available in Google Play provides the option for Maps users to get directions within certain facilities. So someone inside a mall can get directions to the food court from JC Penny, provided that mall has uploaded its floor plan to Google. This feature is available only to users in the United States and Japan. 
Add another country to the list of nations that support Google Play Movies . Google has announced today that customers in Australia can now rent movies from the Play Store. The announcement follows rollouts in France and the United Kingdom, showing that Google is finally making progress – however small it may be – in rolling out its service globally. Play Movies is an on-demand rental service that streams movies to Android phones or tablets. Price and selection varies in different countries, but it’s typically a mix of old films, international blockbusters, and some home-grown produced content as well. In the case of Australia, their are hits like Moneyball and Bourne Ultimatum, as well as the locally-made Snowtown and Chopper
The wait for Google Drive has been a long one, but it will soon be over for PC, Mac, and Android users. A document was accidentally pushed live on Google’s French blog, where it was quickly removed, but not before Gerwin Strum was able to make a copy of the document and run it through Translate. From the leak, we now know that Google Drive will be rolling out to Google users en masse later today, and Google Drive applications will be going live on PC, Mac, and Android at the same time (iOS users are left out in the cold for now). As expected, Google Drive will come with 5 free GB of storage , and will feature close integration with Google Docs. In fact, Google calls Drive the next iteration of Google Docs in the leaked memo
Google’s long-rumored Dropbox competitor Google Drive should be made official shortly. After years – that’s right, years – of accidental leaks and gossip, Google has let one final treasure trove slip before what appears to be an imminent announcement. Google France prematurely posted the Drive announcement before it was leaked, but here’s what to expect based on a saved copy by a Google+ user. UPDATE: Google Docs app has been updated to Google Drive . Announcement is now official. Drive offers users 5 GB of free cloud storage to keep photos, documents, archives, and other files. 
We all know Google Drive exists. It’s in the works, at the very least. But Giga OM has allegedly learned, from a close source, that it’s close to being finished. And, more than that, it’s close – close enough to launch in the first week of April. 
Last week AllThingsD broke the story that Google was hiring most of the team from Milk , a startup founded by Kevin Rose that was working on iPhone apps. Milk’s first project was an app called Oink that let users rate items, but that service was shut down last week, likely because of the talks with Google. Kevin Rose was the founder of
Time, and time, and time again, I’ve been known to sing the praises of Google’s Nexus series devices, because they are updated directly by Google. Which should mean fast, consistent updates to the latest version of software Google is working on (or at the very least, a fully functioning device). Right? As a large group of Reddit users have been discussing for the past day, wrong. Back in October of 2011, Nexus One owners were given quite the shock when it was revealed that the first Pure Google Experience device would not be updated to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
Sony Mobile (formerly Sony Ericsson) is one of the few Android manufacturers that will be updating their single-core handsets to the much sought after Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich firmware. Today, they have officially released the beta version of their ICS ROM to the Android developer community (and those familiar with root) to flash, tinker around with and give feedback. This is a preview of what’s to come when Sony officially updates their entire line of 2011 Xperia devices to Android 4.0.3 in the coming weeks. Unlike the alpha version which didn’t have working calls or data, this new beta version has a few more things going for it with functions like FM radio and GSM fully functional. Other improvements from alpha to beta are as follows: Updated UI – We hope you will be happy to see that we have added a number of UI elements from ICS, as well as some new UI features already introduced in the Xperia™ S we announced in January . Lockscreen and Face Unlock – We have added a shortcut to the camera directly from the lockscreen. 
We have to give props to Sony for releasing an alpha Android 4.0 ROM for testing