Goodbye Android Market, Hello Google Play

Google has changed the name of its app store. What was once the Android Market for the last several years has been re-branded "Google Play". This move is apparently being made to emphasize that it offers more than just content for Android smartphones.

The company describes it as a "digital entertainment destination where you can find, enjoy and share your favorite music, movies, books and apps on the web and on your Android phone or tablet."

As part of this process, Google Music and Google Books are being merged with what used to be the Android Market.

There will be a transition process that will take at least several days. The Android Market app on smartphones and tablets will be updated to a Google Play Store app. In addition, the company's videos, books, and music apps will become Google Play Movies, Google Play Books and Google Play Music apps. 

The software giant promises that this name change won't affect the apps, music, movies, and books that users have already purchased.

To sweeten the deal, Google will be offering a different album, book, video rental and Android app at a special price each day for the next week in a "7 Days to Play" sale. In addition, there are collections of hip-hop, rock and country albums for $3.99 all week, detective novels from $2.99, some movies from 99 cents, and many apps on sale for 49 cents.

Video Preview
Google has released a video giving an overview of this service after its re-branding: