Google Babel, the new communication service from Google, has been renamed Google Hangouts ahead of its public debut at Google I/O next week, according to an unnamed Google employee. Babel had been its name internally throughout the service’s development, but that moniker has now been dropped by Google.
Android doesn’t look like it’s about to lose any of its market share to competing platforms any time soon. During the first quarter of 2013, Google’s platform powered a whipping 59.9% of all smart mobile devices sold as total shipments hit 308.7 million units.
Apple’s iOS, on the other hand, was installed on just 19.3% of devices — despite the success of its iPhones and iPads.
Mobile phone retailers in the United Kingdom have begun removing the Google Nexus 4 from their inventories, sparking speculation that a successor could be on its way. Both Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U have ceased selling the handset this week, just days before Google I/O 2013 gets underway.
Carmageddon, the ultra violent racing game that first made its debut on PC back in 1997 — and was subsequently banned around the world — is now available on Android. The title made first made its appearance on mobile back in October when it landed on iOS, but fans can now pick it up in Google Play for just $1.99.
Facebook has quietly added support for the HTC One, the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Sony Xperia ZL, and other Android smartphones to its new Facebook Home launcher. The update comes after the social network announced it had seen over 1 million downloads of Facebook Home following its launch on April 22.
