Google’s goal with Ice Cream Sandwich is to present a more unified and distinguishable platform UI from here on out. They’ve been hard at work trying to figure out ways to maintain their “open” approach, while also maintaining some sort of consistency. They want developers to know that they have worked hard on creating Ice Cream Sandwich UI with “the users’ best interests in mind,” and encourage them to apply and adapt these methods when developing for Android. To help guide developers on how to create a complimenting application for Android, they have opened up a new site called “Android Design.”

Google introduced a nice little update to their search app for Android users running 2.2 and 2.3. The update brings a more simplified UI and new color scheme among other things. The search app on Android is probably the single most used feature and I’ll admit, one we probably take for granted, so it’s nice to see it getting some update love. If you haven’t grabbed the update yet, you can head on over to the Android Market and start enjoying:

Google TV will be getting OnLive gaming support very soon, and in preparation of this monumental event, users can now start spectating these live games via the OnLive Viewer app. OnLive is a popular cloud gaming service that streams high-end console video games straight to your screen without the need for high-end hardware. Cloud based gaming is considered by many to be the future of gaming and will free gamers from hardware restraints and allow for a truly unified mobile gaming experience across various platforms. It’s only fitting that the OnLive service be coming to Google TV, as GTV has been working hard on bringing on-demand multimedia to your TV, and what better addition than on-demand gaming.

CES attendees will now have another helpful tool to guide them through the endless labyrinths of floors and exhibits found in the Las Vegas casinos and convention center. Google has been teaming up with businesses since November to help provide users with detailed floor plans and indoor location information. Thanks to their recent partnership with MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and others, Google can now provide indoor maps and info for select resorts and casinos, the Las Vegas Convention Center, as well as the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport.

Photo by kirainet - https://flic.kr/p/7VsMbN

There’s nothing like a family fight and one may be brewing between Android creator Google and the Kindle Fire, one of the few Android-based tablets able to lay a finger on the iPad’s overwhelming success. Although unconfirmed, a report suggests the Internet giant is planning to unveil its own tablet in early 2012 that could undercut Amazon’s price advantage. It brings tears of joy to the eyes of Apple fans.