Google Play Books now comes to Singapore (among other APAC countries)

lordlad0

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Go to your Play store apps or play.google.com and you will see the Books section available now for Singapore, indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and New Zealand Users.

What if you don't wanna buy books?

You can still use Google Play Books by uploading your own PDF or EPUB ebooks here: https://play.google.com/books/uploads

and access it everywhere on your devices and web that is signed in to your google account, with bookmarks sync across all devices as well..

good news to book lovers!!!
 

lordlad0

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Devices may be coming here too...:D
where u heard that??

i still yearned for the gold'ol days where they ship directly to SG (the forever eternal Google Nexus One)..

now must go through so many loops and courier....at least amazon free global shipping is easing that pain abit!
 

Mach3.2

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where u heard that??

i still yearned for the gold'ol days where they ship directly to SG (the forever eternal Google Nexus One)..

now must go through so many loops and courier....at least amazon free global shipping is easing that pain abit!
That is my speculation, since they let us buy books, other parts of the play store may be coming here. The whole point of them selling the nexus devices subsidized is so that they can promote their products on google play, if all other components come here too, the chances of devices coming here is pretty high too.
 

s7460597

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That is my speculation, since they let us buy books, other parts of the play store may be coming here. The whole point of them selling the nexus devices subsidized is so that they can promote their products on google play, if all other components come here too, the chances of devices coming here is pretty high too.

Would be great if true. Don't have to jump through hoops to get Nexus 5.
 

lordlad0

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That is my speculation, since they let us buy books, other parts of the play store may be coming here. The whole point of them selling the nexus devices subsidized is so that they can promote their products on google play, if all other components come here too, the chances of devices coming here is pretty high too.
don't count your chickens before they are hatched...books got through because licensing for books is so much easier to deal...

Music and movies (RIAA & MPAA respectively) industries are (in)famous for being difficult to deal with....Apple only managed to get movies and music iTunes store to SG only LAST YEAR despite being the biggest online music store in the world...i would like to but those jerks in the music and movies industry are not so easy released content internationally without some major licensing deals..

As for devices, i think it's a different ball game. Since the nexus is built by the vendors other than google itself...but it's sold through google, the local release can be complicated. The vendors (HTC, Asus, Samsung, LG, etc) never considered the nexus devices as their 'hero' device. Added to the fact that electronics had to pass through singapore regulatory checks for their 'safeness' and google doesn't really have any retail presence in singapore. Not to mention singapore is just a tiny dot.

We singaporeans also think singapore is a rich country and asia hub yadda yadda....but objectively speak, nobody give a sh!t about singapore as it's just a tiny dot.

If i'm an exec at google, i would target other countries that makes more economic sense and opportunities like India and the south America...(China is lost cause so I wouldn't focus too much on it..)

I love me some direct nexus devices but reality beckons....i sincerely hope i am wrong though...
 
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Mach3.2

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don't count your chickens before they are hatched...books got through because licensing for books is so much easier to deal...

Music and movies (RIAA & MPAA respectively) industries are (in)famous for being difficult to deal with....Apple only managed to get movies and music iTunes store to SG only LAST YEAR despite being the biggest online music store in the world...i would like to but those jerks in the music and movies industry are not so easy released content internationally without some major licensing deals..

As for devices, i think it's a different ball game. Since the nexus is built by the vendors other than google itself...but it's sold through google, the local release can be complicated. The vendors (HTC, Asus, Samsung, LG, etc) never considered the nexus devices as their 'hero' device. Added to the fact that electronics had to pass through singapore regulatory checks for their 'safeness' and google doesn't really have any retail presence in singapore. Not to mention singapore is just a tiny dot.

We singaporeans also think singapore is a rich country and asia hub yadda yadda....but objectively speak, nobody give a sh!t about singapore as it's just a tiny dot.

If i'm an exec at google, i would target other countries that makes more economic sense and opportunities like India and the south America...(China is lost cause so I wouldn't focus too much on it..)

I love me some direct nexus devices but reality beckons....i sincerely hope i am wrong though...
Nice analysis. :)
 

s7460597

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Google was reported to be setting up retail outlets in the US. Not to say it'll happen outside the US.

It's possible for Google to sell handphones here without a retail presence. Devices can be sold online. The hard part would be when customers send in their devices for repair. They could be asked to courier them to an address or pick up locations.

Google Retail Stores? Makes Sense. | TIME.com
 

lordlad0

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Google was reported to be setting up retail outlets in the US. Not to say it'll happen outside the US.

It's possible for Google to sell handphones here without a retail presence. Devices can be sold online. The hard part would be when customers send in their devices for repair. They could be asked to courier them to an address or pick up locations.

Google Retail Stores? Makes Sense. | TIME.com
they have already one setup in Melbourne in collaborate with the Telco there...Telstra..

Androidland: The World’s First Android Store | Digital Buzz Blog

Again hate to bust the bubble, but singapore is just too small and unimportant for consideration...
 

s7460597

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like I said its not a must to have a physical store. google has been selling devices without them for a while. I don't have high hopes of them opening a store here anytime soon.

take a look at how xiaomi and oppo are selling their phones in hk and outside of china. it's through their online portals.

we'll see how I goes. que sera sera
 
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kennyboy

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Looking at the countries selling Nexus devices directly from Google, I would warrant a guess that selling video/movies seems to be a factor.

Honestly, the one I want most is Music/All Access. :D Spotify is decent, but with storage space being a premium on Nexus devices, I prefer to upload to the cloud and stream whenever possible, especially for tracks that isn't in their store.
 

lordlad0

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I'm already doing that using my SG Google account :D I was one of the first users back then she. Google debuts Google music (before the play music rebranding). Back then u just need to connect us VPN for the first time to sign up...then can work liao.....

I can still upload and access my music although I dunno how current SG Google account can enable play music as the VPN method doesn't work anymore.....

I can use the full Google services suites except Google voice which I will need a valid us phone number to redirect...
 

Mach3.2

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I'm already doing that using my SG Google account :D I was one of the first users back then she. Google debuts Google music (before the play music rebranding). Back then u just need to connect us VPN for the first time to sign up...then can work liao.....

I can still upload and access my music although I dunno how current SG Google account can enable play music as the VPN method doesn't work anymore.....

I can use the full Google services suites except Google voice which I will need a valid us phone number to redirect...
Google voice is easy, not much use in SG unless you have friends in the US.
 
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