Leaked screenshots reveal a possible upcoming huge Android redesign!

With every major revision of Android, Google brings about small changes to the appearance of the Android operating system. So far we’ve seen Google experiment with a bunch of different looks and according to the folks at Android Police, they claim that according to a new rumor, Google could be giving its app icons a visual makeover, possibly in a future major Android update which could be revealed at Google I/O later this June.

According to them, the new style of icons are known internally as “Moonshine” and is basically a redesign of the Google app icons to more closely resemble its web counterpart. For example the Gmail icon on the web and on Android looks different from one another, and while more proficient and experience Android users will have no problem identifying the app, first-time users could be a little lost.

They go on to state that the new design language Google would be opting for its icons would include a flatter appearance, together with long, hard shadows strategically placed behind prominent elements. The screenshot pictured to the right is courtesy of Android Police’s source who is apparently familiar with the matter, thus affording us a look as to what the newly designed icons could look like.

For the most part they are readily identifiable upon first glance and we have to say that we are liking what we see so far. Now the question is whether or not Google will actually make those changes. Since we’re still far away from Google I/O and a potential major Android update announcement, there is a chance that the design of the icons have yet to be finalized and that things could change at the last minute, so don’t get your heart set on this design just yet, but in the meantime what do you guys think? Are you digging the new look?

Google Play Store 4.4 to bring new navigation UI design

Google is prepping some new changes for the upcoming version 4.4 of the Google Play Store app that will bring it in line with other Google apps on your Android device.

You may have noticed that some of the Google apps, such as Play Books, Play Movies, Play Music, Play Games, Maps, Gmail and YouTube, have a slide out drawer on the side that have tabs for navigation. It’s only natural then that the Play Store app also gets the same treatment.

Android Police have managed to get their hands on work-in progress UI screenshots of the upcoming 4.4 update that showcase this new UI. Options such as My apps, My wishlist and Redeem that were previously under the action menu are now housed in the drawer and the action menu now only has Settings and Help options. Sure, it’s not that big deal but it helps bring some UI consistency across Google’s own apps.

Android Police also says that Google will probably do a complete revamp of the design and what we see here is just a work-in-progress but that is just a rumor for now.

Google Play Gets Sleek Makeover on Android!

Buying new apps, books or music with your Android device may look a bit more swanky now, as Google announced the roll-out for a sharp new look for it’s Google Play store.

“The new design focuses on bigger images that jump off the page,” the company writes on the Official Android Blog. “Similarly themed content is grouped together so you can hone in on a magazine to read or an app to try.”

The redesigned Play Store is now available for Android phones and tablets running Android 2.2 (Froyo) or above, and it’s noticeably sparser and larger.

Content is grouped together more closely, and Google has integrated more recommendation-based products to take advantage of the smaller display real estate. Most importantly, it’s much easier to go through checkout on the mobile device, allowing for a speedier purchase of games, books and video.

While roll-out has begun today, it’s important to note that it may not reach your particular phone model for the next few weeks. Still, the new look makes Google Play much prettier and more practical to use.

Facebook is buying WhatsApp ?!

WhatsApp hit the tech news circuit today because of a somewhat speculative article in TechCrunch asserting that Facebook has been sniffing around the mobile messaging company.

But the Facebook acquisition talks aren’t happening, said multiple sources. WhatsApp gave us the following statement: “The TechCrunch article is a rumor and not factually accurate. We have no further information to share at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Facebook gave a standard non-helpful statement of: “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation.”

But that doesn’t mean WhatsApp isn’t worth talking about.

Here’s what is definitely true: WhatsApp is one of the largest mobile apps in the world, hands down. You thought Instagram was a massive independent mobile app before Facebook bought it? It’s not even close.

Facebook and Google have both been very interested in buying WhatsApp in the past, but the company is fiercely independent. (In fact, former Google corp dev guy Neeraj Arora became so intrigued by the company when Google was trying to buy it late last year, that he jumped ship and now runs business for WhatsApp.)

WhatsApp hasn’t released much in the way of numbers, but it is one of the biggest apps on just about every mobile platform out there.

For instance, it recently crossed the 100 million download milestone on Google Play. The only other non-Google apps with that many downloads are Skype, Facebook, Angry Birds and Flash. It’s the No. 1 paid app on iOS in more than 100 countries.

As of August, WhatsApp said it was sending and receiving as many as 10 billion messages per day.

Still, it’s not necessarily clear how WhatsApp will evolve — right now it is a very good substitute for paid text messaging from carriers, especially across international borders. It’s a fast, clean mobile app that doesn’t have any of the complications and annoyances of Web applications ported to phones. But messaging is all it does.

WhatsApp was founded by Koum and Brian Acton, after they both were in engineering roles at Yahoo for about a decade. The company is run by a small team in Mountain View — it was 30 people last time I checked.

On the money side, WhatsApp has significant funding from Sequoia Capital and is privately valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The company makes money by charging $0.99 for its iPhone app, while leaving other platforms free. It also has struck carrier deals in places like Hong Kong because it is such a popular motivation for mobile data usage.

But here’s the thing. WhatsApp is very different from Facebook or any other social network. First of all, it isn’t really a social network. Users connect their phone address books to find others on the service. There’s no notion of a password. If users delete the app or get a new phone, their contacts don’t carry over.

And second of all, WhatsApp is not supported by advertising — unlike Facebook, Google and almost everything on the Internet. “Advertising isn’t just the disruption of aesthetics, the insults to your intelligence and the interruption of your train of thought,” Koum wrote in a blog post this summer. “Remember, when advertising is involved you the user are the product.”

So sure, everybody has their price — but that’s a big fat not-for-sale sign to any Internet company acquirers.