Google’s Google Search application has received an update overnight, which brings some very lovely niceties to Android 4.1+ (Jelly Bean) users.

For those of you who are able to receive the new features then read on – for rest of you, shield your eyes. Here’s the change log from Google Play, we’ve bolded our favourite features:

For Android 4.1+ (Jelly Bean), Google Search is faster plus:
- Google Now works with Gmail (English only)
- Flights
- Restaurant reservations
- Hotel confirmations
- Events
- Packages
- New Now cards: nearby attractions & photo spots, movies opening in theaters, concerts & more
- New voice actions: launch apps, schedule meetings & check when your next appointment is…

Before you continue reading you should know that these updates are only for the US and Korea right now.

Google Now has received its first update since it launched and made the Android scene overall a whole lot better. If you’ve got an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean running phone then your Google Search app would have just been updated for:

• Movies – be alerted of movie schedules when near a cinema
• Public alerts – receive emergency alerts for public disasters/events
• Sports – Add in your favourite sport team to receive updates (not Aus sports).

So, we love Android – a lot. You probably love Android too. And this got us thinking:

Where in Australia do most Android lovers live?

This led us to do some research and find out where most Androidians are located. We used Google Insights for Search, Google Trends and analytics from Android Australia. If you’d like the short answer – it’s Victoria, and that makes me happy. Mainly because I myself live in the garden state, but also because in my own personal endeavours I’ve noticed a much higher prevalence of Android devices in the big (or little) VIC.  For those of you who are interested in learning a bit more, read on!

Australia:

I thought we’d begin with …

Been thinking about whether Google’s new Google Search can compete with Siri? Well, we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. We recently stumbled upon this video via Reddit and think it quite comprehensively shows the power of Google.

After Siri and S Voice were put head to head, it was hard to tell whether Android’s top PA and Apple’s version was better. However, after Google showed off the new stock Google Search on Jelly Bean I was incredibly excited to see a head-to-head. From the video it appears that the stock Google Search (which will be found on all future Android devices) is leaps and bounds above Siri.

Answers come up faster. The PA voice sounds better. And in my opinion …

Some of you may have noticed that yesterday a Google Play store button has made its way into the Google Toolbar up the top of your search. This is great news for Android users, as now there is a quick button to access the Market place and a small part of Android’s Cloud service.

However, Google never does stuff simply, at least for themselves – the way the button works is, if you are logged in to your Android Gmail account while browsing on your desktop, then and only then will the button show up. So you non Android users don’t have to fret that you’re losing valuable quick link space.

However, this really is going to be an easier …

When ever you want to find anything on the web you go to google, right? What if you need to get some directions, or an image of something? Google yeah? How about if you want to access your Google+ page but cannot be bothered opening it up and reading through the news feed – well, now you don’t have to!

Google has just made its most radical change in it’s search engine capability’s by adding in what they like to call “Your World” search. This gives you the ability to search for anything on the web and have Google+ content delivered straight to your search results.

This is done in three ways -

1. Google now provides “Personal Results” which include

…