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Google’s new Made for Google program is kicking off in earnest as the new site for the program has now gone live.  The site lists 22 different vendors who make accessories for various products like the Pixel phone lineup and Pixelbook.  Those accessories have been certified by Google as working with the device for which they are designed for flawlessly.

The site more-or-less is a landing page with links to the 22 different vendor sites.  Those links go to the accessories they make for particular devices like the Pixel, Pixel 2 or Pixelbook.  Not all of the links on the page are functional yet but that will likely change quickly.

Google has begun the process or rolling out a combination app and server-side update that enables the “Hey Google” hot word on Android phones.  Once complete, you can activate Google Assistant by using the trigger just like you can on Google Home.

To this point, the only hot word that Assistant would respond to on your phone has been “OK Google”.  When Google Home was released last year, Assistant on the smart speaker would respond to this too as well as “Hey Google”.  It is unclear why it took so long to get to phones but it is slowing rolling out to users now.

Good news this morning for those of you who have the Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus.  The company has begun rolling out an update that brings the October Android Security Update to the devices.  Software version G955FXXU1AQI9 is rolling out to unlocked variants of the phone and along with the security fixes, there are some other improvements to be found.  The update is 479MB in size so it is advised that you be connected to WiFi when you download it to install.

The biggest thing with the October update is a fix for Bluetooth issues that impacted all Android devices.  There are, of course, a wide range of other fixes and security updates too.

In a move that is similar to the cut Apple made for iOS developers, Google has announced that they will be dropping the percentage they keep on in-app purchases.  Starting January 1, 2018, in-app purchases will have a 15% commission rate to the Mountain View company, a drop of 50% from the previous 30% rate.

For developers, this means that they will be able to keep more money when you make an in-app purchase in their app.  Ultimately it is good for developers who will be able to stay funded to further development.  For Google, that means having top-shelf apps in the Play Store.