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Android Pay has grown up since its introduction in May of 2015.  It launched with just a handful of major US banks at the time and the growth the first year was slow.  But through the latter half of 2016, that growth accelerated.  In 2017, the growth has been exponential.

Over the weekend, 16 new financial institutions joined the supported list for Android Pay and that brings the total number to a nice, even 1,000.  Indeed, nearly 400 new institutions have been added in 2017 along to give you an ideal of the growth rate.

For Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring for Windows 10, there is a new update rolling out to you that will be the RTM for the upcoming Fall Creators Update.  Build 16299.15 is rolling out to the ring now with Build 16299 rolling out to those in the Slow Ring.  That build released to the Fast Ring just last week so things are picking up in pace for the release.

As a reminder, the Fall Creators Update is scheduled to be released on October 17th.

Google has released this month’s Android Distribution Report and the latest version of the platform has finally made its debut.  Android Oreo accounted for .2% of the traffic to the Google Play Store for the seven day period ending October 2, 2017.  It was only one of two versions of Android that gained in the distribution report, joined by Android Nougat.

Nougat saw a 2% jump over the September report, accounting for 17.8% of the traffic to the Play Store.  All of the others either had no change or saw drops in usage.

In a surprise move, Microsoft has announced that the Microsoft Groove music service will be ended on December 31st of this year with Spotify becoming the music streaming service of choice.

As of October 2, 2017, we’re excited to announce that we’re partnering with Spotify to bring the world’s largest music streaming service to you. We know that access to the best streaming experience, the largest catalog of music, and a variety of subscriptions are on the top of your list. Now you can move your curated playlists and collection from Groove directly into Spotify.

It is a surprising move by Microsoft but equally, given how competitive the streaming music market is these days, it isn’t completely shocking.