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As everyone has seen by now, Google announced today a new logo and “G” icon for their branding as part of their effort to reflect the different ways the Google services are used.  One key question around the announcement was when we would start seeing that new look on Google Apps for Android.  Apparently, in a matter of hours.

Google Maps is the first Google app for Android that has received the new look and it is part of the new 9.14 build that I wrote about earlier.

Arguably one of the best mobile racing simulators available today is Real Racing 3. It has outstanding graphics and game controls and the FireMonkey team over at EA Sports are continually adding to the game, bringing more tracks and more cars. Now, finally, it has NASCAR.

The mega update to Real Racing 3 that is available now in the Google Play Store brings the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) to your Android phone or tablet. In brings you the ability to race as a top driver including the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr. amongst them as you go for oval racing glory.

Real Racing 3 for Android – Free (In-App Purchases) – Download Now

The startup team over at Nextbit have finally launched their first glimpse of their first smartphone, the Nextbit Robin, or simply the Robin.  This new smartphone will be powered by a pure version of Android Lollipop (with Marshmallow in the works) and will have a unique blend of cloud storage and on-device storage.  The reality is that we all access cloud storage on our devices anyway.  Nextbit’s point is why not leverage that to its fullest.  That’s exactly what the San Francisco company wants to do with their first smartphone.

To that end, you won’t find massive amounts of storage built into the Nextbit Robin – 32GB.  But it comes with 100GB of cloud-based storage with apps designed to help you keep track of just how much storage you are using.  Plus, it dynamically moves apps (not your personal data) to the cloud storage when you have not used that app for a long time.  That way you can free up space on your phone but instantly get that app back on the device.  Its a slick concept.

Over the course of the past few weeks it seems every team within Google has been pushing out updates to their respective apps. Google Maps is no exception. Last week we saw a minor update roll out, version 9.13 for those keeping score at home, and it looks like version 9.14 is just around the digital corner.

The updates to Google Maps 9.14 really focus on the navigation user experience when you first look for a location and the inclusion of Popular Times. Popular times provides you a chart of when a business tends to be the most busy. It is something Google has been working on for a while now and it is slowly rolling out across their services.

Google Maps for Android – Free – Download Now

The new Navigation UI is certainly something you will notice and I think likely will appreciate.