Updated Google terms of service can use your reviews and photos for ‘endorsements’

Based on a new terms of use announced on Friday, Google will be able to collect your comments and ratings on Play Store or any of its products and sell these to companies as “shared endorsements” to be used for online advertising. The new policy will go live on November 11 and will display users’ names, photos, and comments beside things liked, reviewed, followed, or positively commented on. You can opt out of the feature for now through this page.

Change to come for Google Play Store for Android tablets

Google will be revamping its Play Store for tablet users starting November 21. Tablet owners will first see “Designed for tablets” apps when they browse the top lists on their devices and those apps and games that do not meet this criteria will be labeled as “Designed for phones.”

Google is announcing this change a few weeks in advance to give developers a chance to optimize their apps for tablets. If you’re an Android developer, you can check the Tablet App Quality Checklist to see if you meet the criteria.

Google Canada launches nationwide ‘Doodle 4 Google’ contest for students

Canadian K-12 students are invited to join the first “Doodle 4 Google Canada” competition with the theme “If I could invent anything, I would invent…” The national winner will have their doodle featured for a day on Google.ca homepage, be part of a Doodle exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in March 2014, and receive a $10,000 scholarship plus a $10,000 grant for their school.

Entries are now being accepted until Dec. 31. Regional finalists will be picked and will receive a trip to Toronto where the top five regional winners and overall winner will be announced at the special Doodle exhibition. For more information about the contest, check out the Doodle 4 Google Canada site.

Google updates Chrome Beta for Android

Google adds new features to its Chrome Beta app for Android with a quicker way to save your bookmarks on your homescreen. You just need to tap on the three-dot menu and you’ll find an “Add to homescreen” option. What’s cool about this feature is it opens your favorite sites in their own apps inside Android’s app switcher.

The “New Tab Page” has also been updated to look similar to the Chrome desktop version with a Search bar in the middle and your most visited sites are displayed at the bottom. Google is rolling out these new features at the moment and you can try it out for yourself through this link.