Google My Tracks updated to version 2.0, play back your tours on Google Earth

My Tracks, the 'adventure' tracking application from Google, has received an update today to version 2.0. The app itself has been around single 2009, so an update was well due. It uses the GPS on your device to "visualize your location" over time, and allow you to share the data on Google Maps and Google Earth. With version 2.0, we get a new feature that could make all this location data look oh so much better. 

With the update, comes the ability to view your tracked routes right within the Google Earth for Android application. That'll be the same Google Earth application that just benefitted from a sweet 3D update then. Relive those trips down the Vegas strip in glorious 3D. 

Additionally, the whole UI has been given a pretty big spruce up and is now faster and simpler, and beautifully within the Android 4.x design guidelines -- but then this is Google, so we'd expect at least that. There's also the aggregation of statistics over time to show trends in your performance, and improved charts and stats tables that are easier to read. My Tracks 2.0 is live this very second in the Google Play Store, so head on over there to grab it for yourselves. 

Source: Google Lat-Long; Download: My Tracks

My Tracks for Android updated with Google Earth playback, performance stats

Google's My Tracks app has been updated today to version 2.0 with a few new features to help those wanting to document their journeys.

• The ability to play back your tour directly on Google Earth for Android
• Aggregation of statistics over time to show trends in your performance
• Simpler, faster user interface
• Improved charts and stats tables that are easier to read

With summer upon us and plenty of hiking and biking trips to be had, My Tracks seems like it could be a great way to chronicle your journeys, and with the right tools, it could be a great fitness companion. If only it had more photography functions, My Tracks could be a fine way to view geotagged pictures. 

The download link is below for anyone interested. Anyone have particularly useful experiences with My Tracks?

Source: Google Lat Long
Download: My Tracks

DoubleTwist Player gets an update, now supports pinned Google Play Music tracks

The folks at doubleTwist have updated their Android app to version 1.7.3, and it brings a pretty nice change log along with. In addition to playing your music collection from the device and syncing to your Windows or Mac computer, you can now play music you have downloaded and pinned from Google Play Music. We gave it a quick test and sure enough -- music downloaded and pinned is accessible through the doubleTwist player as well as across the network through the doubleTwist media server. This is a great addition for those that need to sync their music or simply prefer to not use drag and drop to copy songs.

In addition to the Google Play Music tool, album art search and download has been improved, AirPlay support has been tweaked to work with the latest AppleTV update, improvements have been made to the search feature, and the whole app has been trimmed down in size and bug fixes have been applied. It's worth mentioning that not all features are available in the free version of doubleTwist Player, but the ability to play pinned tracks from Google Play Music is. We love it when premium features come with a zero cost app. If you are using doubleTwist Player, grab your update from the Google Play store, and if not you can find a download link after the break.

Source: doubleTwist

Slice for Android - Organizes your orders, tracks your stuff

I've long since raved about services like Tripit, which aggregate and organize your travel itineraries into a single application. Slice has  been doing that for shopping for some time now, and today it announced it's coming to Android. We've been using Slice for a few days now, and it's quickly found a home in our must-have applications. 

The premise is simple: You give Slice access to your e-mail account, and it keeps an eye on things, looking out of receipts, order confirmations and shipping announcements. If it spots one, it gets sucked into the Slice app for easy digestion. You've got quick access to current and previous orders, tracking codes, histories and maps.

Oh, and it'll show you your total number of orders imported, as well as how much you've spent. And you'll likely feel a little guilty and wonder where all that money went. Just saying. (Our test sucked in orders all the way back from 2008 – these things add up after a while.)

Slice's layout is excellent. The main menu takes you to open orders, shipped orders, delivered orders and full history. It's a little redundant because once you choose one of those sections, you can flip left or right to the others. But it still looks great. (Update: Slice apparently decided to change its main home screen between the time we got our advance look and launch. The home screen at right is what you should see on your phone.)

Order tracking is nicely done – you get easy access to the tracking number and service phone number, as well as the history of your package's travels. You get a Google Map, too, showing the shipping origin and destination cities, and points in between, but that's really not all that useful for any sort of real-time tracking.

The long and the short of it is that Slice is an excellent way to keep track of your online purchases and keep up with orders that are on the way. It's also got the ability to squelch iTunes and Netflix purchases, which you'll likely have a bunch of, so things stay nice and tidy.

We've got a slew of screen shots and some hands-on video -- and the download link, of course -- after the break.

More: Slice for Android