Google has finished rolling out Google Play Services 3.2 to most Android phones and tablets around the world. What that means is that folks running Android just received updates that should save battery life when using location services, enable support for a few new key features in third party apps, and you can remotely locate or wipe your device using Android Device Manager.
Google introduced the Android Device Manager at the beginning of August. Since then it’s been gradually rolling out to devices running Android 2.2 and later, and now most phones and tablets should have the feature.
You can access the settings by opening the Google Settings app from your Android app drawer and tapping the option for Android Device Manager.
From there you can choose whether to enable remote location or wiping. This lets you login to the Android Device Manager website and find your phone on a map, cause your device to ring so you can find it if it’s in your other pants pocket or lost in couch cushions, or perform a factory reset if the phone’s been lost or stolen.
Other new features in Play Services 3.2 include support for hardware-based geofencing on some devices (including the Google Nexus 4), and a Snapshot feature in the Google Maps API which lets apps capture a picture of a map instead of showing a live map when you don’t need interactive features. This can help free up resources and improve performance.
The Photo Sphere viewer also now has a compass mode, letting you move your phone to navigate spherical images.
yaya, in the name of “security”
Can’t wait for the day when AT&T, the government or random content owners can wipe your phone remotely…