You can now play podcasts from within Google search results on Android

[Wireless News]

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/KBq8bFVRks8EbWdRXs7jiw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3NfbGVnbztmaT1maWxsO2g9ODY7cT03NTt3PT EzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/homerun/digital_trends_973/7444c49a4e5f0859c659fd53fe5a6b61 (http://news.yahoo.com/now-play-podcasts-within-google-172541038.html)Want a simple way to-keep up on the latest This American Life, Hardcore History, or Fresh Air , but can’t be bothered to download a podcast app? Not to worry — starting today, Google’s got you covered. The search company’s introducing-a new feature for the Google app on Android that lets-you find-and listen to podcast episodes from directly within search results. Podcast playback doesn’t appear to be an afterthought. Searchable-podcasts, which Google says number in the-the-“thousands” and growing, show up in a new, designated “Recent episodes” tab at the top of search results. By default, it displays the latest three episodes at the time of search, but clicking on the-“More episodes” button brings up a more extensive catalog. The depth of Google’s indexing-is quite impressive — NPR’s Radiolab,-for instance, appears to have nearly all of its 100-episode archive-available.- Related:- Your favorite podcasts are now streaming on Google Play Music Listening to a podcast’s a simple affair. Clicking on the “play” button summons a-standard array of playback controls that let you-pause, rewind, and scrobble the in-progress podcast. Background playback support’s present too — the current-episode-will continue to play if you switch to away from the Google app, for instance, or-turn off your phone’s display. Search’s-newfound podcast prowess is no coincidence. Today’s announcement dovetails-with the release of a major-podcast-focused upgrade for Google’s-Play Music app — on Monday, it gained a dedicated interface-for finding, subscribing to, and downloading shows, plus individualized and contextual podcast recommendations. The search app’s rather bare bones by comparison, but that’s likely intentional — it seems intended to provide a quick, no frills-way to play individual podcast episodes rather than manage entire seasons. Somewhat tellingly, there doesn’t appear to be a way to add podcasts in Google search results to Play Music. The update’s going live “today” for most users as part of a server-side switch, Google said in a release.



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