Google Play Introduces Haptic Games, ‘Android For Work’


The Google Play Store today introduced a new section to highlight haptic games, titled “Games You Can Feel” according to an article on ThaiVisa. The Google Play section currently features 15 games from various developers including Angry Birds Friends and several Grand Theft Auto offerings. Every game in the featured section was designed using haptic technology Touchsense Engage, from California company Immersion. Touchsense Engage launched officially on March 31 and was announced in a press release from Immersion.

“In the gaming community, there is a constant push to be on the cutting edge of both technology and creativity,” said Nick Thomas, head of mobile gaming at Immersion. “We’re seeing demand from top studios for tactile effects that are custom designed to enhance game play and work hand-in-hand with the audio and visual elements of the game.”

As SlashGear notes, most of the apps in the new Google Play section are free and available for Android device owners to try out now, and Google is apparently working in direct collaboration with Immersion to highlight haptic games made with their technology, so we can expect more “Games You Can Feel” on Google Play soon.

In other Google Play news, as per ZDNet, Google’s much anticipated Android for Work has also launched on Google Play this week. Android for Work, part of Google’s plan to see Android devices recognized as business equipment, is intended to function as an IT-admin-defined walled garden to separate business from pleasure. Its functionality was already available in Android 5.0 Lollipop, thanks to its built-in user profiles, and Android for Work allows the same functionality on older devices that don’t support (or haven’t yet updated to) the newest version of the Android operating system.

Google Play users who install the app will need to enroll their device with one of Google’s MDM (Mobile Device Management) partners, which will then allow IT admins at their workplace to remotely manage and isolate work data and work apps, which in turn will allow personal mobile devices to be easily and securely used by employees. Android for Work also offers businesses their own personalized Google Play in the form of a business-managed app “store,” which companies can use to publish their own third-party or in-house apps within their Android for Work infrastructure.

As previously reported on the Inquisitr, Google Play continues to push different functionality to devices, with Google Play for Education rolling out in Canada last week – all part of Google’s plan to place Android above its competitors as devices that go beyond personal use – something Google sorely needs, as iOS held almost three-quarters of enterprise market share as of Q3 2014.

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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