We've just finished rolling out the latest release of Google Play services to devices around the world. It offers better performance and greater power savings, as well as enhancements to the Location Based Services, maps, InstantBuy, Google+, and Photo Sphere.

To simplify your testing, we've also released an updated Google APIs emulator image that includes Google Play Services 3.2. You can download the image through the Android SDK Manager.

Maps and Location Based Services

Google Play Services 3.2 includes several enhancements to the Location Based Services. The Fused Location Provider now supports the selection of a low-power mode option when requesting location updates, and the ability to inject mock locations — allowing you to more efficiently test your apps in a variety of simulated conditions.

The geofencing APIs have been updated to support hardware-based GPS geofencing on devices that have supporting hardware, such as the Nexus 4. Hardware geofences consume significantly less battery, and best of all your app will automatically take advantage of this feature on supported hardware without you having to make any changes.

A new Snapshot feature in the maps API lets you capture a bitmap image of the current map in order to improve performance when an interactive map isn't necessary. We’ve also added a listener to the My Location button.

Google+, Photo Sphere, InstantBuy, and Analytics

If you’ve used Google+ sign-in you can take advantage of the new simplified sharing control that can be embedded directly within your app, simplifying the process of sharing content directly to Google+. We’ve also taken the opportunity to add some butter to the Google+ sign-in animation.

The Photo Sphere viewer has also been extended to include a compass mode that allows users to explore Photo Spheres by moving their phones.

The InstantBuy implementation has been improved to increase efficiency, with improved latency, a cleaner UI with contextual text and assets for the holo light theme, and support for passing through loyalty and offers information.

More About Google Play Services

To learn more about Google Play services and the APIs available to you through it, visit the Google Services area of the Android Developers site.