Five things to know about Google Play

1. Here's the scoop.In fixed and final form, Google Music, Google eBookstore, and the Android Market were combined to form Google Play. Not only will you purchase music, movies, books, and apps at play.google.com, nevertheless those items will as well be stored in the cloud. On your Android phone ortablet, you'll be able to do the same thing using the various Google Play apps.

The two destinations--Web

The two destinations--Web and mobile--stay synced. So, when you purchase an app, movie, song, or book on the Play Web site, that content will become on the spur of the moment available on your Android phone. In the same fashion, if you rent a movie on your Android tablet, it becomes available for viewing on your desktop, too.

2. It's already available online, on its way to your Android.The Play Store is already live at play.google.com. You'll see that it's a one-stop-shop for all of the aforementioned services. Actually, if you try to go to the Android Store, you'll be redirected to the Play Store.

3. Can I upload my own movies and music?Google Music, which allows you to store up to 20,000 songs will remain the same. The only thing that will change is its name, Play Music. Any music you already purchased or uploaded is however available, and you can continue uploading your jams at music.google.com, or on the rebranded Android app, Play Music.

4. Even non-Android users can use Google Play.Let's be clear: although Play is heavily marketed to Android users, any Google user can use the service to take advantage of cloud-based content management. So, you can rent a movie, upload and purchase music, and buy books on one computer, and access it all on any other desktop.

Bonus: Expect heavy Google+ integration.Continuing its streak of heavily promoting its social network, expect Google+ integration to be everywhere. As Google explains, "You can easily share posts about your favorite books, music, movies, games or apps to your circles on Google+, email, or text message in a single click."

CNET How To expert focusing on mobile devices

Sharon Vaknin is a CNET How To expert focusing on mobile devices, Web services, and computing. When she's not giving tech advice, she's cooking, working out, or eating sushi. E-mail Sharon.