A new version of the Android Market is making the rounds, now automatically updating on select handsets, version 3.3.11. Although there are minor visual changes such as a new Market icon, more prominent star ratings, large apps have a small ‘Wi-Fi’ icon, a microphone for voice input on Market search and other interface tweaks, most major changes involve giving you more control. You can now choose to auto-update apps as a default, previously you had to select auto-update for each application, and there is an option to ‘update over Wi-Fi only’, which is a welcome addition if you want to avoid eating up your monthly data plan allocation just for downloading another Angry Birds update. Finally you can select to automatically add shortcuts for downloaded applications to your homescreen (like in Android Honeycomb).

If you are the impatient type you can download the Market .apk file (after the break) and try it out for yourself, or play it safe and wait for your device to autoupdate. Mind you, that this file doesn’t behave well with Honeycomb tablets. If you do install the file below, go to Settings > Applications > Manage Apps > Market and select ‘clear data’ if the Market is misbehaving.
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