Rumors that Google has big plans for virtual reality seem to be gathering pace. After yesterday learning that the lead designer of Google Search is now heading up Google Cardboard, another engineer believed to be working on the projected has hinted at an announcement at Google I/O …
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Google has begun sending out an email to developers, asking them to opt-in their family-friendly apps and games to the Designed for Families program. The Mountain View company first started inviting developers to take part in the initiative about a month ago, aiming to increase discoverability of family- and kid-friendly apps on the Play Store…
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We’re nearing the one year anniversary mark of the first generation Moto 360’s original unveiling, and it’s about time for Motorola to show us what it has up its sleeves for the next iteration of its famed circular smartwatch—if said next generation does exist in the first place. If a newly surfaced filing from Bluetooth SIG is to be believed (via droid-life), the product does indeed appear to have a successor, and it might be closer than we think…
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Update: Google has now updated the I/O app in the Play Store with the changes below ahead of May 28 – May 29 event. Grab it on the Play Store now.
The Google I/O app has received a few major updates over the last few years, each one landing right around the time of Google’s huge developers’ conference taking place in San Francisco, California. Now, some users who joined the beta channel of the Google I/O app last year have started receiving the update to its Google I/O 2015 version, and it packs a nifty super-Material redesign…
According to a report this afternoon from Bloomberg, “people familiar with the matter” have said that Google is preparing to give Android users more control over what data gets shared with their apps. Users will, at some point in the near future, have “more detailed choices” over which pieces of their information that apps have access to:
Google’s Android operating system is set to give users more detailed choices over what apps can access, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter remains private. That could include photos, contacts or location. An announcement of the change, which would put Android closer in line with Apple Inc.’s iOS, is expected for Google’s developer’s conference in San Francisco this month, one of the people said.
More than likely, this is a feature that Google will be announcing alongside Android “M” at this year’s Google I/O conference which is set to kick off at the end of the month.
It looks like all hope is not lost if you applied for a ticket to Google I/O in March and initially got rejected. Scattered reports have started streaming in that some users who were rejected at first have now begun receiving emails inviting them to purchase a ticket to the event…
Google has today updated the Google I/O 2015 website with a bunch of really useful information. As of right now, you can view the entire schedule of events and sessions for I/O 2015, set up your own personal schedule for the event, get reminders for when sessions are happening, and more…
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Update: Google I/O registration is now open.
Google I/O 2015 is right around the corner, scheduled to be taking place May 28th and 29th of this year at Moscone Center West. And in case you haven’t been following Google’s own countdown clock, we wanted to give you a bit of a heads up and remind you that registration for the event opens Tuesday. Just like last year, Google will be keeping registration open to the public for a couple days, and then will be holding a random lottery to see who gets to go…
You can head to the Google I/O 2015 registration page Tuesday at 9 AM PDT to register, and the cost will be the same as last year: $900 for a general attendee, and $300 for a student ticket. Before registration opens, make sure you have a Google account set up and ready to go, and it wouldn’t hurt to sign into Google Wallet to add the card that you plan to pay with. Head over to Google’s website to check out the event schedule.
…confirmed with Google, that David Besbris [above] has left his role as the head of the company’s social and identity product. He has been replaced by Bradley Horowitz, a longtime VP of product for Google+.
Google Plus seems to be in tumult and it sounds like it is being dismantled for its good parts including Photos and Hangouts. Perhaps the feed will turn into a more Twitter-like product. Who knows at this point—we’ll likely get a roadmap at Google I/O in May.
As for new lead Bradley Horowitz, he never really left Google+ through Vic Gundotra’s departure and will probably oversee the split of the units which are said to have already been reduced by half.
Google has today announced the dates for this year’s Google I/O developers’ conference, with the annual event being set for May 28th and 29th, 2015. According to the event’s website (which is notably completely plastered with Material Design), registration begins March 17th, 2015 at 9 AM PDT.
As it does on an annual basis, Google has released the source code for the 2014 version of its official Google I/O app. Google releases the source code on a yearly basis to serve as a benchmark for Android app design and development. Android developers can learn how to implement a wide variety of features that are useful for most apps, in addition to how to integrate apps with various Google products and services.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI8m_RcBrIg
Google has posted a two-minute video that covers the most important announcements surrounding Android Wear made at its Google I/O keynote last month. The video walks through notifications, voice controls, third-party apps and a few other details surrounding Android Wear, saving you from scrolling through the three-hour Google I/O keynote.
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Google X VP Megan Smith
If you’re a woman in the tech industry and interested in learning coding, you can now apply to Google for vouchers for online lessons from c<>de school.
The initiative follows Google publishing a diversity report showing that only 30 percent of its employees are women, the company stating that this is “miles from where we want to be.” Google VP Megan Smith did reveal some progress, however, reporting that twice as many women were attending I/O this year compared to last year …
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During a session at its I/O developer conference today, Google announced that it’s partnering with LG to build a tablet that’s part of its Project Tango program to release to consumers next year. Google earlier this month announced that it was releasing a prototype Tango tablet, but only for developers. The version made by LG will be intended for consumers, and presumably, cheaper than the $1024 developer version.
Amid protests, Google tries to make nice with the city of San Francisco both with a showing of local bands and some San Francisco related tracks (20) on Google Play available for free. Rumor has it there will also be lots of San Francisco beers at the event this evening.
There is both a lot happening at this year’s Google I/O and very little, depending where you look. Obviously, if you are a developer who builds Android and even web apps, you are a kid in a candy store. If you are looking for new hardware, there isn’t much that wasn’t out there already. Neither Google co-founder took the stage this year after successive years where Sergey Brin led the introduction of Google Glass (which is all but absent this year) and Larry Page led an epic Q&A last year.
Google I/O is all about developers and while revealing that Mountain View has paid out over $5 billion to devs since last year’s show, Sundar Pichai took the time to thank the people building products on Mountain View’s platforms. As the Android boss prepared to wrap up today’s keynote, he acknowledged that developers don’t make the trip to I/O just to talk about statistics and that they also attend the event to get their hands on the latest gadgets.
Along with all of the other numbers and company updates Sundar Pichai shared today, he also just announced during the enterprise portion of the event that Google has now hit 190 million Google Drive users. That’s thanks to strong growth among enterprise customers and includes only active users over a 30-day period. The announcement comes alongside new features announced for the Drive suite of apps across devices.
More stats and numbers from Google’s I/O Keynote today are here.
Screenshot via Google I/O microsite
With Google I/O kicking off today at 9 am PST/12 pm EST, Google VP Megan Smith tells USA Today that the number of women attending Google’s developer conference has more than doubled since last year’s conference.
She says women will make up 20 percent of the 6,000 software developers. Last year just 8 percent of Google I/O goers were women, a statistic that Smith says is typical of most tech conferences.
“Twenty percent is not 50 percent, which is where we want to be,” she said. “But the trajectory is good.”
Google is also making efforts to increase the stage presence of women on stage and leading sessions, according to Smith, with 25 percent of Google representatives being women this year compared to 16 percent a year ago.
The company recently released data showing that only 30 percent of its employees are women as it expressed it is not where it wants to be in terms of diversity as a company.
Google I/O starts today, and as per usual, the company is kicking things off with a huge 2-hour press event set to start at 9 AM PT. The event is said to be bringing a multitude of new products and service announcements, rumored to include the “L” version of Android, Android Wear smartwatches, a new line of “Android Silver” smartphones, a second-generation Chromebook Pixel, an “Android TV” set-top box, Project Tango tablets, and Google Glass announcements.
We’ve been hearing quite a bit recently about the upcoming Moto X+1, which is expected to be Motorola’s next flagship smartphone. Now, NewGeekGuide has received what appears to be a promotional render for what is said to be that device from a source we consider reliable.
While a lot of information has already been leaked about this phone, one new feature revealed by this source is the apparent inclusion of a front-facing speaker at the bottom of the phone, though the purpose for that hardware (beyond possible music playback or speakerphone support) is still uncertain.
The source says it’s possible this phone will be revealed at Google’s I/O developer conference. If that’s the case, it would make sense for promotional images to start floating around about this time as the company prepares to unveil the next-gen device.
We’ve also gotten our hands on two separate images from a second render from the same source which is embedded below:
Reddit user Doopl has come across two screenshots of what appears to be the “L” release of Android. The screenshots come via the Chromium Issue Tracker, which has been the source of leaks many times in the past. The images show a Google login dialog box that looks entirely different than what you’ll currently see on an Android 4.4 device.
Google’s annual I/O conference is only two days away but leaks and rumors leading up to this year’s show have been going strong for quite a while. In an effort to brace ourselves for Mountain View’s latest contributions to the tech world, we’ve decided to discuss what we might be seeing in the next couple of days. While some of these items are a given, others are a mix of rumors and speculation. There’s no guarantee that everything listed here will be announced during I/O, but we eventually expect to see these projects from Google at some point in time. That being said, here are some things that we might see this year in San Francisco.
Android Wear is expected to be a major part of Google’s showing next week during its I/O conference and to give a hint of what’s on deck, the company has released a new video overlooking what its new platform has to offer. This introduction demo highlights Mountain View’s intentions for its new software, discussing what separates it from the Android experience on a smartphone, detailing its focus on convenience.
