Google I/O

You can now download at the Play Store with a lot of new features this year:

Web visits from devices running Android 4.3  – an as yet unannounced version – have been showing up at various Android-related sites, including NewGeekGuide.com – suggesting a possible launch at the Google I/O developer’s conference on May 15-17.

The Mountain View location (Google’s HQ) and Android Authority logs revealing that most of the devices running 4.3 were Nexus devices do tend to suggest the profiles are genuine …
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When we heard reports late last month that Google might be planning to assemble its Google Glass headsets in the US, we also heard the company was preparing to make a ‘few thousand’ units of its Explorer Edition for contest winners and others receiving the opportunity to purchase the $1500 hardware. Today we get a bit of an update with Google confirming at its “Glass Collective” event that Glass will ship within the next month (via TechCrunch).

It’s not too surprising given Google I/O is set to take place next month starting May 15, but Google also announced today that it will be offering seed funding to developers within the Glass ecosystem through a new fund dubbed “Glass Collective”:

Here at Google Ventures, my partners and I thought the potential for Glass was significant enough to invite our friends at Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to join us in exploring this big opportunity. We’ve formed the Glass Collective, an investment syndicate between our three firms, to provide seed funding to entrepreneurs in the Glass ecosystem to help jumpstart their ideas.

Google will start its seed investments in the US and along with its Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and KPCB, will be reviewing applications for Glass ideas submitted to the various firms involved.

After joining Motorola as an advisor late last month, former long-time Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki appears to be dropping some big hints about the company’s upcoming plans in the smartphone space. In a post to his Google+ account (via DroidLife), Kawasaki posted a link to a video detailing customization options offered by Porsche and posing the question, “Wouldn’t it be great if you could personalize your phone like this?”

This has of course lead to speculation that Kawasaki is referring to the ability customize an upcoming Motorola device at the time of purchase, something that recent reports indicate could be in the plans for Motorola’s much rumored X Phone. AndroidandMe and other blogs have reported that the Motorola’s X Phone could include hardware customization options, but also the ability to preload apps, ringtone, wallpapers, etc, features that other devices have offered versions of in the past.

The latest rumors claim X Phone could see an official release by June and its possible we could get our first look at the device in May during Google I/O.

After recently posting its I/O registration page to announce that registration for its annual I/O developers conference will open on March 13, Google today posted some more information about the upcoming event. In a blog post on the Google Developers Blog, Google noted that it has updated the I/O 2013 site with new info on registering, travel, events, and FAQs. It is has also posted information about the addition of subsidized childcare options at this year’s event.

Google’s updated I/O site includes a “Travel” section with a Google map for navigating to Moscone West in San Francisco, an “About” section with info on events such as the keynote and developer sessions, and a help page with FAQs. Something new at Google I/O this year is childcare:

We are excited to announce that this year Google I/O will offer nearby child care to conference attendees at a subsidized cost. When completing your registration form, please indicate if you are interested in child care services and, if so, tell us the number of children you want to have cared for. Once registration closes, we will contact you to gather more information and provide specific details on child care.

Google once again provided some tips for registration and outlined details specific to academic and international attendees:
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Google told us during its Google I/O keynote that it would bring Chromebooks to 100 Best Buy stores in the United States in the near future. Today, customers tipped TechCrunch that in-store displays for the Chromebooks finally started popping up in Best Buy retail locations. One interesting aspect of the displays is a rack of CDs loaded with the Chrome browser being offered to customers for free. However, we are not sure how many users this will actually convert. In a blog post on his Google+ account, the customer described the CDs and provided the screenshots above:

One thing I was most surprised about was the free +Google Chrome CDs. The CDs were in really cool plexi-glass cases held together by magnets. The Chrome Expert also gave us the cool idea of using the case as a picture frame after we were done using the CD. I think it is a great idea for Google to use their Chromebook’s placement in Best Buy stores to also spread the goodness about Chrome.

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Google gave an update regarding improvements to the Google Play store coming to Android devices and elsewhere yesterday during Day 1 of its Google I/O keynote. However, information on what was in the works for Google TV was notably left out from its presentations (despite two identical Google Glass skydiver demos from yesterday and today). Today, Google made a blog post confirming features that were announced for Android devices yesterday. A new UI, subscription billing, and movie, music and TV shows will also come to the Google Play store on Google TV this summer:

You already have access to a variety of apps on Google Play, and soon you’ll be able to find movies, TV shows, and music from Google Play to stream on Google TV. Google Play works across devices, so you can rent and start watching a movie on your Google TV, keep watching on your tablet on the move, and finish watching on Google TV. The TV & Movies app will also show Google Play content, adding to the more than 100,000 TV episodes and movies available in the app. The full power of Google Play will be available later this summer on all Google TV devices.

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Although the official introduction video for Google’s new Nexus 7 tablet leaked before the announcement, the company just unveiled the 7-inch device on-stage at its Google I/O keynote. While announcing the device’s specs (listed below), the company gave a number of demos for the Nexus 7’s UI, including a content recommendation page, Gmail, YouTube, Chrome (first device to ship with Chrome as default, stock browser), and a full-featured Google Maps with offline mode. Google also gave a demo of the 12-core GPU in action with some impressive 3D games, as pictured above.

Pre-orders start on Google Play today for $199 (8GB) or $249 (16GB), with the device shipping to the United States and Canada in mid-July alongside Jelly Bean.

• -1,080-by-800HD display
• -Tegra 3, Quad-core CPU
• -12-core GPU
• -4325 mAh battery- 9 hours video playback, 300 hours standby
• -Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer
• -1.2 megapixel front-facing camera
• -340 grams

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_QAAP2AtPo]

We told you yesterday that Google was carrying on the tradition of placing a large monument on the lawn in front of Building 44 at the Googleplex. This time, the statue represented the upcoming new version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The image yesterday showed a transparent jar tipped over with jellybeans spilt out, but today we get a look at the finished sculpture in the video above. The jar is actually the Android mascot’s torso. TechCrunch went behind the scenes to find out how the Android jelly bean jar was made.

The Google’s I/O event is kicking off today, where we are all expecting to see much more of Jelly Bean. We will bring you live updates as they happen when the keynote address kicks off at 12:30 p.m. EST (9:30 a.m. PST). We are also expecting to see some major Google TV announcements.

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We all know Google I/O is just around the corner with yet another Nexus tablet leak today and news of some fresh Google TV products hitting the market soon. We will be on hand this week with live coverage of the event, and Google will make things even easier this year thanks to a new blogging tool it is unleashing specifically for the conference. As noted on Google’s developers website, you can now create your own embeddable Google I/O keynote live blogging gadget that will pull the event’s live video stream, and then it will post from your Google+ account:

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Gizmodo AU claimed this morning to have reviewed a training document related to Google’s upcoming tablet that is set to be unveiled at Google I/O this month. While we have had several leaks in the months leading up to the event, today’s report —if legitimate—provides us with some exact specs for the Nexus-branded, Asus-built slate. According to Gizmodo, the tablet will hit at least Australia in July and be the first to run Jelly Bean with the following specs:

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The latest marketshare-ish numbers are in for Android and it seems that people continue to update their phones…to Gingerbread. Almost two-thirds of all Android phones hitting the market in the last two weeks are running Android 2.3.x with a significant share—23.1-percent still on Android 2.2 Froyo. Honeycomb, the Tablet-only fix OS, is at around 3.3-percent, while Ice Cream Sandwich is on a scant 2.9-percent of devices including Galaxy Nexus, Acer Transformer Prime, and newly updated HTC Vivid (along with some custom builds and some unlocked manufacturer phones).

The distribution over time (below) is showing the long haul ICS has ahead of it (and do not forget we are likely going to hear about Jelly Bean at Google I/O in June).

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Update: General admission tickets appear to have hit eBay starting at $2,000, over double the original $900 ticket price.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you… Less than half an hour after going on sale, Google I/O tickets officially sold out for the event that Google promised will be “totally insane.” Tickets went on sale at 7 a.m. PST this morning. Approximately 27 minutes later, the registration page confirmed both academic and general admission tickets sold out. Google’s Vic Gundotra later confirmed tickets sold out in “a bit over 20 minutes!” with the registration page “experiencing 6,250 qps load on our servers at 7:01am!” He did note that for everyone else the keynote and key sessions will be live streamed.

Those of you that were lucky enough to get your hands on the $900 ticket will be attending the three-day event from June 27 to June 29 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. We will—of course—report on anything interesting out of the event this summer.

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We told you earlier this month that Google I/O registration was opening today, March 27. With last year’s tickets selling out in less than an hour, we thought we should remind you that tickets would be going on sale today at 7 a.m. PDT/ 10 a.m. EST. This year’s Google I/O is a three-day event, and while we do not have any confirmation that we might see the much-rumored Google Glasses, we have heard from Google employees that this year’s event will be “totally insane.”

If you want to get your hands on tickets approximately 30 minutes from now, head over to the registration page for all the details. You will need a Google+ account and a free Google Wallet account to complete the process. The event will be running from June 27 to June 29 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Here is what the $900 ticket will get you:

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The search monster’s developer conference dubbed Google I/O has been a runaway success this year, bringing us a series of major product announcements ranging from Chromebooks and the new version of the Chrome browser to Ice Cream Sandwich news and Honeycomb tablet software. Google last month said Google I/O 2012 will be running from April 24-25 at San Francisco’s Moscone West, but they decided to extend the event and push it back two months, citing “an unexpected opportunity to extend Google I/O to three days”.

According to a post over at the official Google Code blog, the company made it known that it is moving the conference to June 27-29, 2012. The event will still take place at Moscone Center West in San Francisco. Surprisingly, the Moscone Center events calendar displayed at press time a two-day rather than a three-day event booked for June 27- 28 and the original ‘corporate meeting’ scheduled for April 24-25 is still up on the site.

Those interested in attending can vote for a Day 3 agenda at this page. The company wrote in the comments of a Google+ post that registration for Google I/O 2011 will open in February.

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Google I/O attendees can now cllaim their Samsung Series 5 Chromebooks. Interestingly, Google and Samsung are giving out the 3G models which retail for $500. Also interesting, they come via Amazon – you get a promo code to redeem at the end.  Start here once you get your code.

Yes, ours is on the way, you have a week to claim them!

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiYND_zvIc0&w=670&h=400]

The entire hour-long presentation is now available on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.

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Over at Fortune, I profiled the the two new guys presenting at Google I/O on Android yesterday.  It turns out that Matt Hershensen and Joe Brit aren’t actually new (though they are new at Google) in the smartphone scene.  They actually founded Danger with Andy Rubin and were working at Microsoft (which bought Danger) less than a year ago.

At Google, they’ve been charged with starting up the Android hardware division which is putting together reference designs for the new accessory interfaces that will be built with the ADK.

Here’s their 2004 talk on founding Danger:

http://ecorner.stanford.edu/swf/player-ec.swf
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(Cross-posted on 9to5Mac.com)

Here at San Francisco’s Moscone West, the Google I/O 2011 keynote has just wrapped up. Being their most important annual pilgrimage for developers, the show is a launchpad for important new products and announcements. For some people, the biggest news is that popular Angry Birds franchise is now available for the most popular platform of all – the web.

Joining Google’s senior vice president of Chrome Sundar Pichai on stage was Peter Vesterbacka, the CEO of Espoo, Finland-based multi-million dollar Angry Birds developer Rovio Mobile. Wearing a red Angry Birds sweatshirt, Vesterbacka announced that the Angry Birds web app is now available on the Chrome Web Store.

The web version taps several new Chrome capabilities to ensure smooth experience one would expect from a native version. “It’s one of the best we’ve built to date,” Vesterbacka quipped as he cut through several levels of Angry Birds with ease. More information and three screenies right after the break.

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