Google I/O 2014: Day 2 Keynote

June 26 2014: Day 2 of Google I/O 2014 Event at Moscone West Convention Center, San Francisco

On the first day of the event Google highlighted about about its newer version of Android OS, Android One, L Developer Preview, Android Wear, Android Auto, Android TV, Android apps for Chromebook, Android for Work, Google Cloud, and Google Fit.

On the second day, Google made some more announcements about developing Apps and games for Chromecast. One of the App developer working with a firm Hook, Norm McGarry will be the first one to build games for Chromecast. Looking at the major announcement on Wednesday, it appears like the future of Android will be based not only on its integration into Smart Wearables but into TV, computers and anything which can make use of internet. It will connect everything into your own network which could be folded and unfolded anywhere and anytime. The main focus of App developers will be on developing different versions of App based on the devices they will be used for.

Along with the App development, ‘Cloud Monitoring’ will be the next big productivity thing. In order to save time and improve performance monitoring problems, Google's new cloud-based developer analysis tools will be developed. These tools will do the performance analysis automatically in a lot lesser time and reporting will lot easier on cloud based environment.

Going forward, Google took a funny turn by showing virtual reality headset made from cardboard. It was made to appear like Oculus Virtual Reality Headset, which is now owned by Facebook. Talking about the improved Google Now voice controls, Google announced that your smart devices will be able to recognise various accents and multiple languages which will be great help to the devices which lack keyboard like a Smartwatch and Google Glass.

Few Tech-Savvy, cross-platform developers, who work on the coding of both iOS and Android were not so happy. They were expecting the simulation software to test their apps during development to be as much user friendly as Apple offers for iOS. Apple's ‘Xcode’ and ‘The iOS simulator’ are way ahead than that of Android simulator to write and test changes during App development.

Google's has shown a lot more than expected at Google I/O 2014. Project Tango, Android TV, Android L- those aren't going to be released for some time. Let’s see, how soon it can deliver the new products.

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Google I/O 2014: Day 1 Keynote

American Technology Giant, Google Corporation began with the announcements and highlights in the same fashion like previous Google’s I/O Conference. For those who do not know, Google organized the Google I/O 2014 event on June 25 and June 26 at Moscone West Convention Center, San Francisco. It started few minutes later than 9:00AM PDT on June 25. According to the sources, the main focus was design, development and distribution of technology around Google’s Android OS. At present we already have Google.com, Google Chrome, Google earth, Google maps, Google directions, Earth View and now Google glass, Google car, Android OS, Google Chromecast and now much more than that! Are you kidding me?

Google I/O 2014 was watched by more than 1 billion active online users are in the world and Sundar Pichai, senior vice president Android and Chrome was the main host behind the key announcements. Moving on the next level, here are few highlights of discussion at 2014 Google I/O 2014 conference on Day 1:

Android One

Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Android announced about Google’s new initiative Android One program. Android One will be will be plain Android program to unified Android experience to smartphones manufacturers. It will have few pre-installed and locally relevant apps, and efficient features and timely software updates. The first devices based on Android One are set to arrive in India from Micromax and Karbonn and expected to cost less than $100.

L Developer Preview

Google officially unveiled Android L, Google Android’s upcoming version.
It features a new Improved notifications on the screen, Phone locking/unlocking criteria with Bluetooth devices and Android wear, Android wear cross platform material design, which offers precise tools to make customized typography to app developers and also allows designers to add smooth Android Extension Pack to support 3D graphics and animations at 60 fps using Polymer. Android L will be able to manage battery life much better.

Android Wear

Upcoming smartwatches and other smart wearables will be integrated with Android L. Google demonstrated new Android Wear to show off its select Android wearable functionalities. The User Interface will let users glide across supported apps from the paired smartphone, and users can also use Google now to send sms, create notes, set reminders and much more. Android L Material Design is also present in this wearable platform for automatic installation of Android Wearable’s  app on the wearable once you download it on your paired smartphone. The first Android Wear-powered devices will be LG's G and Samsung's Gear Live smartwatch, followed by Motorola's Moto 360 which will go on sale later.

Android Auto

The completely voice-enabled Google’s Android Auto is designed to help developers create safe and flawless programs for use on Android devices while driving. For eg. Your smartphone will connect to the compatible automobile software with Android Auto and with the user interface on the screen you can search locations and navigate. You can control phone though voice commands with a prefix ‘Okay Google Now’. Android Auto SDK will be available for developers and over 25 car brands will be Android Auto enabled cars later this year.

Android TV

Google has decided to give higher level of attention to Android TV project and has loaded Android TV   full entertainment features. Live streaming, gaming experience and search experience has been improved to a great extent. Application will be developed to control it with smartwatches and other android based devices.
Chromecast update
Now Chromecast can receive videos from any compatible device even if it is not in the same network. With a feature called Backdrop Chromecast will be able to stream high-quality images, news and other content on to the TV when a user is not casting a video on it. You can use Chromecast to mirror your phone or tablet on to the big screen.

Android apps for Chromebook

Just like the new Android L update, Chromebooks will now work much better with Android phones. Users will be able unlock Chromebooks with smartphones. In addition to that Chromebooks will also show notifications which you receive on the phone. Eg- Your reminders and Messages. Application developers of Pintrest, Flipboard and Evernote have already developed apps which are compatible on chromebook.

Android for Work

In order to blend your work and play, Google announced ‘ Android for Work ‘ program to help applications live in one place. This will allow a user to have two set of applications -- one for work and one for personal use. Google also announced a premium Google Drive offering for enterprise customers which allow unlimited storage for $10 per user per month.

Google Cloud

In the Interest of developers and start-ups, Google talked about improving Google Cloud and Google App Engine, App development for monitoring the performance, and debug a live application running on hundreds of servers. Google announced about acquiring Appurify, a mobile test automation service, to optimize app building and testing.

Google Fit

Google made Google Fit official.  Google has offered developers APIs that will allow them to write fitness-specific apps. Similar to  Apple’s recently announced HealthKit, Google Fit consolidates all of the user’s fitness data synced at one place on Android devices.

People who attended Google 2014 I/O event paid $900 or $300 (academic ticket) in advance for entry ticket. So, as a culture of this event everyone who attended this event was gifted their choice of LG’s Android Wear Smartwatch or Samsungs.

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Google I/O 2014 Starts Today: Countdown Begins!

Google I/O 2014

The 2014 Google I/O 2014 conference is scheduled on June 25 and June 26 at Moscone West Convention Center, San Francisco. It will start at 9:00AM PDT on June 25 and according to the sources, the main focus will be design, development and distribution of technology.

Based on the information available and what Google has directly stated, this year’s conference is going to be one of the biggest events for Google. Samsung, LG and Motorola are expected to debut new Android products. Along with it, a number of hardware and software announcements will also be made. 

Google I/O 2014

Here is the glimpse of what it might include:

1. Android Wear Smartwatches and other Smartwearables

Android wear gadgets are expected to give promising business in near future. Players like Samsung, Motorola and LG are expected to introduce their Android Wear Smartwatches and also reveal their pricing at Google I/O.  Along with that , as Google Glass is already launched in Uk, so Google's vision from Google Glass along with the introduction of new apps might also be highlighted at Google I/O 2014.

2. Handsets & Tablets

Few announcement about  Chrome OS tablet, Nexus 6 and Nexus tablet release date could be made. Next-generation smartphone projects such as Ara and Tango, 3D maps of indoor spaces, potential android applications of the technology, including gaming and indoor navigation should make an appearance. 

3. Android TV 

Google introduced Google TV several years ago but the project was never successful. So, along with the introduction of Nexus TV, Google TV project might also take a rebirth at 2014 Google I/O conference. According to the sources, “Android TV” will be an OS/platform, not hardware, and it will focus on the delivery of media, content and games. It will compete with Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox and Roku. 

4. Google Smart Home  

Google acquired Nest for more than $1 billion in the month of February. This month, Nest has acquired DropCam for $555 million. DropCam allows individuals to monitor homes remotely via the CloudNest. So, we can expect some news about Google’s vision for the “connected home” offerings from Google’s Nest division at I/O.

5. Google Car

Google recently introduced its own driverless car prototypes. We might hear some news about the car app distribution platform for Android developers and also Google’s vision related to Google Car project.

6. Google Fit

Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Company and Google Inc are working on the applications that could turn smart watches into health gadgets like step counters, blood pressure and blood sugar monitors.  Announcement regarding “Google Fit ” apps could also be a part of Google 2014 I/O. 

This is what we are expecting out of the The 2014 Google I/O 2014. But I am sure that the sessions, workshops and panels at I/O will have a lot more talk about. Let’s see what comes up tomorrow! Patience is the key here!

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