Google just showed us the future of Android: The web is your app store

Do you want Andromeda? Because this is how you make Andromeda.

I remember thinking last November (2016 if you’re reading this from the future), while watching speakers at the Chrome Dev Summit, that Google remembered how important the web was several times. Not the internet where data files back and forth, but the web, the part of that internet you see through a web browser.

Whether you’re using Chrome or another program that is built for seeing all the things on the web, or a component in another app that can show you a part of the web that’s meaningful and relevant to what you’re doing right this moment, the web is a powerful medium for all things. It’s also one of the first user experiences we all had and our children may have.

The web was was the first look at what we call User Experience for all things tech.

OK, maybe remember isn’t the right word here. Google has spent countless amounts of money and time building tools to both make the web and see the web. The Chrome browser has gone from an amateurish side project into a full-fledged operating system that’s so well connected it just works no matter where your things are (or where an apps things are) in the world as long as they are on a server.

Chrome OS leverages the internet — all the tubes and data pipes that put almost anything digital within our reach — and uses the web as a way for us to see and hear it all. Terms like “online” and “offline” can blur in Chrome OS because almost every user interface is a web page and everything these apps can do is done the same way as a web page 10,000 miles away would do it.

There are a lot of amazing things happening at Google that are overshadowed by Android.

It has also been very busy adopting existing and building new web standards, making it easier for anyone to distribute everything through the internet with a friendly web interface and trying to get the internet to more places so more people can be a part of the web and everything else it has to offer. Google has not sat idly by whilst it watches Android slowly become the dominant computing platform in the world. It’s been busy preparing for what’s next and laying the foundation for what comes after what’s next.

And we got to see a glimpse of what’s next through a short post on the Chromium blog about Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). The web can become a global app store and our phones can be a tool to see a web interface that can do almost anything.

At first glance, it sounds like we’re just seeing a better way to put bookmarks on our home screens. And in a sense we are. We will be able to tap a button or click a mouse pointer on a link that drops an icon on our phone or Chromebook and maybe one day the Chrome browser on other platforms to take us to something the developers of that webpage want us to see. That sure sounds like a browser bookmark. The difference is what we can’t see without diving into everything happening behind the fancy icon.

If you have a web browser you can run a web app — the next step is making those apps part of Android.

If you’re technically inclined, check out what Paul Kinlan has to say at Google’s Web Developer site to see how this is so much more than a bookmark. We’ve heard about instant apps that run on-demand yet are still Android applications.

This is a similar, yet different, way to merge the internet, the web and the thing in your hands you use to see it. These new ways for PWAs to become part of Android use an Android app that’s built and installed on the fly through Chrome to connect with an application that is running on a web server. And Google’s development tools mean that things we never thought of as a “web page” can be done on that server and displayed on the screen you’re looking at. Things like games, or accounting software or a virtual reality tour of a museum. Things that we usually have to install on our phones.

This is what Chrome OS does so well. The things you see in an app might just be things happening in a server room and you wouldn’t know the difference.

It doesn’t have to matter where things are stored or where they are processed as long as the user interface is on our screen. This new PWA integration is how that gets started.

If you read through Kinlan’s breakdown you’ll find that there are some really interesting things coming. An app that runs on the web will be able to use cloud messaging and give you the same notifications you get from an app installed locally. A web app will be able to open and process other files, which could be local or stored on another server somewhere. Things you create with a PWA can be stored locally, managed by Chrome using its permissions and secured storage and shared with other apps and other people using the same intents that a local app does. Again — just like Chrome OS. Most exciting of all is that getting all of this to work on other browsers is happening. Google wants to make the web your new app store, and more.

If Andromeda is some sort of merging of Chrome and Android, this is the beginning of it.

Sony 4K HDR TV choices for 2017: A1 OLED, XD9, XE94, XE93, XE90, XE85, XE80 compared

Sony has revealed its Bravia TV line-up for 2017, following much the same format as its excellent 2016 televisions, but boosting performance and tweaking the design in many areas.

Sony is offering a full selection of 4K HDR televisions for 2017, on top of a selection of HD and Full HD models, and with all these numbers and options, it’s easy to get confused. 

In many cases, these models will start to appear alongside the 2016 models and the easy way to spot the year is the model number – XD for 2016, XE for 2017.

Broadly speaking compared to 2016, the new models have a cleaner design, brighter displays for better HDR and more power for more effective processing.

• What is HDR, what TVs support HDR, and what HDR content can I watch?

Pocket-lint

Sony Bravia A1 OLED

• Screen sizes: 55in, 65in, 77in (TBC)
• OLED, 3840 x 2160 pixels, HDR
• Price: £TBC – expect expensive

Sony has introduced a new flagship for 2017 and with it comes a new display technology for the company: OLED. The Bravia A1 is the only OLED option in Sony’s line-up, bringing the advantage of slim design thanks to OLED’s self-illuminating properties. 

Design is very much the story for the Bravia A1, as it includes a unique built-in sound system. Placing twin actuators left and right behind the screen itself, it uses the display as an “acoustic surface”. A subwoofer is built into the stand on the rear, meaning a completely clean design, with no speaker grills or excess bloat around the body. Amazingly, although the display is the sound surface, there’s no interference with the picture.

That OLED display means jaw-dropping colours and near perfect blacks, but it’s not as bright as Sony’s other flagship, the Bravia ZD9, which is LED and better positioned to delivery dramatic HDR effects. 

With the Bravia A1 OLED very much a show piece, not only because of the display technology, but also the wonderful design, we’d expect it to be incredibly expensive. Sony is slowly revealing more details about this TV, and so far that doesn’t include the price or date. 

On the technical front, it’s a 4K HDR TV, supporting Dolby Vision, offers HDR remastering for SDR sources and offers super bitmapping to tidy up low data sources, like streaming content.

• Sony Bravia A1 Series OLED TV preview: Breathtaking pictures and unique audio tech combine

Sony

Sony Bravia ZD9

• Screen sizes: 65in, 75in, 100in
• Direct lit LED, 3840 x 2160 pixels, HDR
• Price: £4000, £7000, £60,000

The Sony Bravia ZD9 was a late-2016 launch and it quickly became apparent that this is one of the greatest TVs ever launched. It won Pocket-lint’s coveted 2016 Best Television award and from that strong position continues as Sony’s flagship other model. 

The ZD9 offers very different screen sizes – the 100-inch model is £60,000, so unlikely to be a consideration, but the 65-inch model at around £4000 is more realistic, if you want the very best Sony offers.

This is a full array TV, meaning it has direct illumination behind the display surface, meaning much better control of light for more accurate colour, deeper blacks and brighter whites and better overall contrast. It delivers an HDR experience that’s one of the best we’ve ever seen – and Sony will happily admit that this delivers more punch in HDR than its A1 OLED TV. 

There’s also a lot of design gone into making your TV clean, with a cable management system built in to route those cables across the back and down through the stand for a clean finish. 

It runs on Android TV, with YouView for those in the UK, offering you 4K glory in fantastic style.

• Sony ZD9 4K TV review: The HDR master
• Buy the Sony Bravia ZD9 for £3499 on Amazon.co.uk or $5498 on Amazon.com

Sony

Sony Bravia XE94

• Screen sizes: 75in
• Direct lit LED, 3840 x 2160 pixel, HDR
• Price: £TBC

Sony’s TV range gets a little confusing at this point as the XE94 is only available in one size – 75-inches. This models also offers full array illumination, which marks it out as different to the XE93 it sits alongside, which uses Slim Backlight Drive+, an edge illumination system. The reason this TV can’t offer that Slim Backlight Drive system is that it’s too big; the result is a slightly fatter TV, but better performance too. 

This is a replacement for the XD94 of 2016, cleaning the design up and integrating the cable management system from the ZD9, so you get a clean TV front and rear.

The rear of this TV, apart from hiding colours, has a two-layer design so it looks slimmer when viewed from the sides. The rear is also finished in a neutral tone, close to the sort of colour that many people paint their homes, again designed to blend in when viewed from the sides. 

The XE94 uses the X1 Extreme processor found the A1 and ZD9, although it doesn’t offer the same level of contrast that the ZD9 does. It’s powered by Android TV and will offer YouView in the UK. Sony has also told us that this TV will have an over the air update to support Dolby Vision and HLG, which will round-out a very complete 4K HDR feature set.

Pocket-lint

Sony Bravia XE93

• Screen sizes: 65in, 55in
• Edge lit LED, 3840 x 2160 pixels, HDR
• Price: £TBC, expect it to match 2016 prices 

The Sony Bravia XE93, as we’ve just said, matches the design and most of the spec of the XE94, but comes in smaller screen sizes. The big change is that it uses the Slim Backlight Drive+ system for illumination. This is an edge illumination LED display, diffused through Sony’s system. In this case, the LEDs are placed across the top and bottom edges, rather than at the sides which is more conventional. 

One of the advantages this brings is that slimmer design, again aiming to reduce visual clutter. It has the ZD9’s cable management system, but this is a slimmer overall TV because of the illumination system it offers. 

That enhancement in physical design does mean a slight drop in performance as the illumination isn’t as accurate as the XE94, ZD9 or A1, but it is more affordable. It uses the same powerful X1 Extreme processor, so it’s likely to be one of the top choices for 2017, as the performance is still very good.

Pocket-lint

Sony Bravia XE90

• Sizes: 75in, 65in, 55in, 49in
• Direct lit LED, 3840 x 2160 pixels, HDR
• Prices: £TBC 

The Bravia XE90 occupies a new position for Sony TVs, offering a middle ground that sits under the XE94. What this TV really offers is a full array, i.e., direct LED illumination, but at a range of sizes, including down to a small 49-inches, the smallest TV of this illumination tech that you’ll find, with the advantage of local dimming. 

The design of this TV is close to that of the XE94, with the nice cable management system and so on for a clean finish, using the same look-through stand design. 

The performance comes down a notch though: it only offers the X1 processor (rather than the “Extreme” of the higher models) and that will mean that the XE90 isn’t as capable in some areas. Sony highlights contrast as being one area – so rather than this being an XE94 mini, it looks like a step down. 

However, local dimming means the XE90 will outperform the XE85 in terms of contrast, black levels and colour reproduction. 

It runs on Android TV and offer YouView in the UK.

Pocket-lint

Sony Bravia XE85

• Sizes: 75in, 65in, 55in
• Edge lit LED, 3840 x 2160 pixels, HDR
• Price: £TBC

The Brava XE85 offers a nice clean design again with cable management, but is a step down in technology, offering a conventional edge lit LED display, meaning the performance isn’t a match for those TVs we’ve mentioned above. 

It has the X1 processor to clean up your lower quality content, like getting rid of colour banding in low quality streaming content, for example. 

This is really an entry-level 4K HDR TV from Sony, the big thing here is that it offers larger screen sizes than the XE80 which sits below it, and has a slightly more powerful processor. 

It is powered by Android TV, so is a fully featured smart TV and offers YouView in the UK.

Pocket-lint

Sony Bravia XE80

• Sizes: 49in, 43in
• Edge lit LED, 3840 x 2160 pixels, HDR
• Price: £TBC

The Sony Bravia XE80 is really Sony’s starting point for 4K HDR TVs. It offers a nice slim design with cable management to keep things tidy, but at this level, this TV doesn’t offer the X1 processor you’ll find on the next models up, instead offering the older X-Reality Pro system. 

That’s going to mean that it’s technically less capable than the larger TVs that sit above it, but if you’re looking at the 43-inch model (the smallest 4K HDR TV that Sony is offering in its 2017 selection), then some of those changes will be less noticeable than they would, for example, on a 65-inch TV. 

It’s powered by Android TV for a fully connected experience and offers YouView in the UK.

• Best 4K TVs: Ultra HD televisions to buy in 2016

The Gita is your rolling robot porter

Though robots are increasingly making their way into factories, offices and even airports, they’re still not something you’d encounter walking down a city street — and definitely not in a way that’s personally useful to you. We’d all love to have our own personal BB-8 droid to follow us around and help get things done, but so far we’ve had to settle for robotic vacuums and airport greeters. Piaggio Fast Forward promises to bring us a bit closer to that science fiction reality with its new smart cargo vehicle, the Gita. It’s relatively small, attractive and can follow you everywhere, ready to lend a hand when you’ve taken on too much to carry.

The Gita (pronounced “jee-ta”) is the first project from Fast Forward, a new offshoot from the larger Piaggio Group. Unless you’re a big scooter enthusiast, you might not immediately recognize that name. However, you’re most certainly familiar with the company’s most famous product, the Vespa. First sold in 1946 and popularized in films like Roman Holiday, Vespas have a reputation for being cute, sleek and stylish.

Piaggio’s decades of design expertise are immediately apparent in the carbon body of each Gita unit. It’s 22 inches tall, with the smooth, shiny surface broken only by the large rubber treads and the assortment of cameras that help the Gita navigate. There’s a small compartment accessed via the hatch on top, which can carry up to 40 pounds. At a demonstration I attended this week, I easily stowed my work backpack and its contents inside one of the units. All told, the length of the storage unit was enough to lay my 14-inch notebook down with room to spare around the edges, and I could have easily stacked more laptops and books on top of it, plus my DSLR.

For larger loads, Piaggio’s been working on a larger sibling called the Kilo. It’s more than twice as long with an open bay and can handle up to 200 pounds. The Kilo is intended for delivery people, who can fill up the container with packages and have it follow them on their routes.

How exactly do the Gita and Kilo know where to go? They don’t use GPS — which is fine because the device is intended to work indoors as well as outdoors. Right now, there are two modes of basic operation. The Gita can follow a person wearing a special belt, which connects to the robot via WiFi. The belts are currently rough, bulky prototypes, with a cooling unit clearly visible inside the 3D-printed housing. The belt has cameras built in, which helps the Gita determine where exactly you’re going.

The Gita maintains a good distance while you’re walking or running, but will sidle up close once it’s determined you’ve stopped moving around. It’s not perfect just yet; during my demo the Gita seemed a little confused as to which direction it should face. But this is still an early version, with four to six months of testing ahead of it.

The other mode is Gita’s autonomous mode, where it will map out an area and journey to and fro on its own. This can be useful for letting it run errands — one of the current ideas is to have Gita do deliveries, only unlocking their compartments once they’ve reached the intended recipient. Gitas can also work together in a convoy, communicating with each other about their surroundings and traveling in a straight line like ducklings following their mother.

If the Gita doesn’t do much now, it’s understandable given the whirlwind nature of its development. I spoke to several employees of Piaggio Fast Forward, including hardware engineers and designers, and most of them had only been working there for four months or less. There’s no price or availability to speak of because the project still has a lot of testing ahead of it. The plan is to take the Gita to places like corporate campuses, hospitals and stores and see what use cases arise out of those situations. Chairman of the Board Michele Colaninno mentioned even asking his children what they’d like to see the Gita do — and after a half hour, they came back with a list of 40 options.

The sidewalk-bound Gita may seem a little unusual for a company that specializes in road vehicles. But Piaggio sees it as yet another way to increase people’s personal freedom and mobility — something its scooters do well in cities where automobile traffic and parking are big problems. Ideally, Piaggio would like a future where people don’t need cars and walk a lot more. And you might be willing to do just that if you have a lot less to carry.

Elon Musk says he put immigration ban on Trump council agenda

Elon Musk said he wasn’t about to join Uber’s CEO in quitting President Trump’s economic advisory council, and he’s sticking to his guns in the wake of a meeting on February 3rd. The Tesla founder claims that he managed to get the immigration ban discussed “first and foremost” on the meeting agenda where it wasn’t even going to be mentioned at all. He also notes that he “raised climate” once more. It’s not clear what the outcome of those talks was, but he maintains that his efforts are “doing good” and that it would be “wrong” to leave the council.

It’s hard to verify the claims without being privy to the content of council meetings (whose secrecy may be violating the law). However, GM’s Mary Barra tells TechCrunch that “environmental issues” did come up as part of the discussion. The question is: are any of these discussions making an impact? A judge’s temporary block on the immigration ban may have more of an immediate effect, and there are no signs that the White House will rethink attempts to suppress climate change science and prop up fossil fuels. Musk may put key issues on the table, but he can’t guarantee that Trump, Bannon and crew will change their minds.

As it stands, Musk faces the same risk that Uber’s chief did: staying on the council may pose a threat to his bottom line. Some Model 3 customers are cancelling their pre-orders in protest of Musk’s supposed friendliness to Trump. No matter how much Musk may believe in talking things out, he may have to quit if association with the President costs him both significant revenue and a tarnished brand image. Tesla can’t save the planet if people aren’t buying, after all.

In addition, I again raised climate. I believe this is doing good, so will remain on council & keep at it. Doing otherwise would be wrong.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2017

Source: Elon Musk (Twitter 1), (2)

Jawbone is reportedly leaving consumer for clinical wearables

It’s no secret that things haven’t been going well at Jawbone HQ. Last year, rumors came out that the company was halting the production of all its fitness trackers, and its customer service provider dropped it for unpaid services. Now a new report by TechCrunch says the wearable maker is fully abandoning consumer wearables to shift to the creation of products and services for clinicians and health care providers.

Jawbone is reportedly raising funds for the transition, and TC says it already collected as much as $951 million from big-name investors like JP Morgan. Unfortunately, it already spent almost all of that money “with very little to show in returns.”

The publication’s source explained that the consumer hardware space is just too challenging except for the biggest names in the business. Jawbone decided to make the switch because the existing companies with models it wants to follow have been doing well financially. “Every wearable company today will be posed with this question: Do I want to play in consumer and narrow margins, or healthcare and service and make incredible margins but with possibly a lot of upfront fixed cost,” the source said.

Jawbone hasn’t confirmed whether it’s truly adopting a B2B model, and its UP fitness trackers are still on its website. TC notes that the company has been silently selling its assets in the past few months, though — not to mention, it’s been a couple of years since it launched the latest UP variant. If Jawbone truly is abandoning its consumer wearable roots, then it probably determined that its future in the B2B industry is bigger than what Fitbit offered when it tried to buy the company.

Source: TechCrunch