Watch the Google ATAP keynote live stream right here!
The Google Advanced Technology and Projects team, led by Karina Dugan, holds its keynote at I/O 2015 this morning in San Francisco. What will the Google ATAP team unveil? We’ll just have to wait and see. However, we wouldn’t actually be surprised if there was something surprising announced. That team is working on some of the most ambitiously unique projects in the world.
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Check out our complete Google I/O 2015 coverage
Come comment on this article: Watch the Google ATAP keynote live stream right here!
Google partners with Udacity to offer Nanodegree in Android development
Google has launched a new effort, in partnership with online learning service Udacity, to help developers become more skilled and capable at developing for the Android platform. The company has created a new credential called a Nanodegree based on a curriculum designed to take 9 to 12 months to complete. The coursework can be completed on your own schedule, but Google suggests at least 10 hours per week be devoted to the effort. The fee is $200 per month although a one week free trial is currently being offered as part of the launch.
In addition to the traditional coursework, students will be engaged in several projects to produce actual apps, add features and capabilities, prepare them for production, and implement Material design concepts. Skills in these areas will be developed using several sample apps that students will build during the course. At the end, students will prepare and develop their own app as part of a Capstone project.
Google thinks developers will want to take advantage of the new Nanodegree in Android development as a way to tap into the continued growth of the Android platform. Android is already activated on over 1 billion devices and Google expects it to grow beyond smarphones to “become the brains behind invisible, ubiquitous cloud-connected computing.”
As part of the launch for this new program, Google plans to invite up to 50 students to Google’s Mountain View headquarters for a career summit. Google is also planning to make this Nanodegree available around the globe. One of the first steps in that effort was to localise the course in Modern Standard Arabic so it could be deployed in Egypt where Google is offering 2,000 scholarships for interested students. Google says other country localisations are being worked on.
Be sure to stick with us for more Google news from Google I/O 2015.
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source: Google/Udacity
Come comment on this article: Google partners with Udacity to offer Nanodegree in Android development
YouTube montage celebrates 10 years of wasting your time
From screaming goats to Russian meteorites, YouTube has been making us unproductive since 2005. What better way to celebrate than with an artsy montage (below) featuring categories like “fails,” “memes,” and “animals” from YouTube’s own Spotlight channel? It’s set to Alpha Aerobics by Blackalicious, and will take you back to the day with Nyan Cat, Charlie the Unicorn and — who could forget — Kicked in the Head by a Train. Best of all, there’s a full list of all 76 videos, which by my reckoning should let you blow a whole other day.
Source: YouTube
Google plans regular updates to Android M preview, the first coming in a month
Google is looking to instill some predictability into its Android calendar, and that includes a switch to yearly releases, but also more regular updates for developer previews.
For the Android M preview release, Google plans to release monthly updates based on the feedback it receives from developers. That means things could change a lot between now and the final release expected this fall, and hopefully that will lead to a more stable and polished operating system.
Google’s Chet Haase confirmed the regular updates during his “What’s new in Android” session yesterday. According to Haase, the goal is to release the next update for Android M developer preview at the end of June, followed by new updates every month until the full launch in Q3.
This new approach contrasts to what happened last year with Lollipop, when there were very few changes between the late June release of Android L preview and the November launch of Lollipop.
For a look at what Android M brings to the table, check out our video impressions and the new features roundup. Stay tuned for more Google I/O news throughout the day!
Don’t miss our videos: Android M, Now on Tap, new Photos, event rundown, and more
Android M is here and everyone wants to know what’s new and exciting. We’ve spent the better part of the past 24 hours bringing you that (and we’re not done), but if you just want all the important stuff, boiled down and put in video form, our videos are a must see.
Android M first look and impressions
Google Photos first look
Google Now on Tap demo
New Android Wear features
New Google Cardboard VR
Google I/O keynote rundown
For a deeper dive into Android M and all things new from Google I/O, here are some starting points:
- Watch the full Google I/O keynote
- A look at the new Google Photos app
- Announcement roundup: all the big news in one place
- Android M developers preview images
- Android M: everything you need to know
Keep it tuned for more.
Google debuts Android M, focuses on ‘polish and quality’
With the dust settling on the announcements yesterday at Google I/O 2015, one of the more prominent and expected announcements was that of Android M.
We don’t yet know what the ‘M’ stands for, but some guesses so far include Muffin and Milkshake, but what we do know is that the next major release of Android is looking pretty slick. The new Android M version focuses on polish and design, taking Material Design that was introduced in Android 5.0 Lollipop and enhancing it.
““For [Android] M, we’ve gone back to the basics,” said Google SVP Sundar Pichai. “We’ve really focused on polish and quality; we’ve literally solved thousands of bugs.”“
There’s no release date yet for Android M, but the Developer Preview is available now for a select few devices.
The post Google debuts Android M, focuses on ‘polish and quality’ appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Full offline Google Maps experience coming this year
Google, as part of its keynote speech, showed off a more rich Maps client for Android. Due later this year, the new mobile app will offer a full offline experience that includes all of the normal features we take for granted.
Once rolled out users will be able to search for businesses and locations, review hours, and even auto-complete results. In perhaps one of the coolest demonstrations of the day, Google showed off a complete turn-by-turn navigation.
For a quick glimpse, check out the video below at around the 2:11:45 mark.
Although we’ve been able to save maps offline and cache details for some time, it’s nowhere near as fleshed out as the upcoming stuff. Unfortunately, there’s no indication as to when we’ll see the new Maps. The best Google would offer up is “later this year”.
One of the reasons we’re looking forward to the new Maps experience is that it breathes new life into otherwise old and useless devices. You’ll soon be able to take your deactivated or WiFi-only models and repurpose them into working turn-by-turn navigation tools.
The post Full offline Google Maps experience coming this year appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google now highlights family friendly content in Play Store
Google on Thursday announced it is now much easier for Play Store users to find family friendly content. Be it apps, games, movies, or other media, Google wants to better the process of finding great stuff.
Starting today, visitors can locate content that is age appropriate and friendly to younger users. As part of the new filter Google will provide searching and filtering by age groups, characters, and other tools.
Additionally, a new Family Star graphic will appear throughout the Play Store to signal whether content is appropriate for the younger demographic.
Parents will find it is more obvious whether a game or app includes ads; it is possible to restrict downloads, purchases, and/or streaming of a mature content. Finally, Google has also introduced new character badges which let users view and search Google Play Store content based on specific brands.
“To help you browse Google Play content around a favorite character, we’ve created special pages featuring dozens of top characters from across the globe, like PBS KIDS, Pororo and Peppa Pig. From the Play store app, take a tour through all of our popular characters to find apps, movies, books and more from your family’s favorites.“
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Nest thermostat will be the central point for Google’s Internet of Things
Google bought Nest in 2014 with the plan for big things. The Nest thermostat is one of the most powerful WiFi connected thermostats in the word, but programming the temperature in your home is only the tip of the iceberg.
Google started a program called “Works With Nest” last year that allows Nest to communicate with various other home automation devices. The goal is to make Nest a central part of the home automation system, but not the full controller. For example, if you have Philips Hues lights, there are various apps to control those lights on a regular basis. However, the Nest thermostat can kick things up a notch by adding additional controls since it knows when someone is in or out of the house. If Nest detects that you just arrived at home, it might turn on certain lights, or if you have left the house, it could turn off lights that you forget.
With the announcement of Brillo and Weave at I/O 2015, Nest will be able to communicate with even more devices. Brillo is the operating system that is based on the “lower levels of Android”, while Weave is the communications layer that will allow connected devices to talk to one another. These two ingredients makeup Google’s attempt at the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is about connecting a slew of devices in order to automate and make your life that much easier.
Imagine that your drying clothes and leave the house. Nest senses no one is home so it can switch your dryer to a refresh mode when your cycle ends, keeping your clothes fresh and wrinkle-free. This is something that can already be done through the “Works With Nest” program with Whirlpool washers and dryers.
It is the Brillo OS and the Weave communications layer that will bring even more devices. The Brillo OS will bring new connected devices to market from appliances, door locks, etc. The Weave communications layer will assist in the interaction between Nest and these new devices. Google will release a developer preview version of Brillo during the 3rd quarter of this year, with the first products coming to market in early 2016.
With all this said, Google still has a big hurdle and that is programming. Consumers haven’t adopted home automation because it requires a lot of work to get the most out of it. That is something that I am sure Google is working on and will likely have an answer for by next year’s I/O.
Be sure to check out our complete Google I/O 2015 coverage.
Come comment on this article: Nest thermostat will be the central point for Google’s Internet of Things
Google’s Project Jacquard wants to put a trackpad on your pants
The ATAP division of Google is known for some the most innovative ideas to come out of Silicon Valley. It’s the home of the Project Ara modular phone and Project Tango. So it’s no surprise to find that Project Jacquard has a large single piece of fabric with conductive yarn woven in that works like a trackpad. The Jacquard team said that more information about its technology would be revealed at tomorrow’s ATAP session, but it already looks promising.
The Jacquard loom can weave regular and conductive fabric into a single piece of textile. On the demo table at I/O, the conductive squares on the larger piece of fabric where used to turn lights on, control a media player, and power two touch-tracking setups that visualized the interaction. The conductive surface uses low-power Wi-Fi to communicate with devices. While the demo was on a flat surface, the additional electronics needed to power and connect the fabric to a device are not quite ready to be sewn into your pants. The team is still working on shrinking those components down to integrate with its loom. But once they do, you might be swiping your next jacket to control smartphone.
Filed under: Misc, Peripherals, Wearables, Wireless, Google
Source: Project Jacquard
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