DARPA wants you to help with its terrifying schemes… by gaming
If you like playing online games, then you too can help birth some (possibly sinister) software from DARPA. The US Army’s slightly insane research division launched its Verigames web portal in late 2013 with five free online games designed to crowdsource coding. How? Like a similar effort that folded AIDS proteins, the games “translate players’ actions into program annotations,” to kill numerous bugs in systems code, according to DARPA. The first experiment was a success and “produced hundreds of thousands of (code) annotations,” so the agency plans to expand the program with five new games.
They’re not exactly mindless shooters, though. You’ll be tasked to “energize mysterious patterns in a cosmic puzzle machine,” “optimize vast networks,” and “match quarks in the name of cyber-security,” to cite a few examples. If that’s your idea of a good time, you can sign up, check out the games here and fire them up in your browser. It’s all good fun in the name of science, unless you end up contributing to the rise of some pretty scary machines.
Source: DARPA
Android TV will display video apps as traditional channels
For Android TV, 2015 could turn out to be a breakout year — at least that’s what Google hopes. But how does the search giant plan to reach those heights? One way is by expanding its home entertainment platform’s support for live TV programming, with a new feature called Android Channels. What this lets users to do is view video-streaming apps on the same program guide as traditional channels, including those from ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and other broadcast networks.
Developing…
Don’t miss out on all the latest news and updates from Google I/O 2015. Follow along at our events page.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Google
Via: Variety
Google Maps delivers destination info, voice directions while offline
Sometimes you still need navigation and destination info when you’re offline. Google is delivering just that with offline Maps. Even when you’re not connected (or in airplane mode), the app will still provide information on places in your searches. This means that you can browse hours, reviews and other important details for places like museums and restaurants. What’s more, voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation is included as well for maps that you’ve saved for offline use. Unfortunately, there’s no word on when the new tools will arrive other than a vague “later this year.”
Don’t miss out on all the latest news and updates from Google I/O 2015. Follow along at our events page.
Google I/O 2015: Google Photos App landing today with unlimited free storage and more
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Google just announced the future of Google Photos. We had heard they would be pulling the Google Photos aspect out of G+ and making it own separate app. Today they have announced just that. Later today users will be able to pick up the new app for Android, iOS and on via photos.google.com online.
With the new Google Photos, users can look forward to unlimited free storage for all your photos and videos. Your photos sill upload in 16MP quality and videos will be 1080p. At least that is what the limits are right now.
The demo that was offered really made it look pretty stellar. For instance, a simple pinch will back you out by the day, the week, the month and even the year. You will also be able to search by people, things, places and more. For instance, in photos search out Baseball and get all images that are related to the spot that you have taken. It offers a heck of a lot of additional functions besides just storing your photos. For instance, edit any and all of your photos whenever you want while retaining the original copy.
While that is all well and good, it is the new ability to long press on one image and then drag across the screen to select them all. Along with that comes the sharing options. You can, like before, quickly share a link to images or a folder, but now the receiver doesn’t need to have a Google account or login to see what you have shared.
The new Google Photos Android app will be going live soon at the following Play Store link (Google Photos) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos . Once we see the APK and have a chance, we will get it loaded up and shared.
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Google debuts Android M, which is all about ‘polish and quality’
Like clockwork, Google lifted the veil on Android M at its I/O developer conference today, an event that’s traditionally served as the company’s launchpad for its mobile OS updates. No, we don’t yet know what the “M” stands for (we’d love to see Android Marzipan), but as usual that’s not stopping Google from divulging details. After the bold redesign that was Android Lollipop, M is more focused on refining the entire Android experience. “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.” While there’s still no firm release date for Android M, developers can give it a spin today with a special preview release for the Nexus 5, 6, 9 and Player set-top box.
Better permissions
Those improvements start with more granular app permissions, breaking them down into categories like location, camera and contacts. And rather than dealing with permissions before you install an app, you’ll be prompted as the apps require specific features (yes, a lot like iOS). David Burke, VP of engineering at Google, showed off the new permissions on stage by having WhatsApp request microphone access. The new permissions should make it a lot clearer what exactly apps are doing on your phone — they’re certainly a lot more informative than the dump of security information we’ve seen on Android up until now.
Android M will also let developers improve the web experience inside of their apps by using Chrome Custom Tabs. Pinterest, for example, now pops up speedy little web windows whenever you tap on a link. Basically, developers will be able to make their in-app web experiences feel just like the apps themselves. Google’s also making deep linking between apps a core feature of Android M, which allows apps to point to specific screens in other apps. (Think of it like being linked to a specific web page, rather than just a home page.)
Android Pay
Naturally, Android Pay, Google’s revamped mobile payments offering announced earlier this year, will also play a big role in Android M. It’ll let you buy things at NFC equipped retailers with your phone, and it should be even more secure than traditional credit cards since it creates virtual card numbers for every purchase. Google says more than 700,000 locations will support Android Pay, and it’ll also work with Visa, MasterCard, AmEx and Discover cards. As for carriers, it’ll be supported on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
Google’s also standardizing fingerprint authentication with Android M. It’ll support Android Pay transactions, both in stores and in apps, and of course it supports unlocking your phone with your fingerprint.
Battery
Android M sports a new feature called “Doze” which uses your phone’s sensors to tell when it’s not being used and conserve power. Google says Doze doubled the battery life of Nexus 9s that they tested — it’ll be interesting to see how it’ll impact phones, which get moved around much more than tablets. Not surprisingly, Android M will also support USB-C cables, which should allow for faster charging. Since they’re bi-directional, you’ll also be able to charge other devices from your phone over USB-C.
The takeaway
Overall, there aren’t many surprises with Android M. Google’s focus on polish makes plenty of sense now, though it’s hard not to notice that it’s playing catchup with Apple with Android Pay, app permissions and fingerprint authentication. That’s not necessarily a knock against Google — Apple’s also lifted plenty of concepts from Android — but it shows how much further ahead Apple is in new technologies like mobile payments and biometric security. Google’s likely not done yet though — I wouldn’t be surprised if we see plenty more new Android M features announced over the next few months.
Don’t miss out on all the latest news and updates from Google I/O 2015. Follow along at our events page.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Google
Source: Google
Android Pay will arrive with Android M, handle payments via NFC
Google SVP Sundar Pichai may have tipped the company’s hand on mobile payments back in Barcelona, but he offered little detail on how the system would work. At I/O 2015, though, the folks in Mountain View served up a wealth of details on the matter, including the announcement that Android Pay would be part of the Android M release. Just like Apple Pay, transactions are sorted via NFC and your actual card number isn’t shared with merchants. Instead, it’ll use “a virtual account number” to handle payments. When it arrives, the system will be employed by over 700,000 retailers (sounds familiar) like Macy’s, Whole Foods, Walgreen’s and many more. It’ll also be used for in-app purchases, so if you’re ordering food from Chipotle or paying for an Uber ride, you’ll be able to use Android Pay there as well. And yes, web sellers can leverage the system, too.
In terms of security, the payment tech will employ your phone’s fingerprint scanner — if it has one — to pay for items from a linked MasterCard, Visa, AmEx or Discover card. What’s more, Google says it’s still working on expanding the list of banks that support Android Pay and with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon to make sure that when you but a new device, it’ll be ready to work with the system out of the box. There’s no mention what’ll happen to Google Wallet just yet, but reports surfaced yesterday that it would handle sending money between individuals as the folks in Mountain View completely overhaul Android phone-driven payments. That same report mentioned loyalty programs being lumped into Android Pay, but there hasn’t been any talk of that yet either.
Don’t miss out on all the latest news and updates from Google I/O 2015. Follow along at our events page.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Google
Source: Official Android Blog
Google standardizing fingerprint IDs across Android devices
At its I/O conference, Google’s just revealed that it will standardize fingerprint ID security across Android M devices, so that manufacturers like Samsung don’t need to build their own. That means developers will be able to use an open system that lets you unlock your device, buy with Google Pay, pay at Google’s Play store and perform other common functions with your digits. The system will also be bundled in its API to help developers integrate it into third-party apps. In other words, it’ll work much like Apple’s fingerprint system already does.
Don’t miss out on all the latest news and updates from Google I/O 2015. Follow along at our events page.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Google
Project Brillo is Google’s platform for the ‘internet of things’
Google wants to be everywhere in your home, not just hiding inside your thermostats and smoke alarms. That’s why, as rumored, it’s just announced Project Brillo, a super-slim operating system that’s designed specifically for devices collectively known as the internet-of-things. If you’re feeling a sense of deja vu, don’t — the company has already dipped a toe or two into this market before, with 2011’s quietly-abandoned Android@Home project. As expected, Project Brillo is based on Android, but pared down enough to operate on a wide variety of day to day (and traditionally dumb) objects — doorbells, baby cameras, ovens and so on that speak to each other via Bluetooth and WiFi.
If you were hoping for juicy, consumer-friendly details about what Project Brillo means for you, then sadly we didn’t get much — this is a developer conference after all. Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President at Google, spent most of the allotted stage time discussing Weave — the way these connected devices will communicate. Weave will allow your smart objects to define events such as unlocking or locking a door and let other devices understand what that event is, or means (door locked? Turn off the oven, etc.). There was one blessing for us regular folks though, Brillo includes tools for understanding voice commands “make me some coffee” could be all you need to do to get a cup of joe, soon(ish). How soon? Well, the developer tools for Project Brillo won’t be available until Q3 this year. Weave (for you developer types) will follow a month or two later.
Don’t miss out on all the latest news and updates from Google I/O 2015. Follow along at our events page.
Google Photos offers unlimited storage for mobile and web
Google is launching a standalone, unlimited photo- and video-hosting service called Google Photos. This is a “home” and an organizational system for all of your selfies, videos and other pictures, Director of Google Photos Anil Sabharwal announced today at Google I/O. Google Photos is a free — and, again, unlimited — service, and it’s available right now on Android, iOS and the web.
Rumors of Google’s separate photo service hit the ‘net earlier in May and we got a peek at a new, non-Google+ Android Photos app just last week.
Developing …
Microsoft’s imaging technology can automatically caption photos
Microsoft’s already demonstrated how its computer vision technology can recognize objects even better than humans, now it’s onto the next frontier: Interpreting elements of a photo and automatically generating captions. That may not exactly sound exciting, but being able to accurately explain an image could be essential for artificial intelligence. It’s also yet another sign of the power of neural networks, or computer models that try to mimic the way the human brain works. Microsoft’s technology starts by identifying everything in an image, then it generates sentences around how those objects interact. For example, in the image above it came up with “A purple camera with a woman”; “A woman holding a camera in a crowd”; and “A woman holding a cat.” Two of those sentences don’t make much sense — it somehow identifies a bundle of hair as a cat — so it eventually settled on “A woman holding a camera in a crowd” as the best way to describe the scene.
“We want to connect vision to language because we want to have artificial intelligence tools,” Margaret Mitchell, a researcher at Microsoft Research’s natural language processing group, said in a blog post today. The technology could lead to a future version of Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant that can view the world around you and offer helpful tips on the fly, not unlike the Cortana character in Halo.
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