As Google’s first wearable computer Glass edges in past its initial run of devices, members of the general public begin to ask: when will the device be delivered in a form that any non-developers will be able to get their hands on? At a Google I/O 2013 “Fireside Chat” with several members of the main Google Glass team, this question was addressed more than once. In short: soon, but not nearly as soon as they’d like.
Google+ stepped up as the hub of Google's "context ecosystem" at I/O last week, with 41 new features now being joined by an updated Android app to take advantage of them. Google+ for Android 4.0 arguably makes its biggest advances in how photos are handled, tapping into the new auto-highlight and auto-enhance functionality which can automatically edit photos as well as pick out which are the most interesting from your uploads.
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Samsung's clean-Android version of the Galaxy S 4, announced by Google at I/O last week, will only be available in the US the company has confirmed, leaving international developers with only the Nexus 4 to choose. The stock-Android smartphone will carry a $649 unlocked, SIM-free price tag in the US, and be sold direct from Google's Play store, but the search giant confirmed to CNET that developers in other countries will be out of luck.
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A new variation on Samsung's Galaxy S 4 has leaked, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Active, with the quadcore 1.9GHz smartphone cropping up in Croatia ahead of an official release. The slightly aesthetically-redesigned phone, which apparently has physical menu and back buttons as well as what looks to be a more rugged rear casing, has turned up at GSMArena, having been previewed on a Samsung WhatON app update first, complete with some other new twists on the Samsung flagship.
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Samsung's Android 4.2.2 update for the Galaxy S III has leaked, bringing Galaxy S 4 functionality to the older smartphone, though the official release isn't expected until sometime in June. Firmware version I9300XXUFME3 for the GSIII is still a work-in-progress internally, according to SamMobile, with the Jelly Bean based OS still apparently undergoing testing. However, this leak does give an indication of which features Samsung will be retroactively bringing to its old flagship.
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Samsung is offering developers a share of up to $800,000 if they cook up apps for the Galaxy S 4, but they'll have to use the company's Chord SDK for media streaming and impromptu networking if they want a shot at the prize money. The Samsung Smart App Challenge 2013 runs from late June to the end of August, and is intended to flesh out the company's own Samsung Apps download store with titles that require features currently exclusively found on its own devices like the newest Galaxy S 4 flagship.
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Hisense, a company known for making budget Chinese tablets, will soon be releasing their Android tablets stateside. Late last month a new Hisense Sero 7 tablet was spotted clearing the FCC here in the US, and today we have all the details. Their first official Google Play certified Android tablet to go on sale stateside is pretty impressive. It has more to offer than the Nexus 7, and only comes in at $99. Read on for more details on this exclusive first look.
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Because Google’s most popular operating system – and the most popular operating system on the planet, mind you – is Android, it only makes sense that much of the company’s yearly developers conference would be centered in this multi-device environment. What we expected for this year’s Google I/O was an upgrade to a new version of the mobile OS and a new device (or two) to run it on. Instead what we got was a major upgrade to Google’s social networking connections and services working in and around Android – a turning point, perhaps, for the company in a single three-day series of events.
Back in January at CES, we got our hands on Lenovo's IdeaPhone K900 Intel-Inside smartphone, a sleek unibody handset with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 and a 5.5-inch 1080p display. It has been a long time coming, but the smartphone has finally hit shelves, with Lenovo launching the phone in China earlier this week. The K900 is slated to roll out internationally over the summer.
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It’s a return to form here at Google I/O 2013, with none other than Google’s own Vice President of Android Product Management Hugo Barra letting us know that he’d personally fought hard for a more developer-focused single keynote address. As past years had been notably more consumer and product-focused than 2013, it’s not a flash-bang the company has gone for here, it’s a return to form: Google I/O in its purest form.
This week at a fireside chat during Google I/O 2013, Mary Lou Jepsen – currently the head of the Display Division at Google X – let it be known that “there’s no more silicon in Silicon Valley – it’s all iPhone apps.” She quickly added – “or Android apps, I should say.” An overarching theme from her set of words in the extended chat made it clear: she’s not satisfied with the current atmosphere for hardware innovation, particularly when it comes to startup funding.
We went into Google I/O hoping for hardware and gadgetry; instead, we got three and a half hours of software and services – gaming, messaging, Larry Page wistfully envisaging a geeky utopia. You can perhaps excuse us for getting carried away in our expectations. I/O 2012 was a huge spectacle, with lashings of shiny new hardware only overshadowed by skydiving Glass daredevils and Sergey Brin looking moody on a rooftop. In contrast, 2013′s event brought things a whole lot closer back to the developer-centric gathering that the show had originally been established as. Glass was conspicuous by its on-stage absence, and the new Nexus tablets that had been rumored were also no-shows; the emphasis was firmly on how the components of Google’s software portfolio were being refined as the mobile and desktop battles waged on.
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