Our new favorite monkey robot, Kibot, may be stuck in Korea, but Hasbro has wider ambitions for its Nexus S powered Robot Toys. On show at Google I/O this week, the Android-bots are basically self-powered motorized cradles into which the Samsung smartphone docks, hooking up via Bluetooth. You can then hold races and use object recognition, just as in the video after the cut.
Today at Google I/O was mostly about Chrome: Chrome OS, Chromebooks...but there was another annoucement today about a new version of Android Market for web, phones, and tablets. The new version is meant to improve the app discovery experience, and make it easier for you to find good new apps. This update gives the Android Market a feel more similar to the Amazon Appstore and Apple's App Store. Continue after the cut for more details.
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Our lucky SlashGear and AndroidCommunity guys attending Google I/O not only got hold of free limited edition Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets yesterday, but now they get Verizon's 4G LTE Hotspot. The little device is incredibly compact but offers blazing speeds. With the photo below, I believe some form of dramatic unboxing may be imminent.
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As Sundar Pichai explained that Google hoped the entirety of the crowd listening to the second big keynote speech of Google I/O 2011 would help spread the word about Chrome OS, he turned to his podium to pull out no less than a brand-spanking-new Chromebook, explaining that all 5,000 attendees of the conference would be given one for free. Of course they'd not be given one until the device is ready to be placed in their hands, this handout happening further into the summer than yesterday's Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 giveaway.
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The major focus of today's Google I/O keynote was obviously Chrome along with the official pricing and dates of the Samsung and Acer Chromebooks. But that didn't stop Google from a small tangent into the future possibilities of javascript, HTML 5, and WebGL.
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While Chromebooks are great and all, their reliance on being connected to the web at all times may have some folks more hesitant to adopt. But at today's Google I/O keynote, it was made clear that Google has addressed this issue and that Chromebooks can still work offline.
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Google has just announced Chromebooks for consumers earlier, but they will also be offering special software and hardware as a service packages for businesses, schools, and government institutions. The pricing and capabilities for these Chromebooks and potential "Chromebox" will likely have Microsoft trembling in their trousers.
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Google has just changed the PC experience. PCs have some major downsides, they take a long time to boot up, you have to constantly be managing updates (I don’t know how many times I have had to update Java, RealPlayer, etc.), and you have to make sure you have anti-virus up to date as well. Google has said they are rethinking the entire PC experience, and the result of that is the Chromebook. The key to the Chromebook is “nothing but the web”. [Update: Acer and Samsung will provide the hardware]
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The second day of Google I/O has kicked off with a keynote focused on Chrome. After highlighting some impressive milestones for Chrome over the past year, which more than doubled in user base from 70 million last year to now 160 million users, they proceeded to demo a new API and new graphics acceleration and native browser 3D support.
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Google just gave a huge gift to developers, improving the Chrome web store to make it easier to make an in-app purchase so the user can stay engaged in the app while making the purchase. Also, the web store is now available in 41 languages. Time spent in apps has doubled, and also transaction times have gotten longer.
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Vic Gundotra welcomed everyone to the Keynote for Day 2 today, and confirmed, if the Chrome bubbles on the screen were not enough of a clue, that today's keynote will be focused on Chrome. He also let us know that yesterday there were 60,000 simultaneous viewers of the keynote, and over 100,000 people watched the keynote around the world. We also found out what those blue vouchers were for that we got yesterday.
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We're revving up and getting ready for Day 2 of Google I/O, with the keynote starting in just a few minutes. Yesterday was jam-packed with annoucements, from Google Music Beta, movie rentals on Android, Honeycomb 3.1, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Android at Home. You can see all of our coverage, including the full keynote video, here. Our buddies Vince and Ben are at the event, getting ready to head into the keynote any minute, and we will be giving you up to the minute coverage on the news as it comes out. Today's keynote will likely focus on Chrome.
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