Few will argue that this year’s I/O keynote was Google’s flashiest yet. If you were expecting people to jump out of blimps to bring you a new version of Google Glass, the event surely left you disappointed. Instead, Google used its relatively low-key keynote to announce an evolutionary update to its mobile operating system, a new effort to bring Android to the Internet of Things… Read More
The most important news about Android M is how it will handle the way apps get permission to access your private data. That sounds like a humble little technical detail until you realize what a revolution it will be when we can set our own permissions on apps, any time we want. And Chrome is doing it too.
This has been quite the week in news. A bunch of tech companies got snatched up, including Path. The once Silicon Valley app darling just sold itself to some Korean company called Daum Kakao. Google IO kicked off with a bunch of reveals big and small. And rumor has it Apple is getting into the car business. Will we soon be driving giant iPhones? Find out all that and more with our host this… Read More
Google I/O blasted us in the face with news, mostly around the new and improved Android M. Greg was live at the Moscone Center in San Francisco the whole time and reported back to John and I (stuck in New York) as Matt continued the struggle with his microphone. Google Now on Tap, which reads the text on the screen and taps Google Now for relevant info, has Greg jazzed, as does… Read More
Woohoo! Google I/O is just the best. We just got a view of Google’s plans for the your future. Here’s all the most interesting stuff you might have missed.
“I’d like to pay with Google.” Say that phrase at a shop’s register, and you could soon check out without even touching your wallet—or phone. It’s called Hands Free, and it comes on the heels of Google announcing its upcoming payments app, Android Pay, at I/O.
At this morning’s ATAP session at Google I/O we got another little tease of Project Ara, Google’s modular smartphone. I mean, it was a tiny tease. Basically, it still a thing that exists. But! We got to see a little of it in action and it was pretty damn impressive.
In the early years (like 5 years ago tbh), iPhone and Android were at odds. Closed vs. open; Design vs. customization. Now, those lines are more blurred than ever. But Android has always had one absolute ace, and Google I/O 2015 just proved it: Google Now.
Google’s ATAP team showed a working version of its Project Ara modular smartphone on stage at I/O today, with engineer Rafa Camargo snapping in a camera module and taking a quick photo on a device running the latest version of Android. It was a brief show of where the project’s at, and amazing when you consider the engineering involved in making it work. ATAP has shown off a… Read More
It’s an all-too-common scenario. You’re driving and get a text from a friend. They say you should meet at [insert bar/restaurant/S&M club here]. If you’re a responsible adult you pull over, open the maps app, search for the location, tap it, select navigate, and then get back on the road. But what if all that could be done with a tap or two? Or even better, a voice command?
Google has debuted a new product called “App Invites” aimed at helping mobile app developers grow their application’s user base. Now in beta for both iOS and Android, App Invites includes a set of standardized tools for sending out app invites over SMS and email, highlighting recommended contacts, creating personalized onboarding experiences for new users, and measuring… Read More
I want you to buy the Nvidia Shield, because I’m a selfish prick. If you buy the Nvidia Shield, perhaps developers will make actually games for it—and then I could buy one too.
Google’s Clay Bavor just told everyone at Google I/O that there are over a million Google Cardboard headsets in the world today. There’s about to be a whole lot more: he also just announced that Google Cardboard’s Virtual Reality apps are heading to iPhone.
As promised back in March, the Nvidia Shield Android TV console is coming this month — today, in fact. The company has announced it's now available to order from Amazon, Best Buy, and its own website.
The new Shield — a thin, angular console with a sharp green streak of light — is powered by Nvidia's Tegra X1 mobile "superchip" with 3GB RAM. The main platform here is Android TV, and Shield is capable of streaming 4K video from compatible services (which include Netflix, YouTube, a handful of others). It's also a gaming device; Nvidia is touting over a dozen exclusive titles in addition to those already compatible with Android TV. It's also capable of streaming games via its GRID service.
The $199 standard model comes with 16GB storage,...
There’s nothing more frustrating than cueing up a set of Google Maps directions to your destination only to lose service and have them evaporate while you’re in transit. Now Google Maps, websites, and even YouTube will work with no internet connection on your Android phone.
Google today announced that it has worked with 20 advertising partners to bring its app install analytics in Google Analytics to iOS developers. To enable this functionality, Google worked with partners like inMobi and Millennial Media to set up an open tracking system that allows developers to track the success of their app install ads and the lifetime value of the users they acquired… Read More
