Android Central |
- Miss the Google I/O 2012 Day 1 Keynote? Watch it now
- Jelly Bean's new notifications take center stage at Google I/O
- Nexus 7 Guidebook available for free in Google Play Books
- Hugo Barra on Nexus 7 first day pre-order numbers: 'It's Big!'
- How long before Google Now becomes your homescreen?
- Hands-on with 3D buildings in Google Earth at Google I/O 2012
- Google app updates continue as Currents and Drive step up for their turn
- Google+ SDK for Android and iOS is coming, along with a handful of APIs
- HTC on Jelly Bean updates
- Google Play device store launches in the UK, Nexus 7 priced at £159
- Jelly Bean brings a new permission along - 'read external storage'
- How Google pulled off that awesome Project Glass skydive/bike/rappelling stunt [video]
- Bladeslinger video demo on the Google Nexus 7
- New Google Play Store for Google TV coming later this year
- Samsung to offer MHL cable adapter for Galaxy S III
- Google announces Google Compute Engine - virtual Linux servers in the Google cloud
- Google announces Chrome for iPhone and iPad, while most Android users can't even install it
- Google says that Chrome is now the worlds most popular browser
- HTC One V now available on Virgin Mobile
- Fast & smooth - Project Butter video uploaded by Google Mobile
- Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Easter egg animation
- Google I/O 2012 Day 2 Keynote Liveblog!
- Google Nexus 7 to be sold at Carphone Warehouse in the UK, 16GB for £200
- Video: Giant Nexus Q robot stalks the halls of Google I/O
- Google Now official landing page now live
| Miss the Google I/O 2012 Day 1 Keynote? Watch it now Posted: 28 Jun 2012 04:02 PM PDT If for whatever reason you happened to miss out on the Google I/O 2012 Day 1 Keynote, you can now sit back, relax and take it all in. Google has posted the video to YouTube so you have no reason to not set aside some time and get yourself caught up. You'll get to see Android 4.1 Jelly Bean announced along with the Google Nexus 7 tablet and finally, the Nexus Q. 
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| Jelly Bean's new notifications take center stage at Google I/O Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:36 PM PDT
The above was pulled from the documentation for Android long past, but truer words were never spoken. Notifications can make or break a platform, and Google came up with a winning plan in their notification shade. After a few hours with Jelly Bean, I'm here to tell you things just got better. A lot better. Notifications in Android 4.1 are now dynamic, feature more information displayed in a delightfully tactful way, are customizable for creative developers, and worth having a second look at. Phil and Alex will tell you, I've become enamored with the new notification system. The information I Miss a call? Google Voice can give you a notification to tell you who it was, and a quick way to get back in touch -- either via the telephone or with a message. Want to see more than a sender's name for a Gmail notification? The two-finger magic will expand it and you can preview the message, without marking it as read. Developers also have plenty of options, a quick look through the gallery after the break shows you what companies like Spotify or Pulse can do in the notification bar now. This is progress. Of course, eventually a developer will abuse this and get creative with the spam in your notification bar. Google has you covered. Long press on any notification and you'll see exactly which app posted it, and a simple tap takes you the app management screen where you can uninstall the offender. We said that Jelly Bean would probably prove to add a bit of polish and character to ICS versus be a new UI overhaul, and things like the new notifications are a wonderful example of how a mature operating system can be fleshed out and improved. We only hope OEM's don't take it all away. Hit the break to see a gallery of the presentation slides showing it all off. 
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| Nexus 7 Guidebook available for free in Google Play Books Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:30 PM PDT
Read enough about the Google Nexus 7 yet? Just in case you haven't, and you need some light reading while waiting for your shiny new Nexus 7 to arrive, Google's got you covered. Downloadable for free, as we speak, is the official Nexus 7 Guidebook from Google. OK, so it's basically an instruction manual. But, there's a couple of really nice sections in there. There's a chunk on the new Google Now service -- and how to disable it -- and another section centered on the new notifications area in Jelly Bean. It's free, and worth a read just for these two sections alone. To grab yourself a copy, fire up Google Play Books and go get it. Download: Google Nexus 7 Guidebook 
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| Hugo Barra on Nexus 7 first day pre-order numbers: 'It's Big!' Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:08 PM PDT
Little more than 24 hours has passed since the official unveiling of the Google Nexus 7, and the subsequent pre-orders becoming available in selected countries around the world. It's pretty much a given that it's bound to be a popular device within the Android community, but, how popular? The folks at Business Insider caught up with Hugo Barra last night at a press session at Google I/O, and asked the question a lot of people would be curious to know the answer to. How has the first days pre-sale gone? While Barra wouldn't disclose specifics -- hardly surprising -- but he did say they were really, really good. Pressed for a ballpark figure, he simply said, "it's big!" So, given Barra's position at Google, you'd be excused for thinking it's just a bit of positive PR. Well, we've some actual cause to believe him. Our contacts way up in Canada -- a guy called Chris, you might know him? -- have informed us that the 16GB Nexus 7 is no longer being accepted for pre-order. Seems for that, you now have to sign up to email alerts to let you know when they're available. So far, we've not heard any further reports of the pre-sale devices going off sale anywhere else in the world, but that's not to say they won't follow suit soon. If you want one at launch, it's looking like a pretty useful idea to pre-order as soon as you possibly can. Source: Business Insider 
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| How long before Google Now becomes your homescreen? Posted: 28 Jun 2012 02:41 PM PDT
Let's just throw this out there. Google Now is pretty awesome. A little scary, maybe, which we talked about a bit in last night's Google I/O podcast, but awesome nonetheless. The ability to predict what it is you want to see in the form of widgets is some high-tech schtuff. Right now it's just an app within Jelly Bean. But what if it weren't. What if Google Now was your homescreen, giving you all that information you currently have to build manually with widgets and app icons, based of your search history. A scary proposition, but an intriguing one, too. We'll talk more about this in the coming weeks, for sure. 
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| Hands-on with 3D buildings in Google Earth at Google I/O 2012 Posted: 28 Jun 2012 02:23 PM PDT Google Earth 7.0 has been released, introducing 3D maps for a selection of major cities around the world. Based upon 3D telemetry and textures taken from aerial photography, Earth 7.0 conjures a virtual city right onto your smartphone or tablet screen. What this means is you can now fire up Google Earth and zoom around any of the supported cities, which include San Francisco, Boston, Charlotte and Rome. There's also a dedicated tour mode which will give you a virtual fly-by view of major landmarks, including the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. As you might expect, the new 3D mapping capabilities require a fair amount of graphical power and bandwidth to use, though we demo'd the new Google Earth on the 18-month-old Motorola Xoom, and the app remained fairly smooth and speedy. Check out our hands-on video above. Google Earth 7.0 is available to download now from the Google Play Store. For 3D building support, you'll need to be running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or later. Download: Google Earth 
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| Google app updates continue as Currents and Drive step up for their turn Posted: 28 Jun 2012 02:07 PM PDT
The mid-I/O Google app updates continues, this time round it's the turn of Google Currents and Google Drive. Both have updates waiting for them right now in the Google Play Store. So, what's new? In the case of Google Currents, the biggest change is that finally, it fits into the Android 4.x design guidelines. That pesky menu, it's up top where it ought to be. You might also notice, that it's got a new, less colorful logo too. The full changelog for Currents reads a little like this:
Sweet, so, what about Google Drive? Well, an update was to be expected, after the cloud service was heavily featured in todays Chrome based Keynote. One of the biggest new features available in Drive on Android, is the ability to upload, and download, all file types to and from your Drive. Pretty much a standard requirement for cloud storage. The changelog for Drive reads as follows:
Add these two the lengthy list of Google apps that received updates yesterday, and we've been pretty well spoiled. Some may be more significant than others, but updates are updates nonetheless. Head on over to Google Play and snag yourselves a copy of these two. Download: Google Drive, Google Currents 
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| Google+ SDK for Android and iOS is coming, along with a handful of APIs Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:36 PM PDT
Google has made it clear at Google I/O -- they love Google+ and are going full steam ahead with the social platform. We don't blame them, as we think with the right nurturing it can stand out among the rest. What's been sorely missing is options for third party applications to integrate with G+ as the do with Facebook and Twitter. Google has made that one step closer to reality today with the announcement of the upcoming Google+ API for Android and iOS. Based on the platform notes, supported out-of-the-box are Google+ sign-in, a share plug-in to share your app content to the G+ stream, +1 button integration, Google+ history functions, and a personalization feature, which will allow developers to pull in public G+ content and use it in their app. It's not exactly perfect, but it's very close to what everyone was asking for. Now we just need to see the SDK and some apps built with it. Source: Google+ Developers 
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| Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:22 PM PDT
So you just got that shiny, new HTC One X or One S (or One V outside the U.S.), and suddenly it's no longer running the latest version of Android. That's no good. Neither is it HTC's fault, but still. So what does the Taiwanese manufacturer have planned in the way of updates for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean? Here's the official word:
Nothing surprising there. It's a pretty safe bet that we'll see the HTC One line get updates. But after that? And how long will it take? News at 11, folks. 
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| Google Play device store launches in the UK, Nexus 7 priced at £159 Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:19 PM PDT
The Google Play device store has launched in the UK, with pre-order pages now up for both 8 and 16GB flavors of the new Nexus 7. And Google's being just as aggressive with its British pricing. The 8GB model's up for pre-order at just £159, with the 16GB version selling for £199. The £159 price point will make the Nexus 7 a stand-out device, as previously you'd be lucky to get a super low-end unbranded tablet for this kind of money. It's also less than half the UK price of the iPad, making it much closer to impulse purchase territory than anything with an Apple logo. The UK Google Play Store says devices should start shipping in 2-3 weeks, which fits with the mid-July timeframe announceed on the U.S. Play Store. Fore more on the Jelly Bean-powered Nexus 7, be sure to check out our hands-on article and initial review. 
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| Jelly Bean brings a new permission along - 'read external storage' Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:14 PM PDT
You might have heard that Google tossed out the next version of Android yesterday, and Jelly Bean is now official. We're pouring through things to find what's new, what's good, and what's not. One thing we stumbled across got our attention, as it's an app permission and security related. We've said before that external storage on a mobile device, by it's very nature, is insecure. If you format it in a way that you can apply the standard permission model, Windows computers (well over 90-percent of the computer market) can't read from them. Up until now, the default has been the same as many other operating systems, and that is to let applications read what's stored on an SD card without anyone caring. This has lead to several sky-is-falling moments where people suddenly realized that the wide open model is, well, wide open. The best way to fix things is to simply do away with external storage and all it's security baggage, and Google has done that with their own devices as of late. But OEM's are going to do things differently, so in a "future release" applications will need explicit permission to read from external storage, much like they do for writing to storage now. Here's the relevant bit from G --
So when (if) your phone gets updated to Jelly Bean, and you see the new setting in the developer options, you'll know what you're looking at and why. More: Android 4.1 APIs 
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| How Google pulled off that awesome Project Glass skydive/bike/rappelling stunt [video] Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:09 PM PDT Ever wonder how you get Wifi at 10,000 feet, have it work while falling to earth, then landing under the safety of a parachute? Google co-founder Sergey Brin showed us this morning during the Day 2 keynote at the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco. It was a redux of Wednesday's stunt, in which Brin decided he needed a loaner pair of Project Glass glasses back from a friend -- who happened to be in a bimp high above downtown. So, they all skydived their way to the roof of Moscone West, handed the glasses off to some bikers who then rode and flipped their way to the edge of the building, who then handed the glasses to some crazy cats who rappelled down the side of the glass exterior, who then handed the glasses off to more bikers, who then wheeled their way into the third-floor keynote hall. It was, in a word, crazy. Crazy awesome. And today Brin showed us all how it was done. It's tough to have Wifi repeaters in mid-air, of course, so they used directional RF to beam the Wifi directly to the skydivers. (Puffs of smoke ejected along with the parachutes helped the spotters keep things in line.) Then it's just a matter of aiming, and everything worked like a charm. Twice. 
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| Bladeslinger video demo on the Google Nexus 7 Posted: 28 Jun 2012 12:35 PM PDT The inclusion of an NVIDIA Tegra 3 CPU (and GPU) in the Nexus 7 tablet indicates that Google's betting on mobile gaming to generate sales of the device. That's only natural considering the slew of graphically-rich titles coming to Tegra 3 devices we've seen over the past six months. One of the upcoming games Google chose to plug in its day-one I/O keynote was Bladeslinger, by Luma Arcade. With a horror-themed Western setting, Bladeslinger sees players taking on the role of William Glaston, who's returned home to find that his hometown overrun by the undead hordes. Gameplay is hack 'n'slash, with a little third-person shooting thrown in for good measure. We caught up with the devs on the show floor to grab a quick gameplay demo of Bladeslinger on the Google Nexus 7. Hit the embed above to check it out. Bladeslinger is expected to arrive on Tegra 3 Android in a couple of months. 
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| New Google Play Store for Google TV coming later this year Posted: 28 Jun 2012 12:08 PM PDT
At today's Google TV morning presentation at Google I/O, it's been announced that Google TV will be getting a re-vamped version of the Play Store later this year. Because of the unique hardware used with Google TV, it's traditionally lagged behind on older versions of the app. Coming "later this year," the update for GTV will see subscription billing support added, in addition to enabling movie, music and TV show purchases. The updates should bring Google TV in line with Android tablets and smartphones such as the Nexus 7, which Google is positioning as a leading content delivery device for Google Play services. We'll bring you more on Google TV from I/O as the day unfolds. 
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| Samsung to offer MHL cable adapter for Galaxy S III Posted: 28 Jun 2012 11:30 AM PDT
A few weeks back we told you that the Galaxy S III would not be able to use the last-generation MHL to HDMI adapter cables because of hardware changes. Samsung has come forward with a much better solution than just telling you to buy a new cable, as they have built a 5-pin to 11-pin adapter that allows the old cable to work with the new phone. They also gave us a reason as to why the change was made -- newer accessories will need the 11-pin configuration.
The adapter is available now for $9.99 direct from Samsung, and they tell us they will also be offering a bundle with an old cable and an adapter, which should be perfect if you have an older Galaxy phone or tablet and need the 5-pin cable, for $39.99. We're not seeing that one up for sale just yet, but you can hit the link below to see the adapter. 
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| Google announces Google Compute Engine - virtual Linux servers in the Google cloud Posted: 28 Jun 2012 11:02 AM PDT
Ever need more processing power than you currently have? Google has announced a solution for that problem with Google Compute Engine. The service was rumored to arrive this week at Google I/O, and we're glad to see it. Granted, you probably won't need something of this scale for your personal needs, but if you need "big iron" to run your apps (the demo was mapping the human genome with 600,000 CPU cores!). This is all done with virtual Linux servers running in Google's cloud. The hardware itself stays in some data center facility, and users (that's folks like you and me) log in remotely and do things like perform heavy math, run huge databases, or build Android ROMs. Virtual servers can do anything you could do locally. The one thing missing here is the price. Google promises these will be competitive, but didn't throw out any numbers just yet. This isn't surprising, as an enterprise service like this is usually negotiated a bit. What we do know is that this will put Google directly in competition with Amazon on a whole new level, and we're excited to see how competition drives innovation! Don't miss any of out Google I/O news!
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| Google announces Chrome for iPhone and iPad, while most Android users can't even install it Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:56 AM PDT
Day two at Google I/O has brought forth a lot of Chrome and Google Drive news. One highlight being that Chrome and Google Drive will be coming to iOS later today. Of course, this is a great thing to have happen but we can't gloss over the fact that most Android devices can't even access Chrome yet, now every iOS device 4.3 and up will be able to run it. Irony, this announcement was full of it. I can run Chrome on my iPhone 4S yet, not my Galaxy Note even though it's technically fully capable. In other words, Google needs to address this somehow, not sure how but it needs to happen as soon as possible. 
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| Google says that Chrome is now the worlds most popular browser Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:23 AM PDT
We're knee deep into the day 2 keynote presentation at Google I/O, and we're expecting lots of Chrome news. The first piece that just dropped highlights the massive popularity of the Google Chrome browser. To date, there is now 310 million daily active users of the Chrome browser, which Google says makes it the worlds most popular browser. And, for the data nerds, there's some pretty impressive statistics that accompany it. 60billion words typed, 1TB of data downloaded, and 13 years saved each and every day within Chrome. Thats a whole lot. The keynote continues, so stay tuned for the rundown. 
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| HTC One V now available on Virgin Mobile Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:55 AM PDT
It isn't all about Google I/O this week -- OK, maybe it is. Back in the real world, the excellent, entry level, HTC One V is now available on Virgin Mobile in the U.S. Packing Ice Cream Sandwich and a gorgeous, HTC Legend-eque design, the One V proves that entry level can be stylish too. The One V is available contract free, for an extremely reasonable $199.99. If you're thinking of jumping on one of these, don't forget to check out our full review, to help you make your decision. Source: Virgin Mobile 
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| Fast & smooth - Project Butter video uploaded by Google Mobile Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:32 AM PDT During yesterdays keynote presentation of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at Google I/O, you will have heard talk of 'Project Butter.' This is the new, 'buttery smooth,' UI coming along with Jelly Bean. To highlight just how good this is, Google Mobile has uploaded a demonstration/promotional video to their YouTube channel. In the video, you see a vastly slowed down comparison between two different Galaxy Nexus phones. One runs Ice Cream Sandwich, the other is packing Jelly Bean. We won't spoil the ending, but it's pretty impressive. Source: Google Mobile (YouTube) 
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| Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Easter egg animation Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:23 AM PDT
Like ICS, Honeycomb and Gingerbread before it, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean features a neat little "Easter egg" animation within the "About phone" and "About tablet" pages. On a Jelly Bean device like the Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 7, head to Settings > About phone and tap repeatedly on "Android version: 4.1" until you see the picture of the happy Jelly Bean guy filling the screen. Then long press on the middle of the screen, and you'll get a screen filled with more Jelly Beans, which you can fling around using your finger. You'll also note the candy cane among the field of Jelly Beans. We're not sure exactly why that's there, but it only seems to appear occasionally. (If you've got any wild theories, share 'em in the comments. Of course, all this stuff is still functionally useless, but it's a pretty cool visual treat regardless. 
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| Google I/O 2012 Day 2 Keynote Liveblog! Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:09 AM PDT
Here we go again! We're back for the Day 2 keynote address at the Google I/O developer conference. What's in store this time around? Only one way to find out. Ease on past the break for Google's video feed and our liveblog. Things get going at the following times:
Hit the break as the clock strikes 10 as we get it done once more! 
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| Google Nexus 7 to be sold at Carphone Warehouse in the UK, 16GB for £200 Posted: 28 Jun 2012 08:51 AM PDT
It looks like the Google Play Store isn't the only place you'll be able to pick up your shiny new, Google Nexus 7 tablet. Well, in the UK at least. High street retailer, Carphone Warehouse, has announced its plans to sell the 16GB version of the Jelly Bean tablet, for the same £200 as the Play Store. No specific word on when, but we imagine it'll be on a similar release schedule to Google Play. The press release can be found after the break 
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| Video: Giant Nexus Q robot stalks the halls of Google I/O Posted: 28 Jun 2012 08:30 AM PDT
Last year it was an oversized Android-powered labyrinth, and this year the centerpiece of the Google I/O second-floor display was a giant robotic Google Nexus Q. Attached to a robot arm and adorned with glowing, rhythmic LEDs, the 'bot played music to attendees passing through I/O. Announced yesterday, the Nexus Q is a miniature Android-powered computer and media center for your living room. It's due out in July, and I/O attendees were given preview units yesterday. We'll be bringing you more on Google's latest foray into home entertainment over the next day, but for now you can find footage of its oversized robotic cousin after the break. 
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| Google Now official landing page now live Posted: 28 Jun 2012 08:27 AM PDT One of the most impressive new features in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean shown off yesterday, is Google Now. The new, personalized search system that tries to make your day that little bit easier. The official landing page for Google Now has gone live -- hit the source link below to head over there -- with the official lowdown on the service. That, and the video you see here. As Jerry said yesterday, it is a little scary, but it does sound pretty cool at the same time. Source: Google Now 
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