Author Archives: Stephen Colbert

How to Install Android L Right Now

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Andoid L won’t be officially available for a few months, but that doesn’t mean the more saavy Android users haven’t found a way to get their hands on it

It has officially been a week since Android L was unveiled at Google I/O.  The new version of Google’s mobile operating system brings many visual changes, added features, and performance increases, but so far Google has only made the developer preview officially available to registered developers, meaning there is not an official release available to the general public.

The official release will come sometime this fall, but no exact date has been give yet.  IT will initially be available on some Nexus devices, and per usual trends, the Moto X, Moto G, and Moto E will likely follow suit very shortly, along with all the Google Play editions of current flagship phones.  Other manufacturers (such as HTC) have made a commitment to making sure the official Android L release (if that remains the name into production) is available for its primary flagship devices within 90 days of the official release.

If you don’t like waiting, though, there’s no need to fret.  Android’s open source platform attracts hackers and developers of all kinds and an aspiring user over at XDA forums has created a usable version of the Android L Developer Preview that can be installed on a rooted Nexus 5 or Nexus 7.

Before you go running off and trying to do this at home, take note that this is a fairly technical process that–if done incorrectly–could wreak havok on your Nexi.  If you’re up to the challenge (or already comfortable with rooting Android devices), Phone Arena has developed a useful step by step guide to install the Android L Developer Preview.

It’s also important to take note of the “Developer Preview” tag.  This is not a final software version and I would highly recommend not installing it on your primary device.  Even if you are successful, it will not be a fully functioning phone, so you will have a lot of trouble using it for many day-to-day tasks, and many apps may not even work at all.

If you’re interested in the benefits of Android L, but aren’t so adventurous that you want to go rooting and installing custom software on your phone, many of the new Android performance benefits are available in phones running Android 4.4 Kitkat.

Android’s runtime (a system that determines basic software operations) has traditionally be Dalvik, but in Android KitKat, the option to switch to the ART runtime was made available.  ART initially didn’t offer much, but now with Android L, it will bring a massive performance boost to most apps.  You can switch to the ART runtime in Android KitKat by following our instructions here.

Although the only way to get the full benefits of the final public version of Android L will be to wait until this fall, but maybe this will provide the more impatient Android enthusiasts among us a way to kill some time while they wait.

Source: BGR

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Google I/O Brings Amazing New Google Updates

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It seems like it’s been months in the making, but Google I/O is already here with all its beautiful Googley announcements.

This year’s Google I/O is the biggest yet, and not just because the keynote lasted for 2 1/2 hours, but because of the global significance of Android.  Sundar Pichai opened the Google I/O keynote remarking that Android has over 1 billion active users, which is double the number at this time last year. Android users sent sent over 20 billion texts, took over 93 million selfies, and 1.5 trillion steps last year, and Android tablets now own a 62% tablet market share, which is also almost double from last year.

We’ve been anticipating Google I/O for some time, and saw quite a few things marked off our list of expected announcements, plus some unexpected changes that have some pretty broad sweeping effects for all Google users.
Android L

First comes Android L.  Normally, each Android iteration is named after some sort of sweet (the expected name this time around was “Lollipop”), but this year, it was referred to simply as “Android L.”

This update covers several areas of hardware and software, starting with Android One.  Android One is an Android device reference platform intended for emerging markets.  Google has set serveral turn key standards for pre-approved hardware so that manufacturers can easily design smartphones for under $100.  Android L is a strong part of this, because it functions very well with budget friendly hardware.

Design has been a big component of Android’s innovation in the past several years, and this year, Matias Duarte unveiled Material Design.  This new design standard flattens and simplifies UI layers while simultaneously adding layer dimensions and shading using artificial light sources, creating an illusion of depth to clearly separate independent UI elements.  The intent behind this is to represent a user experience similar to that of physical paper and ink.  Material design extends beyond phone form factors and is intended to also work for tablets, laptops, wearables, and any other screen type in use.

Lock screen notifications have also been drastically improved, displaying notification cards directly on the lock screen with additional gesture based options to be able to interact with or dismiss each notification.  Notifications function using a card UI that stacks each notification “card” on top of each other, with cards from like apps being grouped together.

Speaking of the lock screen, Google has now baked in contextual lock screen controls similar to Motorola’s Trusted Device feature of Pebble’s Pebble Locker, where the phone will automatically unlock based on a bluetooth or WiFi connection, or if it is in a certain geolocation.  This way, your phone can know you are the one using it and turn off the lock screen under specific circumstances.

Android L also replaces the Dalvik runtime with the Android Run Time, or ART.  It gets a bit technical, but what you need to know is that ART effectively doubles the performance for all apps as well as provides cross platform support for ARM, x86, and MIPS processors (including 64-bit support), meaning Android L can run on just about any hardware, including laptops and desktops.

ART also provides massive increases in graphical performance, working to close the gap between mobile and desktop graphics.  Obviously, the hardware in use is very relevant, as higher end devices will be required for higher end graphics, but a demo using the Unreal Engine 4 was show as an example of the graphical capabilities of Android L, given powerful enough hardware.

Of course, when you have more powerful hardware, you need the battery life to properly support it.  This is where Google brought in Project Volta.  Volta is an initiative to leverage Android’s software to improve efficiencies and stretch out battery life.

The first key component is Battery Historian.  Android already has battery statistic, but those are basically broken down by application, meaning the battery is often taken up by something like “Android system,” which is not very helpful information.  Battery Historian will determine if the battery sucking came from background data, bluetooth connections, 3G/4G radios, and etc.  It provides a very granular view of battery usage so you can adjust accordingly.

The second component of Project Volta is Battery saver.  Battery saver is pretty self explanatory.  It strategically adjusts phone usage in order to reduce battery suck.  Google claims that it increased battery on the Nexus 5 by 90%.  The Nexus 5 isn’t exactly known for its stellar battery life, so we’ll see some more real world numbers once Android L is on more devices.

A couple years ago, Google spun of a chunk of core Android features into Google Play Services, which allows parts of Android to be updated without actual Android version updates being submitted.  Android critics always cite the slow adoption of new Android versions as a major flaw of the operating system, but the real signifiant number to pay attention to is adoption rate of the newest Google Play Services Framework, which Google claims is at a whopping 93% (of the over a billion active Android devices).

Google Play Services improvements this year focused mostly on security improvements.  GPS now includes privacy controls and a kill switch to protect data in case of theft.  Malware scans are also performed by GPS and not exclusively for Google approved apps from the Google Play store, but also for side-loaded (and therefore unapproved) apps.

Not all apps have to be downloaded and installed in order to be run, though.  Mobile Web is another major focus of Google.  Material Design has been expanded to cover Google’s mobile web standards, which allows for immersive apps that mimic the Android user experience at a full 60 frames per second.

With Chrome for mobile used by up to 300 million users (up 27 million this year), the mobile web experience is one in the same as the Android experience.  In addition to enabling web pages to share the same UI, some apps will be available to be accessed within web links, just like was rumored to be available from Project Hera.

In addition to the Android integration into the web experience, the web experience is also being brought into Android.  Google’s traditional multi tasking card view will now display individual Chrome mobile tabs as their own individual cards within Android, so any web apps that use Material Design will be almost indistinguishable from Android apps when in card view.

Android L developer preview is available now for the Nexus 5 and the Nexus 7.  The official release will likely be later this summer along with 5,000 new APIs.  Most major devices will be seeing Android L within 90 days due to the new Google Mobile Certification Standards.

Android Wear 

Google’s wearable solution, Android Wear was one of the most anticipated announcements.  Although there wasn’t much new announced over what we already knew, the device demo alone was worth watching.  Google designed Android Wear to be a contextually aware, seamless mobile experience that is mobile first.  It supports both square and circular displays, but only the LG G watch and the Samsung Gear Live have gone live.  The circular Moto 360 will be available later this summer, but the little we saw was gorgeous.

David Burke, Google’s Engineering Director, says the average user checks their phone 125 times every day, which is evidence enough of the benefit provided by a smartwatch.  The display will always be on (in some capacity), but come to life in full vivid color when interacted with.

Android Wear devices are gesture controlled and completely synced with a user’s Android notifications, most significantly, Google Now notifications.  Functionality will only improve with time, but one cool feature shown off was the ability for a user to say “Ok, Google.  Call me a car” to automatically summon a car from the Lyft taxi service.

All Android wear devices will be water resistant and will be cross platform (that means iOS support).  The Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch are both available now in the Google Play device store, with the Motorola Moto 360 coming “later this summer.

Google Fit

Google expanded wearable support even more with the announcement of Google Fit, a common platform for developers of fitness and health applications.  Nike, Addidas, and Withings are already supported, but even more will come now that that SDK is available to developers.

 

Android Auto

After Android Wear came the Android Auto announcement.  Android’s Director of Engineering, Patrick Brandy, departed from the normal approach to gadget use in the car by acknowledging that users want to use their devices behind the wheel and that it was important to find a safe way to enable gadget use instead of just outright restricting it.

Android Auto will be available with over 40 auto partners as a part of the Open Automotive Alliance and will give quick, glanceable, access to core messaging, music, and navigation features.  Google is even making the SDK available so it can support any 3rd party music and messaging apps.

Android TV

Google officially announced the long coming Android TV, which provides complete aggregation for any streaming video service in addition to broadcast or cable television.  On top of video, it also supports many Android apps and games, including gamepad support.  With the improved graphics available in Android L, Google TV could provide a reasonable console alternative for many casual gamers.  It already has full support for the entire Gameloft library.

Google TV also supports Google Cast, which allows it to function like a Chromecast when necessary, so video streaming can be initiated from your mobile device or chrome browser.  Google search is built in, meaning Google Now support and the ability to search for movies by voice, referencing specific movie characteristics, such as a specific actor, or something like “show me all the best picture nominations from 2007.”

For anyone that doesn’t want to spring for a full Google TV solution, Google’s Chromecast is one of the hottest selling electronics in multiple countries and has some improved features as well.  Backdrop now allows users to customize the screen saver features when content is not actively displaying, such as showing pre-set art, or even user images.

Traditionally, Chromecast requires a user’s device to be connected to the same WiFi SSID in order to cast any content to it, but it now supports casting by anyone, regardless of network, making it easier for house guests to stream media without having access to your home network.  Device mirroring is also enabled, which was also conspicuously missing from Chromecast up to this point.

Google Play Games

Google Play Games also recieved a big update, which will likely bolster its functionality with Google TV.  User profiles are now heavily tied in to in-game achievements, meaning your user profile will change to reflect what games you play and how you play them.  Quests have also been added, meaning game makers can enable time based events for players to participate in without having to download and install any game updates.

The other big improvement is better live multiplayer.  This was demonstrated on stage between Android TV with a gamepad for one player with the other player on a tablet with touch screen controls.  It looked fairly smooth, but only hands on time will show how the experience truly plays out.

Last year, google payed out $5 billion to game developers.  That’s 250% the payout from the previous year.  This is huge new, and will likely attract more developers to start working on Android.  With the graphical improvements with Android L and the quasi game console enabled through Android TV, expect some hardcore game development to come to Google over the next year.

Android for Work

It has been rumored for some time that Android would be gaining additional security and enterprise support, and Google came through.  Android will natively support a dual personality containerization solution that sounds a lot like it baked in its recent purchase, Divide, right into Android.  Native support for Samsung Knox is also available, meaning many enterprise employees are enabled to use their phone for both work and personal if their company allows.

Google docs also got a boost.  It now supports the live editing and resaving of Microsoft office documents, making it a much more practical solution as most companies depend heavily on Microsoft office.  Unlimited storage space is also available in Google Drive for $10 a month, which may be a little expensive for larger companies, but may be a great solution for small to mid size companies without a cloud storage solution.

Chrome OS

Next came the improvements to the Chrome OS that powers Google’s Chromebooks.  It was obvious that Google had big plans when it made Sundar Pichai the head of both Android and Chrome, and Sundar did’t disappoint.

Chrome will now recognize when a user’s device is nearby and prepare a Chromebook to log them in and present any active applications upon the device being opened.  Chrome also provides full notification support for Google Now, phone calls, phone battery life, and texts.

The biggest surprise was the announcement that some Android apps will be able to run on Chrome OS, making the lightweight operating system even more useful than before.  Sundar was sure to point out that all of Amazon.com’s top 10 rated laptops are Chromebooks, and it shows why.  With this update, don’t be surprised if it becomes the top 15.

Since Google I/O is, at its heart, a developers conference, there was a lot more detailed talk about various improvements to coding efficiencies and whatnot, but I’ll spare you the jargon.  I’ve covered all the fun parts.  This for sure represents some of the most significant improvements to come to Android yet.

WWDC was also a huge developers conference for Apple this year, so it will be really interesting to see the battle of the giants of the next year.  So many of the same features are now available on both Android and iOS, so this might really be a year that is up to developers to see who can build the better apps.

Source: Google

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Android Design Changes Incoming

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Google I/O is right on top of us, so there’s Android changes incoming.  New leaked screenshots give a preview of what we’ll see from Google this week.

In 2010, Google hired an aspiring young interface designer, Matias Duarte, to be the director of Android’s user experience.  At that time, Android was famous for anything but its user interface and design.  Starting with Android 3.0, Honeycomb, Matias began revamping the way everyone interacts with their Android smartphones, slowly changing and evolving into the Android 4.4, KitKat, that most high end Android devices today use.

With Google I/O happening this week, we are guaranteed to see some changes to the Android system, possibly even an entire version change to to an Android “L,” be it Lollypop, Lemon Bar, Lemonade, or Lorna Doones, although the past few version changes have occurred in the fall with the launch of the new Nexus phone, anything could happen at Google I/O.

Several changes to the look and feel of Android have already leaked this year, such as Project Hera, which unifies, or “marries,” parts of Google’s software and services with chromium HTML5 features.  At the same time, Google is trying to make Android more attractive to developers.

Other than Project Hera, the other major boost the mobile operating system will get comes from the Android Silver program.  When Android was young, before Matias Duarte came in, Android’s interface was so lacking that many manufacturers developed proprietary Android skins, which is the origin of the Android variants we have today, like Samsung’s TouchWiz, HTC’s Sense, Motorola had Moto Blur before opting for a more pure version of Android in the newer models since the Moto X came out.

Android Silver is rumored to be a component of Google’s efforts to establish more concrete design standards to unify the user experience across manufacturers.  The other components of this are Quantum Paper and Polymer.  Polymer serves as a sort of toolkit for developers to assist in easily building responsive interfaces.  Several leaked screenshots showing off the modified Android design language in Quantum Paper, built with Polymer.

Quantum Paper and Polymer

New Wearable Tech Ensures You Keep Hydrated

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Forgetting to drink water regularly might seem a bit laughable for most people, but it’s a problem that a new wearable sensor sets out to mitigate.

Google I/O is fast approaching, and although we have a good idea of some of the new things we will see announced, we still don’t know much about Google’s wearables plan or Android Wear, other than the fact that it exists.

Although Google will likely unload a lot of details about the incoming smartwatches at Google I/O, the technology still has a long way to go.  ITt is also a rapidly growing technology, though, with many seemingly essential improvements coming out almost every week.

This week, the new feature comes from Sandia National Laboratories.  One of the biggest areas being exploited by newly developed wearable sensors is medical technology.  Many wearables started out as fitness trackers, but quickly expanded into deeper medical uses.  Sandia’s new sensor falls right into that category.  The bottom of the sensor is covered with micro-needles that stick into your skin (ouch!) to measure your interstitial fluid levels, in order to report hydration levels.

This sensor might not be the best for the casual wearer, considering the more invasive nature, but it would be phenomenal for hospitals, endurance athletes, astronauts, and anyone else that needs to intensively monitor hydration levels.  While the average person may suffer from irritability or a headache from dehydration, embedding a device lined with micro-needles into ones skin may be a little overkill when access to water isn’t always quite so desperate in any areas of the world where wearable tech is also available.

Even so, some people are already all aboard the wearable train, despite deficiencies, so such an invasive sensor may not seem so unreasonable to many that place a high value upon the self quantification provided by modern wearables.  The only data that can be gathered from most wearables available today is limited to various motion tracking functions, manually input user data, and–more recently–heart rate, so the type of data provided by hydration monitoring could definitely be appealing to some of the more fanatical users of personal data trackers.

I’m not aware of any sane person that likes being stuck by needles, so any sensors, such as Google’s glucose sensing contact lenses that eliminates the need for needles will definitely gain popularity.  Obviously, like any technology, Sandia Labs’ sensor will likely become more efficient and less invasive over the years, so this may be an option in the typical smatwatch (or contact lenses) sans-needles before you know it.

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Google Nearby Opens The Door For Indoor Mapping and Automation

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Google may be preparing to launch a new technology to improve indoor mapping, targeted advertising, and home or office automation.

Anyone that remembers life before smartphones might remember the days when navigation was done using signs, landmarks, and paper maps. GPS and mapping features are some of the most popular apps and features provided by modern technology, but the services are largely take for granted.

Mapping technology is incomplete, though. Since GPS relies on signal from satellites, maps (usually) requires line of sight to the sky in order for service to function properly. Google has improved mapping some by using locally mapped WiFi signals to triangulate a rough approximate location as a supplement to improve the accuracy of GPS, but still doesn’t solve for major gap in navigation: it doesn’t work indoors.

Anyone that has ever tried to navigate a shopping mall might be familiar with trying to orient a mall kiosk map in order to find a specific storefront. This is one area that smartphones would be of great use, except GPS doesn’t work indoors, and WiFi isn’t prevalent enough to provide an accurate location.

Apple has previously launched its “iBeacon,” which is a Bluetooth low energy beacon that helps establish way-points. Now Google is rumored to be launching a similar service called “Nearby.”

So far, a lot of the uses for similar Bluetooth devices, such as iBeacon, has been to enable advertisers to target potential customers (go figure). For example, a mannequin in a clothing store could be equipped with a beacon, and when it detects a phone from a nearby customer (if allowed by the customer’s privacy settings) and it could automatically push a notification containing a coupon for whatever item of clothing the mannequin is dressed in.

This type of function is fairly common for many new technologies, as they need to have a way to generate revenue in order to encourage adoption and fund the research and development of additional features.

If Google is entering the market with Nearby, then there could be a boom of these devices being implemented in many new ways. The market for indoor mapping, as specified above, is virtually untouched currently, but there’s also a huge opportunity for implementation in home automation and office automation.

For home automation, it could function hand in hand with products like Nest (another Google product) to determine how many people are in various rooms in order to efficiently provide heating or cooling. It could also be incorporated with smart lighting so that lights turn on and off as you enter or exit a room. Or even more fun, change the mood lighting (brightness, color) based on how many people are in a room and the level of activity.

Outside of the home, offices are finding a massive productivity boost from the use of automation features. Many companies find that there’s a paradox in office communication. Email is becoming less and less productive from overuse, but as a result, conference rooms are also getting overbooked and unavailable.

some companies–such as Solstice Mobile, the leading provider of enterprise innovation and mobility solutions–have created full blown smart-offices, relying heavily on Bluetooth beacons. This creates efficiencies across the board, because power is better conserved by dimming lights and other power draws to inactive areas, but also efficiencies in work productivity. Workers can find where their colleagues are located at any time in order to have a quick face to face meeting, reducing both email and conference room congestion.

There are entire categories of untapped features that could be utilized as services such as Google Nearby become more prevalent, in addition to the augmenting of existing popular services, such as maps and navigation.

Of course some people might not be the biggest fans of many of the effects of this service, due to very valid privacy concerns, but fortunately there are enough applications in the privacy of your own home or office to give any technology fan something to be excited about!

Google’s Acquisition Spree Reaches into Space

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Google is often compared to the apocalyptic AI Skynet, but a new acquisition has brought it the closest yet to the oft referenced fictional doomsday computer.

It’s official, Google’s on a buying spree.  The most recent–although still pending regulatory approval–is for the satellite company Skybox Imaging.  The $500 million acquisition marks the 154th acquisition since Google’s inception in 1998 and the 27th acquisition in the last 12 months (that’s an average of more than 2 acquisitions per month for those of us that are counting).

Skybox marks another new territory in the ever growing company, but fits right in with Google’s stable of acquisitions that are assumed to be leveraged in the execution of Project Loon, Google’s initiative to provide internet access to hard to reach–or disaster areas–via weather balloon.

Other project loon acquisitions include Titan Aerospace, which designs and produces high altitude UAVs, which–combined with a company like Skybox Imaging–means Google now owns several layers of the air and sky.  You could even say it creates a sort of net in the sky, like some sort of… Skynet.

Although Google may intend to use the satellites produced by the now-Google-owned Skybox to beam out internet connections,  pre-acquisition Skybox Imaging leveraged its satellites to capture high resolution images and videos of changes to the surface of the earth.  You can see a sample of the work done by Skybox Imaging in the video below (note that as Skybox imaging captures in HD,  the video below does support 1080p playback).

Although much of this is new territory for Google, the video above may remind you of many existing Google services.  Imagine if Google leveraged these satellites to augment Google maps, including real time traffic and weather updates.  Some of this is already handled by other Google acquisitions like Waze, but Waze depends on user gathered data to generate traffic updates.  Traffic in the video above is clearly visible, meaning traffic updates such as accidents or traffic jams will be visible by Google as they happen instead of waiting until the effects are felt by another driver running Waze.

Such an addition to Google Maps will help it to jump ahead of competing mapping and navigation solutions by leaps and bounds.  It also means the images in Google maps will be far more up to date instead of being updated only every couple of years, so any changes from construction on roads or creation of new landmarks could be immediately noted.

Obviously, Google owned satellites in the sky will definitely raise privacy concerns and bring out even more Skynet jokes (as evidenced by this article), but just like Apple’s TouchID or Google Now, most marginally privacy infringing services also bring major benefits to consumers.

We’ll see how many different ways Google chooses to utilize its new satellites and whether it will just use it for Project Loon’s internet distribution plans, or if it will branch out and incorporate the technology with the many other existing Google services, but either way, the sky is literally not even the limit.

Source: Engadget

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Moto X Gets Updates to Hardware, Software, and New Promotion

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In a year when it seems like all the smartphones are offering more of the same, Motorola stands out as the minimalist and shows that often, less is more.

Motorola has been a roller coaster story to follow the past few years. It seemed like Motorola was on the ropes prior to being acquired by Google for $12.5 billion. After the acquisition, the now-Google-owned Motorola went on to produce one of its most loved devices yet, the Moto X.

Wheras most other devices at the time were in an all out race to have the highest specifications and most features, the Moto X toned it all day into a “good enough” device the managed to please most owners.

The Moto X has not been a stagnant device, either. Despite Motorola’s (not yet executed) acquisition by Lenovo, the device has still recieved phenomenal support, often being amoung the first Android devices to receive updates from Google.

To reinforce that reality, there are 3 new enhancements to the Moto X program, which have all arrived at the same time. First, the Moto X is now available in 64GB, double the storage of the current model. This may be a big deal for anyone demanding more storage, since the Moto X doesn’t support removable SD cards.

Second, the Moto X has started to recieve the update to Android 4.4.3 KitKat. It isn’t available for all carrier’s yet (Sprint and Verizon are still waiting in the US). The update is mostly under the hood stuff, other than a new app, but who doesn’t like updates?

Third, Motorola started a promotion to allos customers to custom design a new Moto X (including the wood back options) and try it out for 2 weeks for a $0.01, no strings attached. If you don’t like it you can send it back for no charge (other than the penny). Unfortunately, the promotion filled its quota within a few hours of launc and is no longer available, http://mdsupport.custhelp.com/ci/documents/detail/2/trythenbuy but keep your eyes on Motorola, they have a tendency to bring back temporary promotions for longer stints.

Some prople assumed the sale was merely done for the sake of eliminating excess inventory after the closure of Motorola’s texas plant. This theory makes sense, especially considering an announcement for the Moto X+ (or the X2, or whatever it will be called) is incoming in the next few months.

Whatever the reason, the Moto X has been a very satisfying phone to many users who aren’t trying to push the bleeding edge on all fronts and merely want a reliable and affordable Android phone. If Motorola finds significant success with this sale (read: not all the devices are returned after the trial period), then this is definitely a hot deal to keep your eyes peeled for.

Source: Engadget

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Google Forms Partnership to Improve Fashion for Google Glass

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Not everyone cares about fashion when it comes to their technology, but it’s a different story if it gets displayed along with your jewelry and clothes.

Now that Google Glass is available to everyone, we can expect ownership to start to increase, but not too fast, considering each headset is still $1,500 dollars.  Even though the opportunity to purchase Glass is not governed by the invite system, Glass till bears the “Explorer” tag, designating that it is still mostly intended for developers and is not yet a consumer product.

When Glass does hit the mass market as a full blown consumer product, Google intends to make it–and other wearable products–as much of a standard accessory as possible, so Glass is no more out of place than a pair of glasses, a watch, a bracelet, or any other accessory.  This is standard in wearable products evidenced by Android Wear’s partnership with brands such as Fossil and Apple’s trademark expansion to cover jewelry.

Google has always had a fashion forward with Google Glass (at least as much as you can be with a camera on face), but Google’s newly announced partnership with Luxottica confirms this strategy moving forward.  According to Luxottica’s press release:

“…Through this relationship, Luxottica and Google… will match up high-tech developers with fashion designers and eyewear professionals. In particular, the two Corporations will establish a team of experts devoted to working on the design, development, tooling and engineering of Glass products that straddle the line between high-fashion, lifestyle and innovative technology.”

Luxottica owns over 80% of the world’s major eyewear brands, including brands such as Oakley, Ray-Ban, Giorgio Armani, Versace, and Prada to just name a few.  It may be quite a feat to design Glass so that the camera and Glass module are hidden, but it is not unrealistic for this partnership with Luxottica to incorporate Glass into stylish eyewear.

So far, most wearables have found themselves in a sort of paradox, where the wearable is intended to replace a fashion accessory, but most wearables are not necessarily fashionable due usually to either size or design.  If Glass is intended to be worn in place of glasses, then Glass must be able to function as a fashionable alternative to standard glasses, which is something this partnership with Luxottica will help accomplish.

What we’ve seen of the Moto 360 so far suggests that it will indeed be not only a functional, but stylistically appealing accessory.  As the hardware and software improve and developers and designers are able to do more with less, it will be easier and easier to incorporate technology into our every day fashion choices, but until then, we have partnerships such as Google and Luxottica to help us get there.

Source: Luxottica

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New iOS 8 Features Announced by Apple

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After months of speculation, Apple has finally announced iOS 8 and all its new features, it’s still months from launch, but there’s a lot to be excited about.

Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference is upon us and new iOS 8 features have finally been unveiled.  Many of Apple’s updates were iterative, but combined with several massive steps forward, Apple will be a force to recon with when the new iPhones with iOS 8 launch this fall.

iOS App Extensibility 
The first thing you need to know about iOS 8 is the opening up of thousands of new application programming interfaces (APIs).  Many of the new features in iOS 8 exist because of these new APIs.

Traditionally, all iOS apps live in their own “sandbox” where all the app data is stored in isolation.  these new APIs allow other apps and services to securely send and receive data in and out of each respectable sandbox.  Sometimes this is in the form of an app shell, where an app like Pinterest or Facebook will inject their own UI into the active application to allow co-operative actions.

Android has been offering functionality between apps like this for years now, but iOS has opted to restrict flexibility for the sake of reliability and security.  The decision to move in this direction suggests that those risks are no longer significant enough to deter Apple.

Keyboards
The ability to extend an app UI into another app’s “sandbox” through the new APIs, means iOS is finally getting custom keyboards.  Yes, that means Swype, Swiftkey, and possibly even the official Google Keyboard.

Apple originally ruled the touchscreen keyboard battle with the original iPhone, but as other platforms expanded with keyboards like Swype, Apple’s keyboard got more and more outdated.  With iOS 7, the keyboard is one of the most anachronistic holdovers from the older versions of iOS, so although this seems to be a minor improvement, it is one of the biggest steps forward Apple could have take.

The Apple keyboard’s auto-correct is also one of the largest sources of spelling errors.  iOS 8 brings a new QuickType feature that provides predictive suggestions, much like Google or SwiftKey does now.  The suggestions are context sensitive, so it will give suggestions based on message content, or even suggest language consistent with your relationship to the person you are communicating with.

Touch ID 
Apple’s Keychain service now integrates with Touch ID.  This means your fingerprint can substitute for any password stored in Keychain.  Your print is exclusively stored locally, meaning it is secure from theft and not exposed to any of the services tapping into the Touch ID API.

Obviously take all this with a grain of salt, as we’ve been shown this year through Samsung’s fingerprint scanner getting hacked, Heartbleed, and the recent hack of eBay, your information isn’t necessarily as secure as you’re told.

Additional UI Features
The iOS UI has received a few enhanced features as well.  The ability to use apps without having to be actively inside the app has allowed iOS to add actionable notifications.  This is another feature Android has had for a while, but it is a significant improvement for Apple.  This will allow actions to be taken from the notification curtain, such as responding to or deleting a text or email, checking in on Foursquare, launching turn-by-turn navigation to an upcoming appointment, or any other number of features developers decide to build in.

Another similar feature, is the addition of widgets.  Android fans have long held the presence of widgets on Android over the head of Apple fans, but now they are finally available in both environments, although iOS only allows them in the notification curtain.  Nonetheless, iOS 8 has provided users the ability to take advantage of application features without having to constantly jump in and out of various applications.  This could also help Apple begin to move away from the home button (if it chooses to).

The multi-tasking page also received some improvements.  The card view has remained unchanged, but in the open space above the cards for open apps is now a space for frequent contacts.  This allows calls, texts, emails, or various other communications to be initiated from with a simple double click of the home button.

Mail
The Mail app in iOS got some sleek improvements.  Navigation for the Mail app used to function as if it had blinders on.  If a message was in process, it was impossible to reference other messages or attachments without saving the existing message as a draft and then reopening when ready to resume.  A simple swipe downward will now minimize the mail in progress to allow the rest of the inbox (or other folders) to be perused for other relevant messages or content prior to swiping up and continuing the email in process.

The inbox list view was already actionable in previous versions of iOS, but iOS 8 adds additional functionality through a quick gesture swipe from left to right to mark a message as unread, or a swipe in the opposite direction to expose additional options such as delete, forward, respond, and etc.

Spotlight
Apple’s spotlight search functionality has crossed over many of the new enhancements from OSX Yosemite and now strongly resembles Google Now.  Spotlight search will now highlight sources such as Wikipedia, iTunes, or the App store as you type in a query.

This is a huge boost in functionality for spotlight in iOS.  The ability to find and open or purchase content directly from spotlight search gives a huge boost to ease of use.

Continuity With Yosemite
iOS 8 and OSX 10 Yosemite bring a much needed interaction with Continuity.  When you are using your Apple devices in proximity to each other (i.e. on the same WiFi), each device will be aware of what you are doing at any given time.  This gives you the ability to switch between devices completely seamlessly.

For example, if you are writing an email on your iPhone, but it’s going to get a little lengthy and you don’t want to get carpal tunnel, you can jump on your Mac running Yosemite and pull up the email and continue right where you left off.  You can even answer calls from your Mac and use it as a speakerphone.

Similar functionality to this has been available on several platforms for a while, but Apple’s controlled ecosystems promises the most easy, seamless, and polished approaches to the process.  Many of the same tasks can now be performed from any of your devices, so you can switch off at any given time to whichever form factor makes the most sense at any given time.

Messaging Improvements
iOS 8 brings some major improvements to iMessage.  Some of the changes are similar to features already available from Google through Hangouts or Google Voice, but some of the changes bring even bigger improvements that push beyond what Google is currently providing.

Group messages received a lot more functionality.  Message threads can now be given a name to identify and differentiate from other similar threads.  Recipients can be added or removed on the fly, you can remove yourself from a conversation, and you can mark a thread as “Do Not Disturb” if you are getting swamped by notifications from an overly active group message thread.

Location can now be shared in a group thread as well, with controls over how long you want your location to be available.  Several apps have made a similar feature available for a while, but the incorporation right into iOS (specifically for group messages) is way more practical.

Sharing images, video, or voice recordings in messages is also way simplier, and there is even a summary available, so you don’t need to scroll all the way through a message to see shared images or sound clips.  All shared files can now be seen from a single page.  Apple has also enabled a self destruct features, so that files will auto delete over time so that threads don’t get weighted down by using too much storage after extensive sharing.

iCloud Drive

iCloud has finally grown up and become a full file storage system like Google Drive or DropBox.  This also provides a defacto file browser, which iOS has desperately needed since inception.  Many of the new features will piggy back on the availability of the iCloud Drive API, which will provide a huge supplemental benefit for many new and existing services.

Enterprise
Apple mentioned 98% of Fortune 500 companies use iOS in some capacity, so there were some impressive improvements for enterprise users.  Many of the changes are under the hood security improvements, but with the recent launch of Microsoft Office for iOS and the new improvements from iOS 8, the iPad may be about to see a revitalization in Enterprise.

The most significant benefit to enterprise was the announcement of Apple’s Device Deployment Program, which allows iPhones and iPads to be pre-configured to comply with a participating company’s corporate device policy so that all the end user has to do upon receipt is turn the device on and log in.  This will save untold hours to IT Mobility Managers in time spent providing support and creating/updating necessary documentation and FAQs.

HealthKit 
As rumored, Apple is launching a full health suite with HealthKit, which functions very similar in form to Passbook.  Apple recognizes that FitBit, Nike, Jawbone, and many others already provide fitness and health tracking services, so it has no intention of directly competing in that field (yet).  Instead, Apple is providing HealthKit and the Health app to aggregate fitness and health data from other services in the same way that passbook collects tickets and rewards cards.

HealthKit also integrates with Mayo clinic to provide a personalized Web MD style analysis of a user’s health metrics, including a doctor follow-up option.  Details surrounding this have yet to be clarified, as every iOS user can’t necessarily have their own Mayo Clinic doctor waiting hand and foot to review their Fitbit stats every day.

Family Sharing 
iOS 8 launched a new family sharing feature, which allows collaboration between Apple IDs in order to share photos, calendar appointments, reminders, location tracking and even purchase sharing for up to six people, provided it’s all on the same credit card.  In an effort to eliminate lawsuits from children running up purchases on their parent’s card, the main parental account will also be prompted on their own device to provide approval when a child’s account attempts to make a purchase.

Photos
iCloud already supported cross device photo synching through photostream, but with the advent of iCloud Drive, Apple will now ensure that every device has an identical photo library, ensuring nobody will ever have to struggle to recall which device is storing which picture.

Through the new camera APIs, Apple is also providing manual image adjustments for more hands on photographers and more touch up features similar to Google’s Snapseed.  Where photo editing in iOS really shines is the post capture adjustments.  If an image is too dark, you can increase the brightness, while software will automatically correct for contrast, exposure, and other details in order to keep the image balance the same.  It will also provide a readout of specific changes made in case you wish to get a little more hands on.

Siri
What would an iOS update be without improvements to Siri?  Taking cues from Google Now, Siri now supports Shazam integration alongside several more features.  Google Now and Siri are now much similar, aside from some of the non-voice functionality provided through Google Now alerts and reminders.  Also, you can now activate Siri by saying “Hey, Siri!” just like activating Google Now by saying “Ok, Google Now” on the Moto X, although the iPhone can only perform this function when plugged in (likely planned to be used mostly in a car with Apple’s CarPlay).

App Store
The App Store receives an update with improved search-ability and developer previews, which allows you to view a video of the application in action before purchasing (much like Google provides in the Play Store).  Apple is also enabling app bundles, which means developers can sell a collection of apps at a discount.

HomeKit
Apple is working with the industry leaders in home automation to improve iOS integration into home automation systems.  This type of integration will allow for improved security, so you can be sure that your iPhone–and only your iPhone–can open and close your garage door.

HomeKit also allows devices to be grouped into “scenes,” so that relevant collections of home automation devices can all be set to predetermined settings presets.  HomeKit will also provide Siri integration, meaning you can give a simple command to Siri such as “Good morning!” and the lights will begin to turn on, the coffee maker will start, the shower will turn on, and your morning playlist will start up in the bathroom.

For Developers
Despite all the consumer oriented announcements, WWDC is–by definition–a developers conference, so of course there were some new features announced for developers.  A lot of these are more technical, so I will only provide a brief overview of each.

CouldKit
All applications have a client side app, but what most users never see is the server side.  When evernote syncs your data to the cloud, there is an entirely separate set of code and equipment executing that task for you on a server.  The process necessary to program the server side is usually more complicated than the app coding, so Apple has simplified this and provided some pre-set cloud services through CloudKit for free (with some limits).

Gaming
Several gaming related announcements were made for developers.  First was Metal, a new API that basically massively increases efficiencies so that your iOS device can devote resources to actually running your game, instead of running the services that run the game.

Second was SpriteKit.  SpriteKit is targeted towards a lot of the more casual games on iOS (of which there are quite a few).  SpriteKit gives developers more flexibility with light sources and allows for per-pixel physics in game.  It basically makes it easier to create better casual games.

Third, SceneKit.  SceneKit goes hand-in-hand with SpriteKit in the creation of casual games.  SceneKit basically provides better 3D rendering for the non intensive games.

Swift
Finally, Swift.  Swift is probably what got the loudest and most excited response from all the developers present, but is also the least understood new feature for non-developers.  Swift is a new programming language for iOS apps that performs far better and more efficiently than existing coding methods.  Swift is also far more simple to write in, meaning the creation of apps just got easier, faster, and results in more efficient applications.  For the typical consumer, this means you will have better apps and quicker updates.

Although most of what Apple announced at WWDC is not necessarily new or revolutionary, this may have been the most significant Apple event since the launch of the original iPad.  The expanded features found in iOS 8 do a lot to level the playing field in the mobile industry and will finally allow consumers a real choice between preferred ecosystems instead of forcing consumers into one camp or the other based on certain feature requirements that are only available on one platform.

Many Android fans have been scoffing at Apple’s announcements due to the fact that Android already has most of those features.  The problem is, now those Android enthusiasts have far less to hold over the head of Apple’s users.  With Google I/O just around the corner, all eyes will be on the Mountanview search giant to see what it has in response to this massive leap forward from Apple.

Source: Apple

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Kairos Aims to Create Best Smart Mechanical Watch

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As the popularity of wearables grows, there are still some gaps in current models.  A new startup seeks to add the missing ingredient to smartwatches.

It seems like a new smartwatch is announced or rumored every other day.  Most of these watches are all over the spectrum, from powerhouse computing on your wrist, to minimalist functionality.  All smart watches up to this point fail to provide a substitute for the most basic function of any watch: to tell the time without a regular charge.

This paradox puts most wearables in an awkward place.  A watch is first and foremost a time telling device.  If the battery on your smartwatch dies, it’s just an ugly bracelet.  The only reason to wear a smartwatch is for the functionality.  There has yet to be a smartwatch design that doesn’t sacrifice fashion for size and features.

That’s where Kairos comes in.  Kairos is a new startup that aims to close the canyon between mechanical and smart varieties of watches.  The Kairos smartwatch appears to be modern, reasonably fashionable–albeit, a little thick–mechanical watch, but hidden in the watchface is a transparent OLED display that lights up to provide the “smart” watch features when relevant

This design would be the penultimate of all smartwatches that have been announced yet, but it is important to note that all releases thus far are merely renders.  There is no functioning prototype to speak of, yet Kairos is taking non-refundable pre-orders for various models ranging from $499 to $1,199.  I, for one, will wait until I can get some hands on time, because the promise of this watch appears too good to be true, which likely means it is.

Kairos is attempting to produce a product that will contain the best of both worlds in its two halves, mechanical and smart.  It’s important to note that this is its first watch model of any type.  Kairos doesn’t have a smart watch or a mechanical watch currently on the market, so the ambition to produce a device that is on par with existing smart watches and mechanical watches may be a bit of a reach.  It would be one thing if this was a partnership with Citizen, Swatch, or Timex, but this is an independent venture, so it wouldn’t be surprising for this first foray to provide a product that is really the worst of both worlds.

However, Kairos may produce a surprise product when the watch is released this coming December.  At the very least, it serves as a great proof of concept.  Even if the device is unusable, somebody had to be the first to market and an improvement on the design will likely be out sometime in the next couple of years.

Source: The Verge

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