Has it really been a year since we all got together at Google I/O? This year, Google will try to jump-start the smart watch category with Android Wear devices and explain how Android and Chrome will continue to mature. We think we have a good handle on what will be announced but there’s always room for a surprise or two.
Janko and I will start blogging from San Francisco’s Moscone West Center a little before 9am PT, so make sure to join us then.
And. That. Is. It. We are done with protests, news and announcements. Thanks much for joining us and if you are a Chrome Show podcast listener, Janko and I will have a new episode later today!
Yup, the biggest applause was for the 360.
Okay, the Moto 360 is the clear crowd favorite here.
Everyone gets a Moto 360 as well, when available. Wow, Android on both wrists!
Everyone gets either the LG or Samsung Android Wear watch.
Everyone gets a piece of cardboard. LOL!
He’s teasing handouts now. The crowd just went wild.
That’s 2.5 times more than the prior year.
And Sundar is back on stage. He says over $5 billion have been paid to devs since the last I/O via Google Play.
On to direct carrier billing, which is coming to tablets. If you’ve already set this up on your phone, it will work on the tablet too.
All of these features will be in the next version of Google Play Services, so within 6 weeks.
Saved Games will also show in Google Play Games. Quests are new: You can set objectives for them. Interesting.
New game services today: A Game Profile which changes based on games you play and your achievements.
“Google Play Games is now the fastest growing mobile game platform of all time.”
Lots of other partners as well. Google quickly flashed up about a dozen to 15.
Adidas and Nike are partnering with Google Fit. Now the Android support on the Fuelband makes sense.
Google Fit will aggregate data from multiple sources. Users can control which apps can share data.
A preview is launching today for apps and sensors on cross-platform devices and wearables.
Google Fit just announced. Hello iOS Health, take that!
appurify supports iOS device testing and will continue to do so, says Ellie.
Is this Google’s answer to Apple’s Testflight acquisition?
The service works across a wide range of devices, helpful since Android takes so many forms and is on various screens.
appurify is joining Google today. It’s a mobile device cloud testing service.
Ellie Powers, Product Manager for Google Play, is now on the stage.
This is almost a exciting as watching the real World Cup. For developers. I guess.
Actually it’s reading about 408 tweets a second but can scale up much higher.
Basically, Dataflow is analyzing a gazillion of tweets in real time. OK, maybe not a gazillion, but….
Sorry Urs, I picked France over the Swiss by a score of 3 to 1.
It’s a World Cup demo, so Urs is wearing a shirt for Switzerland.
Time for a Cloud Dataflow demo using Twitter.
Google has a new analytics engine that scales to exabytes: Cloud Dataflow.
Urs is chatting about data analytics with cloud now.
If there are any more protesters in the audience, you’re probably running out of time here. Just a PSA.
Ok, cloud code debugging is done on stage.
Phandroid says the LG G Watch will cost $255 and launch July 7. http://phandroid.com/2014/06/24/lg-g-watch-now-available-for-pre-order-255-dollars/ Hmm…. that’s a tougher sell than sub-$200 if accurate.
Actually, I’m sleuthing around to find out how much the Android Wear watches are going to cost. I figured $179 to $199 for LG’s and about $30 more for the Moto 360.
Live debugging on stage. Exciting times.
This demo is showing some code debugging, so yes, I’m checking in on my World Cup picks. Sorry.
Urs was at our Structure conference last week, where there were no protests.
https://gigaom.com/2014/06/18/google-shows-the-world-how-to-better-compute-in-the-cloud/
We’re getting a demo of an app that won’t hurt anyone: WalkShare. It uses the new CloudSave API for data.
I feel like I’m in an episode of Continuum.
And another protester here talking about Google being Skynet, building robots that will kill people. Give him an Android Wear watch already….
“You see Moore’s Law in the cloud” based on falling prices that are passed on from Google to devs.
Three main features: Compute, storage and app services. Lots of little moving parts here but those are the main three.
Urs Holzle is on stage to discuss infrastructure.
Turning to app scaling on Google cloud services now.
Standing ovation for those students now…
Really inspiring video showing a navigation app for a blind student created by his fellow students.
Switching gears: On to developer success now with a video.
I’ll see your terabyte, Microsoft, and raise you…… to infinity and beyond!
Gooigle Drive for Work: UNLIMITED storage for $10 a month.
Importing files in Docs really has been a pain, so this could help a lot.
Google Drive has 190 million 30-day active users. Up 85% in the past year. I called for more Google Drive storage this week since Microsoft added it to OneDrive. Let’s see…..
Multiple users can edit simultaneously. Looks pretty nice but I’ll have to try with a Word doc.
Files stay in Office format unless you want to convert or save to Docs.
About that QuickOffice purchase last year: Native Office Editing announced. Another demo: opening a Word file, but no conversion in Google Docs. Works for Sheets and Presentations as well.
It’s bring your Android to work day…
About a dozen hardware partners in the Android for Work program that uses the data separation tech.
There’s another frenemy: Samsung.
Sundar giving a nod to Samsung for KNOX, its security software.
Sundar is talking about separate devices for work and personal now. New APIs with Android L that will let you keep data / apps separate on the same device.
It’s not (at least not that I can see) Android apps running in a virtual machine on Chrome OS, if that helps clarify.
Looks like these were ported and use Packaged Apps / Native Client tech — possibly with Cordova. I’ll have to dig around. If so, this isn’t quite “Android apps on Chromebooks” like you might think.
Android apps on Chromebooks. BOOM!!!! This will help the app gap on Chrome OS. Getting a demo of Evernote. But is this an Android app or a Packaged App? Hmm…..
Incoming call notifications will show on Chromebooks now, so will texts.
Bingo. We mentioned this on the Chrome Show podcast a few weeks ago; code was seen in Chromium.
“Users always have a phone with them, even when using a Chromebook.” Betting a demo to unlock your Chromebook with a phone.
Amazon is getting a lot of love today from Google. Well, except for that Fire stuff… but Google execs sure love their Android sales stats.
Yup, Chromebook talk now. Sundar is giving a quick history of the effort to date. Long shot: Chrome OS tablet?
Sundar is back. Time for Chrome / Chrome OS stuff?
Google Earth mirrored onto your TV looks neat.
Only certain devices will initially be supported for Android mirroring to a Chromecast. More to follow.
Showing Google Earth on the Chromecast / TV controlled from the phone.
Google built its own protocol to make this happen with little latency.
You can also mirror an Android device to a Chromecast.
Lots of integration at this I/O with Google Now being strong glue.
This is pretty cool.
Wow. Google voice search for “what’s on my Chromecast” and your Android device will offer more information on cards; perfect for art, places and such.
I see options for lifestyle, weather, and news in Backdrop.
“What about the other 19 hours a day your TV isn’t being used?” There’s a new Backdrop option that puts a feed of information on your screen. Your own photos, for example.
The feature is opt-in for security purposes. It would be cool if I could remotely control my next door neighbors Chromecast.
So it’s a remote way to get your Chromecast to connect to media through the cloud. Use cellular for example to start a stream on your home network.
New for Chromecast. You can send media to a Chromecast that isn’t on the same WiFi network. Demo time.
With this big stage and screen, why aren’t they Chromecasting ESPN World Cup matches. C’mon, they can mute it!
“Almost 50% of all Chromecasts in the last 30 days were used with multiple platforms.” And by multiple I guess that means Android and IOS.
“We’re outselling all other streaming devices in retail stores than all others combined.” Chromecast availability is expanding today to a number of countries. Average of 7+ minutes of Chromecast usage a day; up 40%.
Millions of devices. Still no actual numbers.
Rishi Chandra is on stage to discuss Chromecast.
FREE 4K TV’s FOR EVERYONE!!!! (No, that was just inside my head)
Sony and Sharp are including Android TV in their next line of 4k sets. Whoa! There will also be streaming boxes launching later this fall.
Fall launch for Android TV apps although Google already has a few partners. The usual suspects.
“Android TV supports casting, so it works just like a Chromecast.”
So each player in this demo basketball game is using their own Android device as a controller and the main screen shows the multiplayer action.
We’re now seeing a game on Android TV; this all works with Play Games via tablets and phones.
Random thought: I wonder what Gary Busey thinks of this. He likes shouting out voice searches on televisions.
OOH! Android Wear watches can control Android TV in the same ways: through voice or directional pad navigation via swipes. Slick. I may have to retire my analog mechanical watch today….
The goal here was a 10-foot user experience. Looks clean and easy to use.
For context, here’s our story about Google announcing this today – from May: https://gigaom.com/2014/05/30/powered-by-pano-focused-on-gaming-google-to-announce-android-tv-at-google-io-in-june/
Just did a voice search for “Oscar nominated movies in 2002″ and all of the titles just appeared on the TV, ready to watch. Very nice.
Search is powered by voice through the phone. A quick voice search for Breaking Bad brought up ways to play recent episodes, info about the show and actors.
This looks like what Google TV should have been.
Demo is using an Android phone with an Android TV. Press home on the phone and you get a media guide overlay on top of the live programming.
We’re getting a demo now.
“We’re giving TVs the same level of attention we give to tablets and phones. Just one Android SDK for all form factors.”
Android TV announced.
Switching channels now: Talking about TVs. Hmmm…..
Android Auto with Android L release expected later this year. And…. 40 automakers on board with the Open Automotive Alliance with supported cars this year. OOOOH! I see the Fiat logo!!!! :)
There are a bunch of audio apps — think news, radio, music, etc… that are already working with Android Auto.
This is a better approach than trying to work with individual car makers. It’s plug and play — provided the right display support is available in a vehicle. Android Auto SDK is launching today to make “great apps for the car.”
Like any phone with Google Now, you can deal with incoming messages (they float above the maps, for example). Voice reply sent. Boom. All while maps is running.
On to Google Maps which is completely voice enabled. Demo just asked how late something is open and got a response with the hours. “Navigate there” brings up turn by turn directions. No touch actions needed.
Google Play Music is adapted for the car. Simple one touch controls so you don’t have to hunt for things. You can use voice commands as well.
We’re getting an Android Auto demo in a small simulator. Connect the phone to the car and the mobile device casts its display on the car dash. Everything is running on the phone though. Smart move.
Android Auto. As a German, I like the ring of that.
So Android Auto looks familiar: Google Now for the car, complete with cards for traffic and navigation. Plus voice controls.
Android Auto is new for today. Will it make my car drive itself? Actually, I don’t want that; I love driving my little Fiat Abarth.
That last one was the Samsung watch.
Now on to Android in the car.
LG G Watch will be available to order later today. Samsung Gear Live will also be available for order today. (Called that one too!) Moto 360 will be available “later this summer”; exactly what I thought. Bummer. No prices?!?
Google will add more voice actions over time to Android Wear. We’re getting a look at the Lyft app now. And this time, the demonstrator said “OK Google” to fire up the voice actions so it looks like I was incorrect. The watch(es) likely will be always listening. Interesting since “OK Google” is the hotword for other devices. Hmm….
So it sounds like there won’t be an “app store” for Android Wear. Instead, traditional Android device apps in Play Store will automatically add any wearable functions by default.
More talk about food won’t help with that.
The EAT24 app was installed on the phone, which in turns adds it to a connected Android Wear watch, also keeping it updated. Nice!
We’re ordering a pizza using the EAT24 app on the Moto 360 now. Ordered and paid for in 20 seconds! (And now I’m hungry)
Google is releasing the full Android Wear SDK today. Previously, devs only had a preview version. Lots of new APIs here and in Google Play Services to tie these together.
I like the way Janko thinks when it comes to device strategy. ;)
It looks — so far — that you have to tap the watch to activate voice actions; this may not “always listen” like the Moto X. Then again, maybe the Moto 360 does have that feature. We haven’t seen all of the Android Wear watches yet. Still thinking Samsung outs one today too.
New strategy: If you want a design paradigm or device factor, have Kevin blog about it.
This is literally what I said I wanted last August: contextual notifications at a glance on my wrist with Google Now. Yay!
You can also do location based alerts; already available on the phone, of course, but now the notification appears on your watch.
For incoming calls, you can swipe up on Android Wear to send canned SMS responses, or accept / reject the call. Do Not Disturb setting is simple: Swipe down from the top of the watch screen.
You can do voice notes on the watch and they’ll show on the phone — the demo for that didn’t work though.
Nice use case: Wake up and swipe through cards on the watch to see weather, travel time to work and a package notification.
It’s all card based like Google Glass: scroll through the cards as needed. Swipe horizontally for more details. Nice animations. Dismiss a notification on the watch and it wipes it from your phone as well.
We’re getting a live demo of the LG G Watch now.
“Devs can use the same tools for Android Wear that they use for Android phones or tablets. Sensors will understand context.” There was just a mention of fitness goals. Good because Google didn’t talk about sensors in Android Wear prior. If they didn’t include quantified-self bits in Android Wear, I’d say it would be a big omission.
Time for wearables! Now I don’t see the watch on Sundar’s wrist. He’s hiding it. David Singleton is now on stage to discuss Android Wear.
Sounds like we’re moving on from phones to “multi-screens”.
Sundar: “We want a seamless experience on these screens. We’re making everything contextually aware and voice enabled.”
Google is pushing security updates though Play Services — which is updated at least every 6 weeks. Smart move as Android is perceived by some as a malware magnet.
“93% of all Android users are on the latest version of Google Play Services,” says Sundar. This is where Apple’s comparisons fall down a little. Google has long been “updating” Android without Android version updates.
Sundar is back and now talking about how “other” platforms are getting widgets and customer keyboards. “Android had that 4 or 5 years ago.”
Oh. Android L is downloadable tomorrow, not today. Nexus images will be made available too. I’ll have to dig up my Nexus One, which I flashed to Android 4.4.3 last month.
Battery saver gets smarter. “You can get an additional 90 minutes on a Nexus 5 when in battery saver mode.”
It’s quite the scene and very disruptive to Dave’s presentation. OK, she’s gone now, with security escorting her out. Maybe she’s mad that Duarte’s webOS project went to pot.
Wow. We have a demonstrator in front of the stage right now.
Project Volta to bring better battery life. There’s a new tool for devs to get historical battery info.
Now on to battery performance. This is moving faster than Suarez’s teeth.
They’re using an Nvidia reference device and the graphics look good. Not console quality but surely close to PC… unless you have an Alienware rig running on a Flux Capacitor, of course.
Android Extension Pack will bring mobile GPU performance much closer to desktop graphics performance. We’re going to get a demo of Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 now.
Funny to get the sentiment in the room. Developers are more excited about performance improvements than the new design.
“ART is fully 64-bit compatible.” If devs used Java for their apps, there’s no need for them to change anything here.
Yup, Dave just confirmed it. App code is already showing a 2x performance boost.
Time to talk about performance. I suspect ART will replace Dalvik here for the Android VM going forward with the L Release.
Wow. Demo just showed a web search for the San Francisco Ferry Building with a deep link to the Earth app. Tap it and Earth opens right to the visual tour of the place. Impressive.
For reference, here’s our story on why in-app indexing is huge: https://gigaom.com/2013/11/12/how-in-app-search-is-going-to-keep-android-awesome-and-google-in-control/
Now a quick change to deep app-linking. Google already has taken advantage of this: last week it announced web searches for music can open your native music app for playback. Demo just now showed a web search for food with links opening up in the OpenTable app.
App developers getting access to recents could get interesting. Recent songs, anyone?
Recents in Chrome for mobile definitely looks faster to use and get at the information you want. It, of course, shows your Chrome tabs on other devices.
Recent tabs have been reworked. Looks like a Time Machine backup!
Again, very card-based with the new scrolling to make room for important data as you move up or down. The animation is fluid at 60 fps.
Now we’ll get to see “material design” on the mobile web. I suspect it will look like a native Android app in look and feel.
Avni Shah from the Chrome team is on stage. Chrome for mobile is at 300M daily users over the past 30 days.
Personal Unlocking is new. If the device is in a trusted location area — based on a Bluetooth watch that’s paired, for example — the phone stays unlocked. Take the watch off and move away, you get a PIN lock. That will be handy for Android Wear watches.
Notifications are active while in other apps, just like with iOS 8. You can take action without leaving the app you’re in or you can simply ignore.
On to notifications with Dave. They’re interactive right on the lock screen. That’s new. These are prioritized so they’re relevant and don’t clog up the lock screen. Double-tap a notification and the corresponding app opens. Slide to dismiss.
So as you scroll up — say through recent calls — some data disappears off screen while the controls actually lock into place.
We’re getting a demo with the new phone dialer here. Colors are much bolder; big difference from the pastel palette in iOS. Looks very clean. “We’ve added nested scrolling.”
I am the walrus. (Sorry, couldn’t resist adding that)
Dave Burke, VP of engineering is on stage, talking about user experience and 5,000 new APIs. I hope he doesn’t cover them all.
Everything looks well unified here. Devs can use Polymer — introduced last year — for the web so all of this will look the same regardless of device.
They just threw a Beatles reference in there for Kevin.
The touch feedback is like “ripples in a pond.” It does look nice and animated. Seamless transitions from different activities in apps or between apps, says Duarte. The Roboto font has been updated as well. I like the look, so far.
There are also new gridlines for devs to use that will make it easier to code for consistency; these will help apps scale across phones, tablets and more.
Devs will have a new “elevation attribute” to code for design elements for better shadowing and perspective. No mention of parallax, thank goodness.
The cards are “digital material” that can reshape themselves. This makes sense for Android Wear, which has either a circular or square interface based on the hardware.
We’re getting a video look at “material design.” It’s card-based so far, lots of reshaping based on context or need. Has a nice flow…. just like webOS did. Coincidence? I think not.
Duarte is discussing one consistent vision / interface for mobile, desktop and web. (Called that one)
Sundar is discussing the L Developer Preview of Android, the next version, which will be available for download today. Wow. Definitely a new look; Mathias Duarte (former webOS designer) is here to show it off.
Now to discuss the evolution of Android and Chrome.
Micromax has a phone for AndroidOne already. Dual SIM, FM radio, SD card, 4.5″ screen. Cost? Less than $100 says Sundar. This could put a crimp in Microsoft’s Windows Phone plans.
Google will identify reference designs to speed up smartphone building for OEMs. AndroidOne will have stock Android, Play auto-installs and automatic updates. This is like the Nexus program but on an expanded (and likely cheaper) basis.
“We’re targeting the next 5 billion mobile users.” That makes sense since Android 4.4 was re-written to run on lesser hardware. AndroidOne is a new initiative for global expansion.
236 percent, to be exact.
YouTube views on Android tablets was 28% in 2013; now is 42%. App installs on tablets is up 200% this year.
Tablet growth now. Android was 46% of shipments in 2013. Now is 62 percent, not including Android variants such as Kindle.
Looking at use cases around the world now: money transfers, eye diagnostics and mental health support. Clearly Android is a global platform.
1.5 trillion steps per day and 100 billion times Android phones are checked each day. Big numbers to try and keep developers interested of course.
Interesting switch. No more total activations. Over 1 billion 30 day active Android users. 20B texts from Android a day. 93M selfies a day.
315M smartphones shipped in Q4 2013 on track for a billion each year, says Sundar.
Here comes some mobile momentum info from Sundar. I’m guessing 1.3 billion Android activations.
If Sundar is wearing a Moto 360, there’s a nice silver or stainless circle around the display. Looks sharp from here in the 4th row.
We’re now checking in with live streams from around the world. A Googler that looks a lot like Wil Wheaton was going nuts at one location.
He’s wearing a Moto 360 if my eyes don’t deceive me. Interesting…. LG was the primary Android Wear partner.
And Sundar Pichai takes the stage. Looking casual but svelte as always.
“Every little bit matters” was the tagline of the video. Clever.
We’re watching an intro video that’s clearly meant to get people all fired up with excitement. Showing some Chrome experiments and lots of Google products.
There’s some kind of steampunk device going on for the start. I feel like I’m watching an OK Go video.
And we’re about to kick off as it were! :)
That’s why Tom isn’t doing so well in the World Cup pool. He doesn’t realize you can’t have stoppage time before the game even starts. ;)
I’m probably most excited about Android Wear. Why? Because long before it was announced, I said I wanted Google Now on my wrist. https://gigaom.com/2013/08/23/why-i-want-google-now-on-my-wrist-context-is-king/
I can’t believe you haven’t made a stoppage time joke yet about the keynote start time.
Before we get started — there’s that horn again — here’s what I expect from the show: https://gigaom.com/2014/06/24/what-i-expect-from-google-io-2014/
That horn keeps blowing. Is Argentina up 3-0 already?
Ah, an announcement. “take your seats, we will begin in 5 minutes.”
That reminds me: I didn’t make my World Cup picks in our Gigaom pool for the games that just started. I hope they’re both draws now.
And Bradley Horowitz. Well, I guess it’s not really a surprise that everyone is here, but they don’t seem to be too busy, mingling and chatting with the press.
And the train horn just started again. I think it’s a countdown clock. Either that, or Luis Suarez just bit someone and then scored a World Cup goal.
Also, Android Search VP Johanna Wright.
I suppose he could arrive on a Segway but that’s so 2009.
So there’s still a ton of people milling around. Makes me think Sergey won’t be skydiving in anytime soon.
Some Google execs on the floor. Just spotted Dave Besbris, taking photos of the press. Talk about turning the table!
By the way, if you want to see the widest range of T-Shirts with Android logos on them, this is the place. I just saw one of an Android walking a dog. Is there an app for that in the Play Store?
Oh wait, there’s a Pixel. And there’s the guy who was using a BlackBerry, looking rather lost right now.
Speaking of Surface Pro 3, that reminds me to look for Chromebooks. Normally I would be using one. I actually haven’t seen one yet save for the Pixels used for self check-in downstairs.
Point taken, Janko. ;)
Apparently, many other I/O attendees didn’t see that. Or they’re BIG risk takers…. lots of Glass on faces here.
I think using a Surface at a Google event may be even less safe.
I thought about wearing Google Glass for a camera today but was afraid of thugs after watching that Daily Show bit last week!
I’m impressed with Janko’s camera setup. DSLR hardwired to his laptop for instant offloading and he’s got some Gigaom watermarking going automatically too. I feel like a slacker given I only have a camera phone.
So the stage is pretty bare; there’s a podium of course. But also some contraption with a string off the right. Bungie jumps with the Android robot, maybe???
That is the new Google Bus. Kidding.
And we’re seated! A super loud train horn just sounded. New BART stop?
Oooohhhh!!! We just moved up 3 steps!!!! *sigh*
Lots of talk about a phone launch here. Maybe a new Moto. I’m doubtful although anything is possible.
And we’re still waiting outside the keynote room in line. Interesting mix of Android and iPhones in the press line. And a BlackBerry.
For the record, I’m still rocking the Surface Pro 3 for live blog purposes. Janko is laughing at me for that.
That was my pensive noir look, by the way.























































































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