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Portland tech startup Instrument teams up with Google to create Map Diving, a realistic skydiving simulator

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by James Gray on
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Google I/O is always a place for innovation and next week’s event will be no different. Those lucky enough to attend will get treated to some of the greatest breakthroughs in technology at Google’s annual event, including a lifelike skydiving simulator based on Google Maps. Using data gathered over the years by Google’s Maps and Earth teams, Instrument has created an extremely advanced skydiving simulator game.

Unfortunately it appears that I/O is the only place Map Diving can be experienced for now, but Instruments has hinted at a possible slimmed down take-home version in the near future. Video demos after the break.

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Two UK retailers mysteriously pull the Nexus 4 from shelves one week before Google I/O

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by James Gray on
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Two British retailers (Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U) have mysteriously stopped selling the Nexus 4 just a week before the big Google I/O convention. While you can still purchase the handset directly from Google, the timing has caused some extreme speculation. While many believe we may see the hotly anticipated “Nexus 5″ with Key Lime Pie at I/O, it is far more likely that LG will roll out an updated Nexus 4 with 32 GB of storage and an LTE-capable radio.

Whatever is happening next week is exciting with Google only presenting one keynote. We will be there so check out the schedule and check back constantly for up to date news.

Source: Tech Radar

Google I/O Android app updated with new features for 2013

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by Aditya Thawardas on
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Google I/O season is upon us, and to celebrate, Google has updated their I/O app for 2013. The app’s aesthetics have been made Google Now-esque, with cards and swiping abundant. Once you install the app and input your Google+ credentials, you are asked whether or not you are attending the event. If you are, the app sets up your WiFi access for the Moscone Center, and lets you schedule your events.

We’ll be at I/O next week, so keep your browser at TalkAndroid for all the coverage you need. The full changelog and download link for the app is after the break. » Read the rest

Google I/O 2013 full schedule released

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by Harrison Kaminsky on
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It’s almost that time of year again- the equivalent of Christmas morning for Android developers and fanatics alike: Google I/O 2013.

On Tuesday night, Google released its session schedule for the conference, which will last three days (May 15-17) and will deal with not only Android, but Chrome & Apps, Google+, Google Cloud Platform, Google Maps, YouTube, and many other Google products as well. Google makes it pretty easy for you to know exactly what’s going on at what time, where it’s going on, and who the speakers will be.  When you click on any specific session, a summary page about it opens and gives more details than you’ll ever need.

Of course if you’re not going to Google I/O, the schedule will give you a good idea when the latest products/updates may be coming out, so you’ll know when to be watching for I/O coverage from us. As usual, the main keynote will be streamed live via YouTube, so definitely tune in to get a firsthand look at the newest releases.

Who else is excited? We know we are!

source: Google Developers

 

 

Google Babble Chat Client to Unify Now Fragmented Messaging Platforms

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by Jason Bracey on
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Google has been working hard to unify their products. Their latest project, combines its currently fragmented messaging platforms under one powerful and effective service. The new initiative, affectionately called “Babble”, will do just that. Currently, Google is maintaining Google Talk, Hangout, Voice, Messenger, Chat for Drive collaboration, and the pseudo Google Talk for G+. The only two that work even fairly well together are Google Talk for Gmail and G+ and even they can evoke frustration with users from time-to-time.

The Babble cross-platform solution could enable Google to dominate chat services such as iMessage and BlackBerry Messenger. Google is building Babble from the ground up, which may or may not be a blessing depending on how you look at it. On one hand, they will be working from a clean slate and there will be no boundaries as to what they can make the app do. On the other hand, Google will be pushing out another Beta product based on past experiences that may have more bugs than a Louisiana bayou on a hot summer afternoon. We will just have to hope the geeks at Google push out a well polished, well oiled, version of the app on Beta release.  » Read the rest

Google I/O tickets sold out in under an hour

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by Jared Peters on
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This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Last year, Google I/O tickets didn’t last very long, and this year they went just as fast. If you didn’t manage to snatch your $900 ticket up in under an hour, you were just out of luck. While it didn’t break the record for 23 minutes last year, it’s still pretty impressive. Did any of you manage to get a ticket? Let us know in the comments.

Google has fun with Google I/O 2013 landing page

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by Jeff Causey on
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While folks wait for March 13th to roll around so they can register for Google I/O 2013, Google has done a little bit of coding on the event’s web site to help the time pass. When landing on the main page, users are greeted with a stylized I/O logo that is interactive. Each press of the I or the O builds a code eight digits long. Get the right code and you can unlock new easter eggs, hidden pages or sound effects. Users have already been hard at work cracking codes and have discovered results like “bacon,”, “song,” and “simon” among others.

If you decide to take a shot at manually guessing the codes, you can use the indicator at the bottom to help you stay on track. As long as the I’s and O’s stay gray, you are on the right track. Hit the wrong digit and the indicator turns red and you will start over. Get it right and it will turn green and take you to your bonus.

Hit the source link to give the Google I/O site a try and burn up at least a few minutes of time. Be sure to share the successful codes you find in the comments for your fellow TalkAndroid readers.

source: Google I/O
via: The Next Web

Smart App Updates Now Available In Play Store

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by Ed Caggiani on
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Normally, when an app gets an update, you have to re-download the whole app from the Play Store to get the latest version. This isn’t a big deal if you’re just updating a small 2MB app, but when the app is huge, it’s annoying.

To speed things along, Google announced Smart Updates at Google I/O last June, which reduces what you need to download to just the updated portion, or the delta. We’ve been waiting for this since the announcement, and today it looks like Google enabled the feature in the Play Store.

Smart Updates seem to have been implemented on the server side, meaning you don’t need to have the latest 3.8.15 version of the Play Store installed to reap the benefits. The folks over at Android Police ran some tests and noticed that today’s Instagram update, for example, only needed to install 3MB out of the total 13MB. That’s a 10MB savings. Not bad!

Hit the source link to check out videos of some other smart app update examples.

source: android police

Watch Google I/O 2012 in a little less than 4 minutes [Video]

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by Robert Nazarian on
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Google I/O 2012 was definitely one to remember as all Google I/O events were. Google put together a highlights video showcasing the entire 3 day event, and it’s only 3 minutes and 41 seconds long. Everything is covered like Jelly Bean, the Nexus 7, the Nexus Q, Chrome, Google Glass, and I think there was some skydiving if I remember correctly. Of course if you missed any news, you can always hit up our Google I/O coverage. Hit the break to watch.

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Nexus Q Easter Egg Turns It Into A Magic 8-Ball

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by Ed Caggiani on
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We already showed you the Jelly Bean easter egg that Google added to the Nexus 7 tablet, and now the folks at Android Police have discovered that the Nexus Q also has its own easter egg. We have to hand it to the Google engineers… they do seem to have a sense of humor. Since the Nexus Q is spherical, the easter egg turns the Nexus Q app into a Magic 8-Ball that answers questions.

To place the Q in 8-Ball mode, you launch the Nexus Q app, tap the picture of the Q sphere several times, then the app says “Have a dilemma? Ask the Q” and waits for voice input. You can then proceed to ask it yes or no questions, just like a Magic 8-Ball. The answers seem to be limited to things like “Maybe” and “I am not sure right now” so I don’t suggest using this for any major decisions in life.

Hit the break for some screenshots.

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