Google I/O 2011

Over the past few days Google have been running their annual I/O conference. Google uses this event each year to unveil their latest technology, for example in the past we have seen Milestone Android Updates, Google TV and Google Wave (some proving to be more successful than others).

As always with these major events, it's impossible for a one man blog to cover everything, so instead, I thought I would highlight the announcements that were of particular interest to me.

Google Android 3.1 (Honeycomb)

Google Android 3.1 is a minor update to Honeycomb, bringing a number of performance improvements and refinements to Google's tablet friendly operating system. It also includes the following new features:

• Resizeable widgets, allowing for a better optimised tablet experience.
• Host Mode, enabling Honeycomb devices to connect natively to a large number of USB devices, including digital cameras and even Xbox and PS3 controllers.
• New Google Applications, specifically Movies, Books and Movie Studio. Being Google each new application comes with tight cloud service integration (more on this later).
• Updates to the core Google Applications, including a faster web browser.

Google Android 3.1 has already begun rolling out to Verizon Motorola Xoom customers and is expected to be available for other Honeycomb tablets in the next few weeks (I'll post more on this topic when the update arrives for my Xoom WiFi).

Google Android - Ice Cream Sandwich

One OS to rule them all! Finally, Google have decided to attack their biggest mobile challenge head on, by setting a timeline to merge their existing smartphone OS (Froyo) and tablet OS (Honeycomb), into a single universal OS that runs across all platforms. Ice Cream Sandwich (yep, that's the codename) is still under lock and key, but Google did give a small demonstration of some fancy new face-tracking features and a camera focusing technology that uses voice recognition. Expect to hear a lot more about Ice Cream Sandwich over the next few months.

On top of this Google talked in depth about Android fragmentation and how they believe Ice Cream Sandwich, as well as a closer relationship with the hardware manufacturers (of which many were listed), can resolve the current consumer frustration. I guess only time will tell.

Android @ Home

This next one definitely sounds cool. Anyone familiar with X10 home automation technology will already have a good idea of what Google are trying to achieve. The aim is to have every appliance in your home connected to your Android device. Then using wireless technologies such as NFC, WiFi and Bluetooth, your house will automatically come alive when you enter it (think Tony Stark from Iron Man). This technology could be used in many different ways, for example turning on lights, heating, hot water or starting music, etc. However, as with the majority of Google technologies, the success will heavily depend on the developer and third party support.

Google Music

Next up is Google's answer to Amazon's cloud based music service. At its most basic, Google Music is a vast online storage service, where you can upload your personal music collection for access from any device or location (as long as you have an Internet connection). However, just like Amazon's offering, Google wasn't able to secure agreements with any major record labels, therefore you are unable to buy new music directly from the service. Google Music "beta" has already gone live in the US, allowing users to upload their first 20,000 songs for free. There are currently no plans to roll it out to the rest of the world (so it's time to look up that US proxy server).

Google Chrome OS

Finally, Google announced a number of significant updates to Chrome OS. For those that have completely forgotten (easily done), Chrome OS is another operating system from Google, but this time running on the traditional laptop form factor. The operating system relies 100% on cloud servers (such as Google Apps, etc) and therefore aims to be lightning fast, reliable and totally secure from malicious attack. Google revealed a number of launch partners (Samsung and Acer) as well as gave us a sneak peak of how the Chrome OS devices will work (see the video below). Although I see some potential for schools and universities, I don't see this type of device replacing the PC or Mac for "normal" users anytime soon.

Overall I felt this year's I/O conference continued Google's trend of releasing new and innovative products and services which enhance the existing ecosystem. I am especially keen to see the future Android milestones, as well as the world wide release of Google Music, as it's my hope that this will help drive Apple to release the long rumored cloud iTunes.

For more details on Google I/O 2011 head over to "This is my next..." - Day One / Day Two.

Google I/O 2010

Over the past few days Google have been running their annual I/O conference. It was at this event last year that they first unveiled Google Wave.

There were two main announcements that grabbed my attention this year:

Google Android 2.2 (Froyo)

Like the iPhone OS 4.0 we already know quite a bit about Android 2.2, however it is always nice to get the official announcement. The features that really excite me are:

• New Just-in-Time (JIT) compiler resulting in 2x-5x performance improvement over Android 2.1.
• New V8 Javascript engine resulting in 2x-3x performance boost in the browser.
• Optimisations for using the camera, orientation (accelerometer) within the browser.
• Adobe Flash Player 10.1 and AIR compatibility.
• Tethering for Wifi and USB. (iPad here I come).

To get the full list of new features head over to the source - Android Developers.

Google TV

The second announcement was Google TV, which is a new product designed to integrate your television and Web experience. Intel, Sony and Logitech have already signed up and even have products available for testing (video). To help understand how Goggle TV will work, the development team have put together a short video.

So who is Google TV's competition? Is it Microsoft's Media Centre and Boxee or even Apple's "hobby", the Apple TV? It seems like most other major TV and set-top box manufacturers are keen to integrate the technology and use it alongside there own and if taken seriously, I think Google TV has some real potential.

Introducing Google Wave

From the guys that brought you Google Maps...introducing Google Wave, unveiled at Google I/O conference 29th May 2009.

Google Wave is an open source communication and collaboration service that is delivered through a web browser and driven by the developer community (through the use of included APIs). It is designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wiki, blogging, and social networking. It focuses on real-time collaboration and supports spelling/grammar checking, automatic language translation (currently including 40 languages), and many other extensions.

Google Wave is still in development and set to be released in late 2009. However a beta program has already begun to allow developers to start building software based on Google Wave.

For a detailed look at Google Wave be sure to check out the keynote video below delivered at the Google I/O conference.

Finally, for more information and to sign up for the beta, head over to the Google Wave website.