Google opened its Google I/O conference with a focus on its Android operating system, announcing a new version of Honeycomb, its next-generation "Ice Cream Sandwich" release, as well as movies, music, and Android accessories.
Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president of engineering, started by reminiscing about the conference, which dates back to 2008 and first dealt with computing and the cloud. In 2009, Google rallied the industry to HTML5. "Today, modern browsers are better and faster thanks to this group of people," Gundotra said.
Gundotra showed a drawing of an Android eating an Apple, as Google's mobile-phone OS passed Apple's iOS in market share.
Hugo Barra, product management director for Android, called Tuesday's keynote the "Android keynote," and said it would focus on three things: momentum, mobile, and more.
There are over 100 million Android phones activated worldwide, Barra said, across 36 phone makers, 215 carriers, and 450,000 Android developers. Over 400,000 Android devices are activated every day, and there are more than 310 Android devices across 12 countries. "Talk about choice," Barra said.
There are over 200,000 apps available in the Android Market, Barra said, highlighting a few, such as "Pulse" and "Gun Bros." It took the Android ecosytem almost two years to get to 1 billlion installs. Today, there are 4.5 billion app installs. "Android Market has seen stronger, faster growth than ever," Barra said.
Honeycomb 3.1 and "Ice Cream"
Android has shipped eight releases of the Android operating system in the past two years, and today Google added a ninth: Android 3.1, complete with a task switcher that allows users to see apps that users have recently used. "You'll never run out of memory, and you'll never have to quit to move on to something," said Mike Claren, a member of the Android engineering team.
Android 3.1 also includes improved widgets, which can be stretched horizontally and vertically.
Android 3.1 devices can now act as USB hosts, with things like importing photos directly from digital photos to tablets, and a "ridiculous" number of input devices, such as an Xbox gamepad.
It turns out Android 3.1 for tablets and the Android Market are coming to Google TV, Claren said. It will ship with existing devices this summer, and new devices from Logitech, Samsung, and others will ship later this year, executives said.
The next release will be "Ice Cream Sandwich," which will debut in the fourth quarter. "It will be our most ambitious launch to date," executives said. It will be designed as "one OS that runs everywhere," Claren said, on phones as well as tablets.
Google is adding new APIs to the framework to add intelligence to the form factors, Google executives said. Google is also putting more energy into its new tools, and it will make it open source, Google said.
The new OS can determine where your head is looking, and can update 3D scenes to update the perspective—and it runs via OpenGL on the GPU hardware. Ice Cream can even perform real-time transformations of captured videos, according to an on-stage demo. The OS's virtual camera operator can figure out by itself who is speaking and focus on the right person.
Movies and Music
Google also announced two new services: movie rentals via the Android Market; and Android Music.
Chris Juergen from the Android cloud services team noted that Google added Android Books earlier this year, and the e-books are instantly available to read across all devices. Today, Google announced an enhancement of the YouTube rentals program it announced Monday—users can buy movies via the Android Market, and stream them to any device. Movies have a 30-day rental period, and a 24-hour period to complete them, and they can be "pinned" to the device—automatically downloaded into the background of the device.
Movies will be available on the Motorola Xoom today and on Android 2.2 devices in a couple of weeks.
Google executive also announced the expected Google Music service, dubbed Music Beta by Google, where users can upload their music to the cloud both on the Web and on a mobile device.
Google Music is based on Music Manager, which can include the iTunes music library, which will upload the playlists and music recommendations. Manager includes play counts, album details, etc. Existing playlists remain, and users can quickly add new ones—and they're shared to all devices. Instant Mix also uses a selected song, and then selects 25 related songs to build a "truly ingenious mix."
The app connects to the music service via the cloud, eliminating cables, said Google engineer Paul Joyce. Music can be cached offline. The UI is optimized for the smaller screen. Up to 20,000 songs can be added.
Google Beta is launching in stages, and will be added via invites to U.S. customers, or people can go to music.google.com to request an invitation. While it's in beta, the service is free. Mobile users can download the app today.
"The kind of innovation you've seen here today has been the driving force of Android's success," Barra said.
Google announced a new industry-wide team to determine the timing and pace of new Android releases. Partners include Verizon, HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and AT&T, among others. Google announced that members of that group will receive the latest Android releases for 18 months after launch if the hardware allows. "It's great for the entire industry," executives said.
Barra also announced "the next wave of Android" beyond the mobile phone—in the home.
Android at Home
"We want to do that in a way to take the concept of openness to a new level," Barra said.
Google announced Android Open Accessory, where Android device builders can build an accessory and integrate into any Android phone. One example included an exercise bike that connected to a phone via a charging plug that also launched a cardio app. Open Accessory will be made available to 2.3.4 and 3.1, and the hardware and software for an Android accessory design will also be released for free.
Google also announced "Android at Home." At the center of the Android at Home architecture are Android devices, connected with new services that allow your Android device to connect to other devices. This new protocol allows new productivity, Google executives said. "We want to think of every device in your home as a connection to Android apps," a Google executive said.
Google demonstrated a wireless light switch, connected to an Android tablet, and suggested that it could be connected to an irrigation system for a real-world Farmville.
Google partnered with several industry players, including Lighting Science. Wireless Science will ship wireless lights and switches later this year.
Google also announced "Project Tungsten," a sort of Android at Home hub. A Tungsten device runs the Android OS as well as an Android at Home framework. In the example, Google showed it connected to a home stereo system speakers. Google executives showed Google Music running on the speakers, and said it could be synchronized throughout the home—a shot at the high-end Sonos audio system.
Google executives also showed a CD with an NFC label that could be touched to an Android at Home system. When it connected, the music was added to the library. When touched again, the music started playing. Executives said users should hear more about Android at Home in the next couple of months.
Google and Foursquare tested NFC checkins, and Samsung was expected to announce a Chrome OS netbook today at the Google I/O show. Google said its developer base would receive the Samsung 10.1 Tab tablet, about a month before it's officially released.
Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president of engineering, started by reminiscing about the conference, which dates back to 2008 and first dealt with computing and the cloud. In 2009, Google rallied the industry to HTML5. "Today, modern browsers are better and faster thanks to this group of people," Gundotra said.
Gundotra showed a drawing of an Android eating an Apple, as Google's mobile-phone OS passed Apple's iOS in market share.
Hugo Barra, product management director for Android, called Tuesday's keynote the "Android keynote," and said it would focus on three things: momentum, mobile, and more.
There are over 100 million Android phones activated worldwide, Barra said, across 36 phone makers, 215 carriers, and 450,000 Android developers. Over 400,000 Android devices are activated every day, and there are more than 310 Android devices across 12 countries. "Talk about choice," Barra said.
There are over 200,000 apps available in the Android Market, Barra said, highlighting a few, such as "Pulse" and "Gun Bros." It took the Android ecosytem almost two years to get to 1 billlion installs. Today, there are 4.5 billion app installs. "Android Market has seen stronger, faster growth than ever," Barra said.
Honeycomb 3.1 and "Ice Cream"
Android has shipped eight releases of the Android operating system in the past two years, and today Google added a ninth: Android 3.1, complete with a task switcher that allows users to see apps that users have recently used. "You'll never run out of memory, and you'll never have to quit to move on to something," said Mike Claren, a member of the Android engineering team.
Android 3.1 also includes improved widgets, which can be stretched horizontally and vertically.
Android 3.1 devices can now act as USB hosts, with things like importing photos directly from digital photos to tablets, and a "ridiculous" number of input devices, such as an Xbox gamepad.
It turns out Android 3.1 for tablets and the Android Market are coming to Google TV, Claren said. It will ship with existing devices this summer, and new devices from Logitech, Samsung, and others will ship later this year, executives said.
The next release will be "Ice Cream Sandwich," which will debut in the fourth quarter. "It will be our most ambitious launch to date," executives said. It will be designed as "one OS that runs everywhere," Claren said, on phones as well as tablets.
Google is adding new APIs to the framework to add intelligence to the form factors, Google executives said. Google is also putting more energy into its new tools, and it will make it open source, Google said.
The new OS can determine where your head is looking, and can update 3D scenes to update the perspective—and it runs via OpenGL on the GPU hardware. Ice Cream can even perform real-time transformations of captured videos, according to an on-stage demo. The OS's virtual camera operator can figure out by itself who is speaking and focus on the right person.
Movies and Music
Google also announced two new services: movie rentals via the Android Market; and Android Music.
Chris Juergen from the Android cloud services team noted that Google added Android Books earlier this year, and the e-books are instantly available to read across all devices. Today, Google announced an enhancement of the YouTube rentals program it announced Monday—users can buy movies via the Android Market, and stream them to any device. Movies have a 30-day rental period, and a 24-hour period to complete them, and they can be "pinned" to the device—automatically downloaded into the background of the device.
Movies will be available on the Motorola Xoom today and on Android 2.2 devices in a couple of weeks.
Google executive also announced the expected Google Music service, dubbed Music Beta by Google, where users can upload their music to the cloud both on the Web and on a mobile device.
Google Music is based on Music Manager, which can include the iTunes music library, which will upload the playlists and music recommendations. Manager includes play counts, album details, etc. Existing playlists remain, and users can quickly add new ones—and they're shared to all devices. Instant Mix also uses a selected song, and then selects 25 related songs to build a "truly ingenious mix."
The app connects to the music service via the cloud, eliminating cables, said Google engineer Paul Joyce. Music can be cached offline. The UI is optimized for the smaller screen. Up to 20,000 songs can be added.
Google Beta is launching in stages, and will be added via invites to U.S. customers, or people can go to music.google.com to request an invitation. While it's in beta, the service is free. Mobile users can download the app today.
"The kind of innovation you've seen here today has been the driving force of Android's success," Barra said.
Google announced a new industry-wide team to determine the timing and pace of new Android releases. Partners include Verizon, HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and AT&T, among others. Google announced that members of that group will receive the latest Android releases for 18 months after launch if the hardware allows. "It's great for the entire industry," executives said.
Barra also announced "the next wave of Android" beyond the mobile phone—in the home.
Android at Home
"We want to do that in a way to take the concept of openness to a new level," Barra said.
Google announced Android Open Accessory, where Android device builders can build an accessory and integrate into any Android phone. One example included an exercise bike that connected to a phone via a charging plug that also launched a cardio app. Open Accessory will be made available to 2.3.4 and 3.1, and the hardware and software for an Android accessory design will also be released for free.
Google also announced "Android at Home." At the center of the Android at Home architecture are Android devices, connected with new services that allow your Android device to connect to other devices. This new protocol allows new productivity, Google executives said. "We want to think of every device in your home as a connection to Android apps," a Google executive said.
Google demonstrated a wireless light switch, connected to an Android tablet, and suggested that it could be connected to an irrigation system for a real-world Farmville.
Google also announced "Project Tungsten," a sort of Android at Home hub. A Tungsten device runs the Android OS as well as an Android at Home framework. In the example, Google showed it connected to a home stereo system speakers. Google executives showed Google Music running on the speakers, and said it could be synchronized throughout the home—a shot at the high-end Sonos audio system.
Google executives also showed a CD with an NFC label that could be touched to an Android at Home system. When it connected, the music was added to the library. When touched again, the music started playing. Executives said users should hear more about Android at Home in the next couple of months.
Google and Foursquare tested NFC checkins, and Samsung was expected to announce a Chrome OS netbook today at the Google I/O show. Google said its developer base would receive the Samsung 10.1 Tab tablet, about a month before it's officially released.
