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By Matthew Chapman: Subscribe to Matthew's RSS feed | June 27, 2012 12:59 PM GMT
The highlights:
19:43 - And that's it folks. Final recap video. Some surprises there, especially the Nexus Q medi centre mini PC with multi-room function. Google Events looks OK, we'll see what that after party looks like as it gets its first trial. And that tablet, which looked underwhelming in the leaked images seems to be a powerful piece of kit for $199. We're off to get a cuppa, it's been emotional!
19:41 - Hugo is back for "One more thing..." They might get some free kit - Android Developer Pack will go to all 6,000 attendees get a Galaxy Nexus Phone, Nexus 7 tablet, latest OTA Jelly Bean and a Nexus Q. Wow, that's some goody bag.
19:40 - "The best thing is for computers to have your back." First official event is tonight, an after hours party at I/O with Paul Oakenfold.
19:38 - Vic is back. He's wrapping up events but has some more announcements. Video recap.
19:36 - It's $1,500 and won't ship till next year :( And it's only available for US based I/O attendees. Orders will only be available at the conference.
19:33 - OK, we admit it we want one of these. Sergey is back. He's excited about Glass because there are all kinds of things it can capture and share. That's only part of what a wearable computer can do. Google has found it incredibly compelling using these devices, they're happy to show us and share. The small team has only had so much time to try functionality and that's why they want to involve all of them. Google Glass Explorer Edition will be in the hands of those who really want it and to be on the bleeding edge. Cool, we can actually buy one!
19:30 - Possible uses: navigation can be improved with Glass, or you can see how fast you are biking without stopping. Developers need to help Google to decide what information to put in front of people's eyes.
19:28 - Both these presenters pause like robots in The Terminator. Plus their accents are a bit Arnie. Google will probably announce Terminators next year.
19:25 - Capture moments at any time, always have a camera on hand. That's what your phone is for, right? But this could capture everything in your life all the time and you can find the bits you like. Both awesome and slightly scary.
19:22 - They knew they were onto something when people on the team posted jogging photos. It has to be super comfortable and super sturdy. All the compnents are to the side so they can work on different form factors.
19:20 - Lead designer Isobel. They positioned the display above your eye not to overide or block your senses. Our senses are blocked by the beautiful tech-head before us.
19:18 - It has a processor and a big storage capacity. Microphones and small speaker too, plus gyroscopes, accelerometers and something we didn't quite catch. Multiple radios too. Wow. it's packed!
19:16 - Hopefully glass is much more than a camera for hangouts though. Let's see some extra features!
19:13 - Bikers are now going from the roof down the side of the building! Great perspective. That's showbiz. The bikers ride through the third floor to the stage.
19:09 - Live base jump, about a minute away. Nobody knows what's going to happen! This is actually a bit scary I hope nothing bad happens. Great view, though.
19:07 - Glass is here! Some skydivers/basejumpers are gonna show off the units as they come down to the Moscone centre. They're in a hangout. Now this is a demo!
19:05 - Works out which photos got the most engagement and puts those top. It also highlights photos you are tagged in. You can click on a friend and see photos from one particular person. Sergey Bryn just turned up!
19:02 - Turn on Party Mode and pictures posted during the event appear. Play a live slideshow during the event with a full-screen lightbox. What about after the event? Google+ will email all your guests and ask them to post photos and video. It then puts then together in chronological order! OK, that's quite cool, unless you have a habit of being very drunk by the end of a party and don't want to see your own downfall.
18:59 - Invites unfold in your G+ stream like a proper invitation. You can easily add it to the calendar, including the cinema like invite. You can see who else is going too. Seem like a Facebook invite so far.
18:57 - Events are big in our lives. That substance is lost online he says. Before, during and after the event needs to be covered, so he's announcing Google+ events. Not quite the big finale :(
18:54 - The stream is very fluid and looks great. Hangout on tablets will also be much more laid back to match the fact it's on a tablet. So many new features we don't have time to show you. Everything he's showing is gonna be on the iPad too! "Coming soon" on iPad, rolling out on Android today. All that coming to Android smartphones too!
18:52 - More mobile G+ users now than from desktop PCs. That's why they upgraded software recently. But Google is now launching a tablet app for G+!
18:51 - Social spine of Google+ (G+). 250m have upgraded to G+, 50 per cent sign in every day and spend more than an hour with Google. Social destination is the next part, with really impressive engagement. We hope all these stats are going somewhere...
18:48 - Thought it was over but Vic is back. One year anniversary for Google+, thanks everyonbe for their support. "We think we're onto something special," Vic says. Video shows a hang out with star gazers all coming together to look at live images. Heart string-tugging video showing us we're part of a bigger universe. Perhaps we're not all doomed after all. [Sniff]
18:43 - Terrible Transformers patter. Thankfully this easy-to-use system is the real star of the show right now. Sharing videos on the TV is easy and it works well with YouTube. Nexus Q sells for $299 in the US for start, shipping in July and on pre-order now.
18:41 - Extremely easy to add songs to the queue from your Google Play account, even to someone else's machine. Anyone can take control of it as they can all see the queue. As Harry Hill would say, "Fight!"
18:40 - Works like Sonos device and plays music in any room in your house. We want one! "It's a cloud connected jukebox where everybody brings their songs to the party."
18:39 - Omap 440 60 chip, audio grade amplifier, 25 watts output. Optical digital audio and micro HDMI output options, dual-band wi-fi, ethernet and Bluetooth, as well as micro USB to encourage "general hackability".
18:33 - Joe Britt and Matt Hershenson are here with Nexus Q. It's a small computer that connects to all your content in the cloud and looks cool in your home. So not a projector then, scratch one of our predictions. Controlled from your phone or your tablet. Big appluase.
18:30 - $199 price tag for Nexus 7. That's great value, especially as it comes with a $25 Google Play credit, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, a Bourne book and some magazines. Available to order now in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
18:28 - Google Currents. List of recent articles. Translate now baked into it. Translate a page into arabic immediately. Now gaming - what new ideas here? Dead Trigger looks great, with the zombies, guns and even rain drops looking fantastic.
18:24 - New search recommendations on Google Nexus 7 - the widgets get smarter the more you use them. 'What's this song?' widget will take you to the play store to buy something you're listening to. YouTube optimised for the tablet. Maps show you an area or inside a bar you're going to visit. Compass mode is now hooked up to the gyro mode so as you turn you look at a new area and it's like being there.
18:17 - Here comes the tablet with Hugo back to big it up. Nexus 7, no surprise there. 1,280 x 800, Tegra with quad core CPU and a 12-core GPU, basically 16 cores! Front-facing camera, WiFi Bluetooth, gyroscope, 300 hours standby time, 100 hours use, 340g.
18:15 - Google Play songs, books, all in the cloud. More content coming to Google Play including movie and TV episode purchasing, an addition to the current rentals. It is launching today, with Disney, Sony, NBC, Paramount and others providing material. Magazines also coming to Google Play.
18:15 - Cloud to DM messaging will become Google Cloud Messaging. Free for all and no quotas. More cheers, people love free stuff!
18:12 - New features for app developers include app encryption in Jelly Bean (JB). Smart app updates also introduced so users don't download the whole APK, only the bits that have changed. Big cheer! About a third of the size of the full update - a win for devs, users and carriers. Supported on Ginger Bread and above.
18:09 - PDK available to developers a few months before the launch of any new software system. OEMs and chip set makers make sure the latest release is optomised for hardware. Here's Adroid's Chris Yerga "fresh out of the salon". "Those hair jokes never get old" he says. Google Play is cloud based so your content is available anywhere, apps are seeing 1.5bn installs a month. He thanks the developers for achieving the milestone. App Billing now easier to monetise your apps, with carrier billing for users to pay for apps now in more countries.
18:06 - Jelly Bean rolls out updates for some Samsung and Motorola handsets in mid-July. Developers can download the preview SDK right now.
18:01 - Asking to see images of pygmy marmosets is a crowd pleaser :) Here comes Google Now! Smart phones rely on you to be smart - with GN that starts to change getting you the right info at the right time. Using your search history, location history and calendar it fugures out when you commute and tells you if there;'s a faster route. When you're near a bus stop it tells you when the next bus arrives. Places will be shown when you walk down a street or tell you what the restaurant you are in id good for. Calendar will also tell you when to leave based on when the bus leaves, how long it takes to get to the bus stop and how long the journey is. Automatic updates for when your flight is delayed! It even knows your favourite sport teams based on your searches.
18:00 - Voice search much quicker in JB, using knowledge graph for detailed answers. "Who is the prime minister of Japan?" Google gets it right, no Tomorrow's World messing up in this live demo.
17:57 - Seems like notifications have a lot of uses no matter what they are for, music services or foursquare. Pulse News shows photos and headlines. Just like in ICS one tap dismisses all notifications in one move. Search. The meat and potatoes of Google. New UI for JB, plus a new feature called Google Now.
17:54 - Tap to send photos or videos, one of two new beam features added. Notifications now get a mention. More info in Jelly Bean (JB). They are expandable to show you more. For example, open the phone app from a missed call app.
17:53 - Boost for accessibility. Camera now gets a mention. ICS is quick at snapping, app now makes reviewing that really quick to. Wipes bring it into view, tap to send, pinch to scroll in film strip view. Swipe a photo to get rid of photos you don't want.
17:51 - Voice typing still works even though you don't have a connection. The logo has also been shrunk to be on the screen - huge cheer for that! It works offline for English so far. Input languages are being added for Persian, Hindu and Thai.
17:49 - Radall shows a test where moving a widget and everything gets out of the way. The widget also resizes to fit a screen on its own. Spring cleaning is easy, pick it up and toss it off the screen.
17:48 - Sys Trace uses data from the Linux kernal. Comes with the Jelly Bean SDK. Onscreen test shows that a Jelly Bean device has a juch higher frame rate. Surfing looks good. Hugo comes back on.
17:44 - Project Butter runs Android faster. Triple buffering also added to make the chips all run in parallel to make everything feel much smoother - "buttery smooth". In Jelly Bean they use where your finger will be to choose where to screen refresh. Touch input boost also ramps up the CPU when you touch the screen.
17:43 - The newest Android release. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. A number of "delightful" improvements made. Dave Burke comes out to talk project butter.
17:41 - Android Milestone: 400 million Android devices now in the world. "That's a pretty huge number" Barra says. Today 1m are activated every single day. 12 new devices every second of every day!
17:39 - Please turn your hotspots off to make the demos successful he tells the crowd. Hugo Barra of product development comes out.
17:33 - Music and the countdown clock. Here we go folks! VP Vic Gundotra begins.
17:25 - Here's another pic from inside the Moscone Center, just to get you in the mood for the keynote.
17:21 - Just ten minutes to go at the Moscone Center before Google I/O officially begins, but in other news AllThingsD is reporting that the CEO of major UK mobile carrier T-Mobile, Phillip Humm, has resigned suddenly to pursue a career outside of Deutsche Telekom, which owns the U.S. wireless carrier.
17:15 - We expect to see Andy Rubin (head of Android) along with co-founder Sergey Brin and executive chairman Eric Schmidt today, but probably not CEO Larry Page who has been suffering from a sore throat lately.
17:13 - Latest guess here in the office is that the Nexus Q is either a speaker of some kind or a projector.
17:05 - Just 25 minutes before the keynote begins and Google is not being very tight with security around its announcements with The Verge grabbing this picture of the mysterious Nexus Q device. Not sure what it could be, any thoughts?
16:55 - More leaks ahead of the official announcement with official images of the Nexus 7 tablet emerging directly from the Google Play servers, seeming to confirm that the tablet will be orderable (is that a word?) directly from Google.
16:23 - Ahead of any annoucnement from Google, an Asus exec hasn't been able to keep the news to himself and has told a Reuters reporter that it was building the Nexus 7 tablet. The executive said: "It's targeting Amazon. The Kindle is based on Google's platform but with its own service, so Google has to launch its own service, too,"
15:39 - With just under two hours to go before the Google I/O keynote, we get our first look inside the Moscone Center in San Francisco and we have to say we like what Google has done with the place.
A live stream of the speech can be found at the Google I/O website, the Google I/O developers' page and on YouTube. IB Times UK has also embedded the video into this page so you can watch along with us.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin will likely take point with CEO Larry Page feeling under the weather.
We expect the head of Android Andy Rubin to talk about Jelly Bean, while someone from the mysterious Project X labs will talk up Project Glass and other wearable tech.
Google's flagship event comes hot on the heels of Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) and a recent impromptu Microsoft press conference.
Apple showed off the first MacBook with a Retina display and the iOS 6 operating system, while Microsoft revealed its Surface tablets designed to challenge the iPad.
The most likely rumour to come true is the launch of a 7in Google Nexus Tablet created by Asus.
A leaked training document suggested the key features of the device will be a 7in IPS display, Tegra 3 chip, 1GB RAM, running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
The price is expected to be $199 in the US for the version with 8GB of storage and $249 for the 16GB tablet.
Google has already announced the launch of Google TV in the UK and Europe.
The Sony NSZ-GS7 Internet Player with Google TV launches on 16 July, 2012 in the UK and a Blu-ray version follows in October.
However, one analyst says the Google TV European launch will probably fail. Analyst Peter King, director of connected home devices at Strategy Analytics says that Google "got the whole user experience wrong".
Must Read:
As it Happened: Apple's 2012 WWDC Keynote [VIDEO]
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