Google I/O 2013: everything you need to know – The Verge

Google TV: silent but not forgotten at I/O 2013

2013-05-17T19:10:54-04:00

Google TV booth I/O

It's easy to miss the Google TV booth here at I/O 2013, hidden in the corner of the third floor. That may not be an accident: there was apparently no room in the company's sprawling three-and-a-half-hour keynote to mention Google TV, either, just a short blog post hours later announcing that it now runs the latest version of Android. So in a sea of new products, services, and pitches to developers, we couldn't help but wonder: is TV dead? Google has killed plenty of products with many more fans than Google TV - will it go the way of Reader?

Google TV is Android, and Android is Google TV

We've been told that Google TV isn't going away - the c …

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Will Google Glass create information heroes or new-wave Bluetooth dorks?

2013-05-16T20:20:55-04:00

Top Shelf 010 lede

Google Glass in its current form might be the ultimate early-adopter status symbol, but project leaders at Google think it will grow into a broadly-accepted product. "There's a real opportunity for Glass to become mainstream," product director Steve Lee said today at Google I/O. "We were surprised at how quickly there was a positive reaction."

Lee was speaking to a large crowd gathered for a "fireside chat" on the future of Glass, and his comments were echoed by other Google employees on stage. "We want Glass to have a big positive impact on the world," said designer Isabelle Olsson. Engineer Charles Mendis said he thought Glass would "driv …

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Google on Glass privacy: ‘If I’m recording you, I have to stare at you’

2013-05-16T19:58:15-04:00

Google Glass (STOCK)

The team behind Google Glass defended its creation against privacy worries in a Google I/O fireside chat with developers on Thursday. When asked what the privacy implications of Glass' head-mounted display and camera are, Steve Lee, Glass' product director, said the device was built to alleviate these concerns before it even shipped.

"Privacy was top of mind as we designed the product," Lee said, adding that he's proud of the way his team has designed Glass. Early prototypes covered a user's eyes rather than placing the display above the eye. But Google discovered quickly how important eye contact is to Glass, he said. "You'll know when som …

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Google encourages developers to push the limits by hacking Glass

2013-05-16T18:31:18-04:00

Google Glass (STOCK)

Google doesn't want any reselling of Google Glass, and it will even shut down some key functionality if you even try to log into the headset with multiple Google Accounts. But that doesn't mean you can't hack into Glass at all. In fact, Google is encouraging hacking, albeit with clear boundaries.

At Google I/O on Thursday, the company hosted a workshop called "Voiding Your Warranty: Hacking Glass," that focused on what's possible if you were to root the prototype hardware - namely, running experimental apps. The reason Google hosted this workshop is to proactively address the inevitable roadblocks that developers will run into when loading …

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Google+ Games shutting down on June 30th in favor of Google Play game services

2013-05-16T14:11:57-04:00

Google New York Chelsea Office (STOCK)

One of yesterday's big Google I/O announcements was the launch of Google Play game services, a cross-platform tool that will sync progress, achievements. and other gaming data on Android, the web, and even iOS. So what's to become of Google+ Games, a feature ripped pretty closely from Facebook that that the company touted when the service was introduced two years ago? Well, Google has confirmed that it'll be shut down as of June 30th - when that happens, users will have to find another source to play their favorite Google+ games. Google helpfully included a list of major developers and contact info in its post announcing the shutdown to both …

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Google Glass becomes more useful with new Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr apps

2013-05-16T13:45:36-04:00

Google Glass Sean Hollister

Until now only two third-party apps have been available for Google Glass: The New York Times and Path. Thankfully that's about to change. Today at Google I/O we learned that several new apps (or "glassware" as the company refers to them) are coming to Google's headset including Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Tumblr, CNN, and Elle. Twitter for Glass lets users post photos to their timeline - these tweets are automatically tagged with "#throughglass" - and they'll also receive alerts for mentions, direct messages, and so on.

Facebook too is concentrating its early Glass development on photo sharing. After snapping a shot, you can immediately po …

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Google offers new App Engine features to chase after Amazon’s cloud computing dominance

2013-05-16T01:20:37-04:00

google app engine

In the market for cloud infrastructure, Amazon Web Services (AWS) dominates, powering websites and applications like Netflix, Reddit, and Dropbox, and raking in massive revenues - estimated to grow to $8.8 billion this year. But there are lots of players, ranging from smaller companies like Rackspace to big ones like Microsoft. One such player is Google, which over the past five years has been working to let developers tap into its massive data center infrastructure, first with App Engine - a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for hosting web apps, and more recently with Compute Engine - a competitor to Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) that le …

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This is the new Nexus: a first look at Samsung’s Galaxy S4 with stock Android

2013-05-15T20:58:23-04:00

Galaxy S4 stock Android

The best cellphone hardware has been crippled by manufacturer and carrier bloatware and skins, and Google's Nexus lineup has been hamstrung by a lack of LTE and somewhat inadequate specifications. But we've just gotten a look at the big surprise of Google's I/O keynote, a Samsung Galaxy S4 running stock Android, and suddenly we have visions of a world in which we don't have to choose between features and design, between timely updates and cutting-edge specs.

We tracked down Android VP Hugo Barra as he traipsed around the Moscone Center, and grilled him about his S4 while snapping a few pictures along the way. Details are still somewhat scan …

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Google’s new Hangouts app will come to Glass

2013-05-15T20:35:29-04:00

google hangouts edited

Hangouts, the new Google messaging service that unifies the company's disparate offerings in the space, will eventually be available on Glass. Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president of engineering, told ABC News' Joanna Stern that Hangouts would be able to provide Glass with more social functionality.

"Hangouts is the answer. Our focus is on face-to-face to face communications. The Hangout app we just showed is going to be available for Glass."

No details were given on what features the app will have or how it will work on Glass, though it seems an obvious fit for the heads-up display - Glass already lets you host video chats and se …

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Google hints at Play Music for other platforms, says YouTube integration ‘likely’

2013-05-15T20:16:49-04:00

google play music

Google today announced Play Music All Access, a music service with subscription features that competes with Spotify and Rdio - building on Google's existing music store and cloud service that competes with iTunes and Amazon. That's a compelling mix of features, but Google still faces plenty of challenges as it attempts to establish itself as a credible competitor in the rapidly changing music space.

"For now, we have a version 1.0 of what's possible," Google Play lead product manager Paul Joyce told The Verge. "We had a vision and it's taken us time to build out that vision. We look at All Access as a complement to the locker, which we felt …

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