NativeClient
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Samsung's latest developer kit lets you control appliances from your TV
Ever wish you could turn on the air conditioning without leaving the couch? Samsung's new Smart TV SDK 5.0 will give you the luxury of being that lazy. The programming kit gives the TV control over home appliances, including network-savvy lighting and refrigerators. Developers should also have an easier time building apps thanks to a new web framework that both supports HTML5 and uses Native Client to run software across a wide range of TVs. Apps can run on mobile devices, too. Samsung has already posted a beta SDK, but aspiring big-screen app builders will have to wait until January 6th to get the finished tool.
Chrome 31 beta for Android brings home screen shortcuts, search-friendly tabs (updated)
Now that Chrome 30 is done and dusted, Google has released Chrome 31 in beta -- and it's a big deal for Android users. The new browser lets users add iOS-like web shortcuts to the home screen, with specially optimized sites launching as full-screen web apps. Version 31 also brings the desktop client's search-focused tabs, and it begins the gradual rollout of a payment autocomplete feature that will spread to other platforms in the near future. Google is even throwing in a search speed boost through server-side code. If you're intrigued by any of the new additions, you'll find both the Android and desktop betas at the source links. Update: To clarify, Chrome 31 is introducing a simple, direct method to put web shortcuts on the home screen.
Google+ brings Snapseed-powered photo editing tools to desktop Chrome (video)
Google added Snapseed photo editing to its Google+ apps on Android and iOS back in March, and now it's bringing them to the desktop. The new tools include Auto Enhance, selective adjust editing, and filters, all powered by the Chrome browser's Native Client tech. Not familiar with how that works? Google brought Native Client to Chrome back in 2011, and it allows developers to port code written in languages like C and C++ so it runs in the browser. Vic Gundotra said on Google+ that this is the Snapseed app built for Chrome, so we'll see if more mobile apps and features follow it over. If you're not using Chrome you'll have to live with basic crop and rotate editing tools on Google+, but even those have been shifted around to make them easier to find. Once the new options are available on your account (as usual, they're rolling out slowly over the next few weeks) all you'll need to do is select one of your photos in Chrome and hit "edit" to see them. Until then, check out the video demo embedded after the break.
Google adds ARM support to Chrome's Native Client
Google's Native Client endowed x86 machines with the ability to run apps compiled from C and C++ right inside Chrome in 2011, and now ARM devices are finally getting their time to shine. Mountain View's latest Native Client SDK adds support for ARM hardware, and tweaking existing Native Client apps to run on the architecture sounds pretty painless. According to Page and Co., developers just have to add a new file extension to their app, tweak a manifest file and get ahold of the fresh SDK. ARM support is reason enough for developers to celebrate, but Google says it's working on a next-gen Portable Native Client that'll let apps work regardless of architecture and without having to recompile, to boot. If you're ready to start coding, hit the source link for more details.
Google plans unified gaming hub for Play, cross-platform titles a possibility
In other non-spotlight stealing tech news, Google's set to chop off some of its gaming arms in favor of a sole download hub as early as next year. Plans for this streamlined service were announced by Punit Soni, group product manager for Google+, at this year's Game Developer's Conference. According to VentureBeat, the company's virtual storefronts, which encompass the likes of Chrome, Android and Google+, will all be tied into a single Google Play-hosted destination that should ease game development, potentially making titles accessible cross-platform. In addition to the creation of this one-stop shop, features such as Native Client, Hangouts and a simplified payment system will also reportedly be integrated into the unnamed site. No immediate changes are on deck for this service overhaul, so it'll be a bit before we can see how this "One Google" vision pans out.
MAME gets Chrome Native Client port, is awesome case study
We've already seen MAME burn brightly (and briefly) on iPads across the world and now it's been delicately ported across to Chrome's Native Client. Admittedly, the graphics may not stand up against recent gaming wares seen on Google's new platform, but it's still able to cope with the likes of Pac-Man. Managing to turnaround the whole project in a mere four days, Google engineer Robert Muth branded the brief exercise as "relatively challenging" and has noted down all the deep and meaningfuls in a full case study, available at the source below. For anyone unwilling to dip their toes into Native Client waters, however, there's still plenty of power pellets to be downed online.
Google's Native Client focuses on apps and games, brings Bastion to the browser (video)
In case you missed it, Google's Native Client launched at the end of the summer, promising to ease cross-OS deployment by letting developers run x86 code natively in Chrome. Early adopters have had a few months to tinker with Google's new trick, and now the outfit is eager to show off their best work. Supergiant Games, for instance, has ported Bastion to the Native Client, opening up the Xbox Live hit to Mac, Linux and Chrome OS users. Google's Christian Stefansen says Native Client makes porting existing code bases written C, C++ or C# easy, citing Spacetime Studio's Star Legends -- an MMO with over half a million lines of code -- as an example of a large project that was ported in as little as two weeks. Google touts application middleware ports (such as Unity, Moai, Mono, fmod and more) and easy distribution to the Chrome Web Store as a major boon to developers, and encourages interested studios to check out its new Native Client site to help them get started. Interested? Hit up the links below, or simply skip past the break to hear Mr. Stefansen's spiel for yourself.
Google's Native Client almost 'ready for takeoff,' ready to make ActiveX look visionary
We're almost there, almost to the release of the Native Client we first got wind of last May. It is, basically, a way to run native code within a browser -- low-end stuff capable of delivering performance good enough for 3D games and the like. Christian Stefansen, a Google Product Manager, said that the stuff is getting closer to delivery, that the team behind it has reached an "important milestone," that code will be "as portable and secure as JavaScript." It was of course security, or the lack thereof, that derailed Microsoft's plans for this sort of functionality in Internet Explorer via ActiveX, a stigma that technology has still yet to escape from. Will Native Client do better? Will Crysis ever be available in the Chrome Web Store? Could a Cr-48 run it anyway? Questions questions...
Google's Native Client SDK developer preview provides helpful reminder of plans for world domination
It's easy to forget some of Google's "we will own you and your children" initiatives: there are simply so many of them. One particular gambit that has been flying under the radar is Google's Native Client, which allows the Chrome browser to execute x86 code natively. This has big implications for moving those beefy, number crunching desktop app holdouts to the browser, which would not only be a boon for Google's ability to make Microsoft and Apple-beating web apps, but a big win for Chrome OS as well. Right now the Native Client is only working with the developer-oriented Chromium browser, with ubiquitous support a distant dream, but Google has already worked out ARM processor code portability, has plans to be completely processor agnostic in the future, and will be updating the SDK "rapidly" in the coming months. Basically, it's on. Check out a video demonstration of some "hello world" code after the break, along with a brief demo of a 3D shooter.
