flutter
Latest
Google is helping developers build Android apps for bigger screens
As usual, Google followed up its big I/O keynote with a quicker session focused specifically on the new tools it'll offer the developer community in the coming months. The entire developer keynote is up on YouTube, but here are a handful of things that caught our eyes.
Google beta tests Flutter toolkit for better cross-platform apps
Building apps for both Android and iOS can be a pretty time-intensive task, so it's no wonder that many developers often build for one platform first, followed by the other. There are workarounds to this, such as using Facebook's React Native that lets you build apps just with Javascript. Last year, however, Google introduced its own solution called Flutter. First revealed at I/O, Flutter is an open-source toolkit that lets devs create native apps for both platforms quickly and easily. Plus, it's also compatible with Fuchsia, Google's upcoming OS. Now, at Mobile World Congress, Google has announced that Flutter is officially in beta and is thus ready for wider adoption.
Google's mysterious Fuchsia OS looks like an Android re-do
When we last looked at Google's Fuchsia operating system, it was very modest. While it was designed for everything from Internet of Things devices to PCs, there wasn't even a graphical interface to show. Well, things have... evolved. Ars Technica has revisited Fuchsia several months later, and it now touts an interface (nicknamed Armadillo) that makes it clear this isn't just some after-hours experiment. It's only a set of placeholders at the moment, but it gives you a good idea as to what to expect.
Google's Fuchsia operating system runs on virtually anything
Google is no stranger to creating whole platforms when it needs them, but its latest project might be something special. It's working on Fuchsia, an open source operating system that's designed to scale all the way from Internet of Things devices through to phones and even PCs. Its kernel includes 'grown up' OS features like user modes and a capability-based security model, Android Police notes, and it supports both advanced graphics as well ARM and 64-bit Intel-based PCs. To no one' surprise, it's using Google's own Dart programming language at its heart.
Gesture control startup Flutter acquired by Google, could make Gmail Motion a reality
Another day, another tech startup gets acquired. This time around it's Google snatching up Y Combinator-hatched Flutter, the developer of a gesture control app for Windows and Mac PCs. There's no word on what it's planning for the team and its technology -- we'd suggest 2011 April Fool's joke Gmail Motion, but someone beat them to that -- but the company's current product uses existing webcams to enable gesture control of software like Spotify, VLC or iTunes. According to CEO Navneet Dalal, users will continue to be able to use the app and should "stay tuned for future updates." Even after Kinect and all of the other gesture control entries we're not sure if it's the future, although creating a solution that has decent precision without requiring extra hardware is interesting. The company's founders told TechCrunch last year that they want Flutter to be the eyes of our computers the way apps like Siri or Google Now are the ears of our device, we'll see if teaming up with Google pushes that movement forward.
Flutter: A $20 wireless Arduino with a long reach
If the words "ARM-powered wireless Arduino" send your heart aflutter, then you might be interested in... Flutter -- a development platform with the aforementioned qualities. The Kickstarter project claims the device has a usable range of over half a mile, letting you nail that wireless letterbox-checker project with ease. Similar tools, such as Xbee and Zigbee already exist, but the $20 price tag for the Flutter basic, and $30 for Flutter Pro (adds battery charging, another button, more memory) make this a tempting option for tinkerers on a budget. So, if building that mesh network of quadrocopters has been sitting at the top of your to-do list for too long, we recommend you get backing right now.
