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Lighting Science demos Android @ Home bulbs, promises dead-simple home automation (hands-on)
'Tis amazing what a partnership with Google can do. Unless you're a frequent patron of Home Depot, there's a slim chance you'd ever heard of Lighting Science prior to this week's opening I/O keynote. Now, said company is leading the Android @ Home charge, and based on what we learned yesterday at its booth, we're feeling better than ever about home automation's chances in the mainstream market. Company representatives noted that this Google-led mesh networking solution -- which beams out commands on the 900MHz frequency band -- is the first HA solution that's truly designed to be ultra-low-cost and easy to implement. Compared to Z-Wave and Zigbee, there's far less technical expertise needed to start automating things in your home, and there's no need to take out a second mortgage to open your garage door with your handset. Oh, and there's zero chance anything fails due to congestion on the 2.4GHz band. We pressed the company on pricing details, and it stated that the wirelessly enabled light shown above would be priced "at parity" with the non-wireless counterpart available today. At last check, that puts a single bulb at around $30. In order to make these kinds of devices compatible with existing Android phones and tablets, a couple of WiFi-to-900MHz adapters will be available. From Lighting Science alone, you'll soon see a light switch, security lamp and a regular wall wart on sale to handle the transfers. In other words, you can pick up a dirt-cheap plug, toss it in your guest room, and immediately give your Nexus One the ability to dictate Android @ Home products. Not too shabby, but what does this mean for the broader industry? %Gallery-123301%
Hasbro's experimental Nexus-powered robot toy hands-on at Google I/O (video)
Are you ready to welcome our experimental toy robot overlords? They're adorable, and they're taking no prisoners here at Google I/O. Hasbro and Google are collaborating to bring these little critters to life by docking a Nexus S brain to an exoskeleton-like body containing a battery, a Bluetooth radio and a bunch servomotors (the kind you find in RC models). The battery powers the dock and provides additional juice to the phone which in turn controls the servos via Bluetooth. Where things get interesting is that these toy robots don't just act based on a set of rules programmed into the Nexus S, but actually react to their environment (using the handset's sensors, front-facing camera, and touchscreen) and communicate with Google's cloud services over WiFi (for facial and object recognition) in order to enhance their behavior. Shake them and they get dizzy, rub their display and they get happy / angry, show them a Decepticon card and they cower away. They will also take a picture of you, decide if you are friend or foe, and respond accordingly. Predictably, Hasbro is sticking with gender stereotypes by providing basic male and female "personalities," complete with accessorized docks. Check out these experimental creatures in our gallery and hit the break for our hands-on video. Just don't go in expecting a price and release -- it's prototype cuteness only for now. %Gallery-123276%
Android 0-click NFC sharing demonstrated in Ice Cream Sandwich (video)
Ready to get your bump on? You'd better be because Google's planning to bring peer-to-peer NFC sharing to the Ice Cream Sandwich release of Android. Imagine it: 0-click contact, web page, and YouTube video sharing between your NFC-equipped Android smartphones and tablets. Just bring the devices together and voila, data shared without launching an application or navigating through the UI. Google plans to build this functionality into as many systems apps as it can while providing the API to developers to 0-click enable their third-party applications. Watch it go down phone-to-phone and phone-to-tablet (prototype) after the break. It's the future, get used to it.
Google to offer $20-a-month 'student package' for a Chrome laptop?
Just as we're wrapping up day one of Google I/O 2011, Forbes received an interesting piece of information regarding Chrome OS. According to an unnamed senior Google executive, tomorrow's keynote will see the launch of a Chrome laptop sold as an attractive $20-per-month "student package." If true, this will make a compelling option for laptop-seeking students bounded by a limited budget (booze before books, right?), and Forbes speculates that a similar enterprise offering will follow soon -- makes sense considering Google's already cozying up to businesses with its $50-a-year Google Apps suite. Anyhow, all will be unveiled soon enough -- keep an eye out for our Google I/O day 2 liveblog tomorrow for the full monty.
Google I/O 2011 continues tomorrow, get your (second) liveblog right here!
Had enough Google for the week? We thought not. We're still cranking on content from the (admittedly momentous) first day, but we'll be taking a break just after lunch tomorrow (May 11th in the great state of California) to bring you blow-by-blow coverage of the outfit's final keynote for I/O 2011. It'll be hard to top the bevy of introductions from today, but we're guessing Google's down for trying to top itself. We'll see you tomorrow, and if you're looking to follow along as it happens, you can bookmark our liveblog page right here. 06:30AM - Hawaii 09:30AM - Pacific 10:30AM - Mountain 11:30AM - Central 12:30PM - Eastern 05:30PM - London 06:30PM - Paris 08:30PM - Moscow / Dubai 12:30AM - Perth (May 12th) 12:30AM - Shenzhen (May 12th) 01:30AM - Tokyo (May 12th) 02:30AM - Sydney (May 12th)
Fossil Meta Watch wrists-on at Google I/O (video)
Today at Google I/O we got a chance to play with Meta Watch, Fossil's wearable development platform, which allows developers to extend the interfaces of devices and applications to the wrist. Both watches -- one analog / digital with a traditional dial plus two small OLED displays, the other digital with a larger memory-in-pixel LCD (a highly reflective, always-on, ultra low-power screen) -- feature Bluetooth for communication, along with a vibration motor, three-axis accelerometer, and ambient light sensor. The devices are built around Texas Instrument's super efficient MSP430TM microcontroller and CC2560 Bluetooth radio and will run seven days on a charge. A set of contacts in the back allow the watches to interface with a debugging clip for charging and JTAG programming. The hardware is paired with an SDK which allows a tablet or smartphone running Android to register button presses and receive sensor data from the watches, and then respond by sending text or triggering the vibration motor. It's also possible to design custom embedded wearable applications running directly on your wrist, and it will be up to developers to truly unleash the magical possibilities here. Speaking of which, the Meta Watch is currently available to pre-order for $199 (see our source link), with availability pegged for June 30th. Based on what we heard today at Google I/O, the watch is being hawked to developers only, but it's obvious that DIY-minded folks will be able to buy one as well. For now, just two of the models shown here will be sold, but there's no telling what will happen once the platform builds up enough of a backbone to support an influx of actual customers. The company isn't handing out a timeframe as to when it will be ready for the mass market, but we'd be shocked if it was still floundering around this time next year. Interested in having an early peek? Take a look at our gallery below and our hands-on video after the break. %Gallery-123275%
Google's Prediction API lets Fords learn all about you, tell you where to go
Earlier today, Google revealed plans to make our abodes more efficient and user friendly through Android automation, and it turns out they're helping Ford to do the same for our automobiles. You see, our driving habits affect the gas mileage we get, and if our cars could predict our preferred travel patterns they could optimize powertrain performance to max out our MPGs. That's why the Blue Oval Boys plan to use Google's Prediction API to learn our driving habits and combine that data with real time traffic info to make its cars increasingly efficient. The system isn't yet ready for showrooms, as there is work to be done securing the personal data and location awareness information it collects, but hopefully it won't be long before every new Ford can help us get from here to there with minimal fuel consumption. Here's hoping William Daniels is the one doling out the directions. %Gallery-123281%
Editorial: Engadget on Google Music and Movies for Android
Google dropped an amazing amount of stuff on us this morning, up to and including using your phone to turn off a lamp and a tablet to control a giant wooden labyrinth. Move past the flash, though, and the news with the most immediate impact to Android users is the release of the Music Beta by Google, plus the availability of movie rentals on the go. Now you can take your tunes all up into the cloud and pay too much to bring some movies along with you. That all sounds great, but we have somewhat mixed feelings about the whole thing. Check 'em out below.
Google Music Beta versus the titans of the streaming music space: a chart
It feels like just yesterday we charted the streaming music landscape, but it's already changed in a big way -- Google is muscling in on the likes of Rhapsody, Pandora and particularly Amazon with its Google Music Beta. Being able to take 20,000 of your personal tunes, stream them over the web and cache them locally on your device isn't functionality to sneeze at, so it's time we updated our charts. After the break, see how the big streaming services stack up.
YouTube and Google Movies rentals can be consumed on either platform
Remember those 3,000 movies from Universal, Sony and Warner Bros. that were added to YouTube yesterday? Turns out, that same library is also being pushed to Google's newly announced Movies service. We learned as much during the outfit's executive Q&A session following the keynote this morning, and furthermore anything purchased / rented via Google Movies will be available to consume via YouTube, and vice-versa. Not a bad gesture!
Google clarifies 18 month Android upgrade program, details far from solidified
We're camped out here at Google'e executive Q&A session, and Andy Rubin and co. are spitting out answers to questions from curious minds. While mentioned briefly in the outfit's keynote earlier, the structured upgrade program is obviously becoming a huge focal point here at the show. One of the major pain points for Android owners in the past (and even now, truthfully) is the inability to know if and when your particular handset will ever get an Android update. Epic 4G owners had a particularly hard go at it, but most everyone outside of Nexus One users have experienced something similar. Unfortunately, it seems as if our excitement may be a bit premature. While LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, AT&T, Vodafone, Sprint, Samsung, HTC and Verizon Wireless are technically onboard, all of this feels like it was decided upon at the 11th hour here in San Francisco. When pressed about how long it'd take updates to flow to phones after given the thumbs-up by Google itself, there's no hard news to report. In fact, the details there are still being hashed out. To quote Google, "It's a logistics problem." We can only imagine. Trying to get every Android partner to follow a timeline for releases has to be a complete and utter nightmare, but the company seems certain that these stipulations won't cripple anyone's ability to innovate on their skins (or have too little time to make the needed changes). We would've loved to hear a specific figure that we could start holding phone manufacturers to, but alas, it isn't to be. The only hard number thrown out today is 18 months. That's how long future hardware will be in the support cycle (at least, anyway), so you'll "soon" be able to count on your next Android device receiving all applicable updates for 1.5 years after purchase. As for phones that use custom skins, like Blur and Sense? Hard to say if that'll slow things down, and it's even harder to say if outfits like Dell will be joining this party at any time in the future. Though, to be fair, Andy Rubin clarified that there's an "open invitation" for anyone not listed to waltz on in. Naturally, we'll keep you abreast of any further developments from the show floor.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition (white) hands-on from Google I/O!
Google just announced that every attendee of I/O 2011 would be getting a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition, and being that we're here in both mind and body, we were able to get our paws around one just now. We're still looking for an unsaturated WiFi network to get things setup, but until the impressions roll in, we couldn't resist bringing you a first look at what's easily the most beautiful Galaxy Tab to date from a nerd's perspective. The 8.6mm frame is thinner than thin, and there's enough gloss on the front panel to chunk your mirror and just multi-task with this. The star of the show, of course, is the vanilla rear, bespeckled with Androids and oozing with geek love. Have a glance at the video below the break! %Gallery-123250%
Google gives away 5,000 Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets to devs at I/O
Hey, who said we'd only get software news at Google I/O? The Android maker just reminded us that Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet (the thin version) will be launching in a month's time, and to whet appetites, a white-backed version of the device was shown off on stage. It's described as a limited edition, potentially because it looks to be running stock Android without the TouchWiz UI layer on top, and will be given away to the gathered crowd of 5,000 conference attendees. They'll get it with Honeycomb 3.0 on board, but an update to 3.1 will be forthcoming over the next couple of weeks as well. %Gallery-123230%
Google announces Android@Home framework for home automation
Want more Android in your house? How about Android in your house. Google wants to think of "every appliance in your home" as a potential accessory for your phone. The opportunities are seemingly endless, the sort of thing we've seen in the Zigbee and Z-wave areas, but sadly this implementation doesn't actually seem to be using any of those standards. The team teased ideas like lights turning on and off based on calendar events, applications talking to washing machines, games automatically adjusting for mood lighting, and basically little green dudes taking care of all the menial duties in your house. One amazing demo was a concept, Android-powered device hub called Tungsten. Using RFID embedded into CD cases the device was able to detect the CD and add it to your library. Another touch and it started automatically. Yeah, the use of CDs is a little quaint, but the potential is there for amazing things in the future. We're not sure exactly when these accessories will be launching, but the first are expected before the end of the year. %Gallery-123229%
Google announces Android Open Accessory standard, Arduino-based ADK
Google's really not leaving any stone unturned at IO today -- it's now also announced a brand new Android Open Accessory standard, which promises to effectively be its own version of "Made for iPod." That means that any accessory designed using the API (which could even be something like an exercise bike) will be compatible with any Android phone or tablet -- running at least Android 2.3.4 or 3.1, that is. What's more, Google is also making a reference hardware design dubbed an "ADK" available to developers and, get this, it's based on Arduino. Right now, it only includes USB, but Bluetooth support is planned for the future -- developers can hit up the link below for the complete details on how to get started with it. %Gallery-123224%
Google partners with OEMs and carriers to guarantee timely Android updates
We're here live at Google I/O, and the folks from Mountain View have just shared something rather sweet -- a coalition of manufacturers and carriers committed to making sure their Android devices receive the very latest updates. All four major US carriers (and Vodafone) as well as HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola are on board, and all will guarantee you timely upgrades to the latest version of Android for eighteen months after release, provided the hardware's capable. Now that's change we can believe in. See our liveblog of Google's I/O 2011 keynote for the very latest.
Google Music Beta to stream 20,000 songs for free, official! (updated)
It's not quite official but there's little doubt that Google will launch its Google Music service at its big I/O event later today. While the Wall Street Journal couldn't get a Google spokesman to admit it, Peter Kafka over at All Things D got Jamie Rosenberg, Director of Android Product Management, to spill the details a bit early. Google's service will essentially mimic the music locker functionality of Amazon's Cloud service, albeit without the ability to sell songs direct to consumers. Ouch. Unfortunately, Google's plans to launch a more feature-complete service were derailed when discussions with the labels broke down. According to Rosenberg, "A couple of the major labels were less focused on the innovative vision that we put forward, and more interested in an unreasonable and unsustainable set of business terms." So, rather than putting the service on hold, Google will launch its music service with the ability to store up to 20,000 of your own uploaded songs for free which you can then stream over the web to your desktop or Android phone or tablet -- any device that supports Flash (don't worry iOS users, your time will come). Amazon's service, by comparison, offers just 5GB of free storage for about 1,200 songs stored at a mediocre bitrate. Google will also best Amazon with a feature that automatically creates playlists. Google expects to roll out the service to its US users within "weeks" with Music Beta invites going out later today to Verizon Xoom owners (others will be able to sign up at music.google.com). Keep it right here because we'll be bringing you the announcement live. Update: And it's officially official, called "Music Beta by Google" at this point. There's a simple presentation with artists, albums, and easy playlist creation. You can manually create them, or there's a feature called "Instant Mix" that will make you a playlist based on any single song. It'll automagically pick 25 different tracks to build a "truly ingenious mix." You know, kind of like another, similarly intelligent service. All of this syncs to the cloud, which means no wires needed to download anything. But, more importantly, songs can be cached locally. You can pick any song, album, or playlist to download onto storage, at an unknown quality. It's the same pinning idea that's in the new movies feature. That and more is demonstrated in the video below. The service is launching in beta today, allowing 20,000 songs, and it'll be free -- "at least while it's in beta." Also, the updated music app is available now, which will work with any music on your phone and any phone running Android 2.2 or above. To get full-featured you can request a beta and get in line, but if you happen to be reading this from I/O you're in the beta. Congrats, you lucky bums! %Gallery-123222%
Android Market launches movie rentals, thousands of titles available to your PC, phone or tablet
Google just announced movie rentals in the Android Market at its I/O conference. Chris from the Android services team just hit the stage at Moscone and demonstrated renting movies on the Android Market from your phone, tablet or PC with a single click. "Pinning" mirrors the experience with apps and books, you can select it on your PC and download to the device in the background for offline viewing. Movies are live in the market right now, support on all Android 2.2 or higher devices is expected "in a couple of weeks" and tablets will get support bundled with their upgrade to Android 3.1. On the PC, it ties back to the recently expanded YouTube rental service with the same restrictions (30 days to watch, 24 hour window once you start watching) and pricing, making that per-movie VOD price a bit easier to swallow with its cross-platform support and we even spied a few HD selections for $4.99. Keep an eye on the liveblog for more information. %Gallery-123218%
Google Ice Cream Sandwich coming in Q4 2011 to smartphones and tablets alike
"One OS that runs everywhere." There you have it, folks! Google intends to meld its Honeycomb tablet wares and Gingerbread smartphone software into one delicious Ice Cream Sandwich. Maybe that's why the "sandwich" bit is in the name, eh? Either way, it'll be a universal OS that runs on everything from teeny tiny Android phones to 10-inch tablets and will intelligently adapt to each form factor with things like a resizable status bar. Some other fancy new additions were demonstrated during Google's I/O 2011 keynote, including face-tracking and camera focus shifting based on voice recognition, but most of the salient details remain under lock and key for now. We'll be sure to dig around Mountain View campus fridges in search for more clues about the next major iteration of Android. %Gallery-123220%
Google TV getting Android 3.1 and Market this summer; Sony, Vizio, Samsung and Logitech onboard
As expected, Google just announced at I/O that the Google TV will be upgraded to Android 3.1 this summer (existing devices will get an OTA upgrade) with access to the Market coming "soon." According to Mike Cleron from the Android Development team, developers will be able to use the vanilla Honeycomb SDK to build apps for Google TV, and also announced hardware partners will include Samsung, Vizio, Logitech and Sony (as seen after the break) -- no word on previously mentioned possibles like Toshiba, Sharp or LG. There were also no details on a switch from Intel to ARM even though we heard whispers of that at CES, we'll check in to the keynote tomorrow to see if there's any more revealed on hardware changes for the platform. Check the liveblog for more info.
