As expected, Google has taken the wraps off the Samsung Gear Live smartwatch running Android Wear smartwatch OS, and will be available to buy later today via the Google Play Store.
Google has just announced a new version of Android dubbed as ‘Android L’, which is available to developers today as a developer preview, and features a bold new look and design. More details can be found right here.
We may be on the eve of Google I/O, but that doesn't mean that the company is going to hold news back for its big opening keynote. Hot on the heels of the news that Glass is now available for order in the UK, Google has also announced that new units will ship with extra RAM and a larger battery, two changes that have apparently come about as part of the public beta the company has been running for quite a while now.
Google's I/O developers conference is just hours away, and for a number of months, it has been speculated that the Big G would take the wraps off the next sugary-sweet flavor of Android. Given that I/O is the company's biggest event, it makes sense that one of its flagship products should be detailed at its keynote event, and according to reports, that is exactly what will happen tomorrow.
Having spent the best part of a year developing its head-mounted technology in the United States, Google has just rolled out the Explorer Edition of Glass to interested parties in the United Kingdom. At a price of £1000, it works out at roughly the same cost as the U.S. version, and although Google alluded to a wider roll-out across more countries in its announcement post on G+, the UK is the currently the only group of countries officially outlined as beneficiaries of Glass.
The long-awaited, albeit incremental Android 4.4.3 update was only officially released a couple of weeks back for folks on the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 smartphones, along with the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets and Google Play Edition devices. Already, though, the Big G has deemed it necessary to push Android 4.4.4, and the reason for this swift update is to fix a lurking security bug discovered shortly after Android 4.4.3 dropped.
With Microsoft's BUILD and Apple's WWDC now done and dusted, Google will be the last of the Big Three to run its annual developer event when I/O kicks off in San Francisco next week, and following on from the recent announcement of its smartwatch-flavored Android Wear software, the search giant's emphasis on the emerging wearables market will likely be atop the agenda. In advance of arguably the biggest date in the company's calendar for this year, an introduction clip of Android Wear has just been released, offering even more of an insight into what smartwatch owners can expect from this extension of the company's traditional mobile software.
Sometimes a company buys another and it makes perfect sense. Other times, it takes a little while for the obviousness of the partnership to sink in, but once it does, you can't help but wonder why you hadn't thought of it before. We're going to put Google's somewhat stealthy acquisition of Skybox into that second category.
Google's chocolatey KitKat 4.4.x flavor of Android is seen by many as a rather incremental bump on 4.3 Jelly Bean, and as such, there's a real sense of anticipation surrounding what's next from the search giant's flagship mobile OS. According to reports and leaks, the next version is currently being referred to simply as "L" at its current developmental stage, and as per some more recent coverage, the so-called "Quantum Paper" movement underpinning the entire process will seek to bring uniformity to Google software in general - irrespective of device or platform.
If we can ask you to ignore this year's WWDC for just a moment, and kindly request that you cast your minds back to last year's event, you may remember that one of the least celebrated additions that iOS 7 was touted to bring was iBeacon. Technology that would allow iOS devices to essentially sense their surroundings, iBeacon has since been adopted by retail outlets and Major League Baseball alike.
