Tech Roundup: Android L Preview, Google I/O & More
[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]
Battle of the ecosystems: let's say hello to Android everywhere:
Google kicked off this year's Google I/O event by previewing Android L, the Mountain View based tech giant's radical makeover of the Android operating system. What's striking about the L-something release is the new cross-platform user interface called Material Design that aims to bring about a more coherent look and feel that could be applied across all of its products, from Android to Chrome OS to the web (Check out more about it at Google Design). With a new typography, a new palette of brighter colours and widespread use of smooth touch feedback animations, it would be an understatement if I were to say that Google has finally given a semblance of order and structure to its chaotic and ever-changing interface.
In addition, Google also took to stage to announce a redesigned logo for Android, Android One - the company's new initiative to reach the next billion people by creating a set of standards for manufacturing low-cost handsets, the first such phones set to launch in India this fall with Micromax, Spice and Karbonn as OEMs, Android Wear for smartwatches, Apple's CarPlay-like Android Auto for automakers part of its Open Automative Alliance, a rebooted Google TV set-top box called Android TV for playing TV content and games, an update to its media-streaming dongle Chromecast which now allows users to cast content without having to be on the same Wi-Fi network through a technology called sonic networking that makes use of ultrasonic waves for establishing a connection, Apple Yosemite-like integration between Chrome OS and Android for continuity, and Google Fit, a platform to aggregate health and fitness data. All said, the ad giant's biggest hurdle might lie in persuading consumers to trust it with the sensitive personal data such devices collect.
Amazon Fire phone is the ultimate online shopping device:
Some companies launch new hardware to sell their software. Think video game companies. Some, like Apple, back up the hardware by a solid software ecosystem comprising of apps, media and other forms of personal entertainment. But for Google, it was the other way around. The search giant already had the services in place. It just had to create a product. A product that's a portal to its complete range of services. An Android smartphone, hence, is undoubtedly the best way to go if you are totally invested in the Google ecosystem. With Amazon, things are a bit different. Even if you don't get an Amazon made tablet or phone, the company is satisfied as long as you keep purchasing stuff from them either via web, Android or iOS.
The Kindle Fire tablets and the newly launched Fire phones are therefore not only a window to the Amazon ecosystem, but they are also the ultimate shopping devices. "Amazon launches a shopping machine and calls it a phone," reported Quartz. Running on a modified version of Android sans Google services, the phone features a head-tracking stereoscopic 3D screen, Mayday for face-to-face video tech support and Firefly, a Google Goggles like image recognition app that can identify millions of items, physical or otherwise. With a high price tag of US$ 649 (unlocked), it remains to be seen if these features alone are enough to make it a success. But whatever be the case, impulse buying has got a lot more easier!
Instant messaging apps are one too a many:
Social networking service Path has a new instant messaging app Path Talk. Facebook has announced a new Rando-like ephemeral instant messaging app Slingshot to take on rival Snapchat. This in addition to Facebook Messenger and the recently acquired WhatsApp that it has as of now. Intel has a new chat app Pocket Avatars that lets users talk via video messages. Not to forget countless other chat apps like iMessage, Hangouts, Skype, Viber, KakaoTalk, WeChat, Line, Kik, Telegram, Tango, ChatON, Nimbuzz, Yahoo! Messenger and BlackBerry Messenger, ephemeral messaging apps like Snapchat, Tinder (this feature was added recently), Blink and Wickr, and anonymous apps like Whisper, Secret and Babbly. The long and short of this is that there are too many insular messaging apps vying for our attention. While most of them are cross-platform except for Apple's iMessage, not all these apps are universally popular, and most importantly none of them have supplanted SMS in an absolute sense. True cross-platform, according to me, is when I'm able to interact with my social circle irrespective of the chat app they use. Can it happen?
Facebook to display ads based on your browsing habits:
Menlo Park based social media kingpin Facebook has announced that it will be using your personal information gathered elsewhere on the Web for purposes of (re)targeted advertising. It aims to track user browsing habits through its ubiquitous "like" buttons that are present on almost every single website. While the development is alarming enough to rouse privacy advocates into action, the way it works is like this. An advertiser pays Facebook to show his ads to relevant people and Facebook does it by corresponding them with your browsing history. The advertiser, however, doesn't know what sites you have visited (or Facebook is not sharing it at least yet). In short, the social network has always known your browsing habits, it's just that it's leveraging them to, yes you got it right, fill its coffers. And if you want to opt out, you can follow the steps mentioned here (courtesy Gizmodo).
Samsung Galaxy S5 is already outdated according to... Samsung:
South Korean electronics conglomerate Samsung has announced a beefier version of its latest Galaxy S5 flagship handset in its homeland. Called the Galaxy S5 LTE-A, the new smartphone boasts of a better display, a faster processor and support for LTE Advanced (LTE-A), which offers crazy speeds of 255Mbps. The display in particular is same as LG G3's QHD display with 2560 x 1440 pixels resolution. Given that S5's screen is 5.1 inch (vs 5.5 inch of G3), the phone's ppi (pixels per inch) easily beats LG's marquee offering. That brings us to the inevitable question. Is Samsung considering the two month old handset to be already outdated? Or is it indulging in spec war just for sake of it? Meanwhile the Galaxy S5, which was initially retailing in India for Rs. 51,500, has now received another price cut and is available for as low as Rs. 36,000. Interesting!
In other news:
Battle of the ecosystems: let's say hello to Android everywhere:
Google kicked off this year's Google I/O event by previewing Android L, the Mountain View based tech giant's radical makeover of the Android operating system. What's striking about the L-something release is the new cross-platform user interface called Material Design that aims to bring about a more coherent look and feel that could be applied across all of its products, from Android to Chrome OS to the web (Check out more about it at Google Design). With a new typography, a new palette of brighter colours and widespread use of smooth touch feedback animations, it would be an understatement if I were to say that Google has finally given a semblance of order and structure to its chaotic and ever-changing interface.
 |
| Material Design from Google (Credit: Google Design) |
Amazon Fire phone is the ultimate online shopping device:
Some companies launch new hardware to sell their software. Think video game companies. Some, like Apple, back up the hardware by a solid software ecosystem comprising of apps, media and other forms of personal entertainment. But for Google, it was the other way around. The search giant already had the services in place. It just had to create a product. A product that's a portal to its complete range of services. An Android smartphone, hence, is undoubtedly the best way to go if you are totally invested in the Google ecosystem. With Amazon, things are a bit different. Even if you don't get an Amazon made tablet or phone, the company is satisfied as long as you keep purchasing stuff from them either via web, Android or iOS.
The Kindle Fire tablets and the newly launched Fire phones are therefore not only a window to the Amazon ecosystem, but they are also the ultimate shopping devices. "Amazon launches a shopping machine and calls it a phone," reported Quartz. Running on a modified version of Android sans Google services, the phone features a head-tracking stereoscopic 3D screen, Mayday for face-to-face video tech support and Firefly, a Google Goggles like image recognition app that can identify millions of items, physical or otherwise. With a high price tag of US$ 649 (unlocked), it remains to be seen if these features alone are enough to make it a success. But whatever be the case, impulse buying has got a lot more easier!
Instant messaging apps are one too a many:
Social networking service Path has a new instant messaging app Path Talk. Facebook has announced a new Rando-like ephemeral instant messaging app Slingshot to take on rival Snapchat. This in addition to Facebook Messenger and the recently acquired WhatsApp that it has as of now. Intel has a new chat app Pocket Avatars that lets users talk via video messages. Not to forget countless other chat apps like iMessage, Hangouts, Skype, Viber, KakaoTalk, WeChat, Line, Kik, Telegram, Tango, ChatON, Nimbuzz, Yahoo! Messenger and BlackBerry Messenger, ephemeral messaging apps like Snapchat, Tinder (this feature was added recently), Blink and Wickr, and anonymous apps like Whisper, Secret and Babbly. The long and short of this is that there are too many insular messaging apps vying for our attention. While most of them are cross-platform except for Apple's iMessage, not all these apps are universally popular, and most importantly none of them have supplanted SMS in an absolute sense. True cross-platform, according to me, is when I'm able to interact with my social circle irrespective of the chat app they use. Can it happen?
Facebook to display ads based on your browsing habits:
Menlo Park based social media kingpin Facebook has announced that it will be using your personal information gathered elsewhere on the Web for purposes of (re)targeted advertising. It aims to track user browsing habits through its ubiquitous "like" buttons that are present on almost every single website. While the development is alarming enough to rouse privacy advocates into action, the way it works is like this. An advertiser pays Facebook to show his ads to relevant people and Facebook does it by corresponding them with your browsing history. The advertiser, however, doesn't know what sites you have visited (or Facebook is not sharing it at least yet). In short, the social network has always known your browsing habits, it's just that it's leveraging them to, yes you got it right, fill its coffers. And if you want to opt out, you can follow the steps mentioned here (courtesy Gizmodo).
Samsung Galaxy S5 is already outdated according to... Samsung:
South Korean electronics conglomerate Samsung has announced a beefier version of its latest Galaxy S5 flagship handset in its homeland. Called the Galaxy S5 LTE-A, the new smartphone boasts of a better display, a faster processor and support for LTE Advanced (LTE-A), which offers crazy speeds of 255Mbps. The display in particular is same as LG G3's QHD display with 2560 x 1440 pixels resolution. Given that S5's screen is 5.1 inch (vs 5.5 inch of G3), the phone's ppi (pixels per inch) easily beats LG's marquee offering. That brings us to the inevitable question. Is Samsung considering the two month old handset to be already outdated? Or is it indulging in spec war just for sake of it? Meanwhile the Galaxy S5, which was initially retailing in India for Rs. 51,500, has now received another price cut and is available for as low as Rs. 36,000. Interesting!
In other news:
- British scientists call for human trials after techniques used to create three-parent babies are deemed safe.
- NSA releases its first transparency report; admits to snooping on 89,138 targets.
- Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine find a way to selectively erase and reactivate memories in rats "by stimulating nerves in the brain at frequencies that are known to weaken and strengthen the connections between nerve cells, called synapses."
- CERN announces Large Hadron Collider restart schedule; world's largest particle accelerator to resume full function early next year.
- Amazon wants the right to print books by itself if publishers fail to provide adequate stock according to latest contract negotiations; raises competition concerns.
- Two months later, over 300,000 servers still vulnerable to Heartbleed flaw.
- Microsoft Xbox One to land in India on September 23 for Rs. 40,000.
- Cloud storage service Dropbox's acquisition spree continues; snaps up Bubbli, DropTalk, MobileSpan and Parastructure.
- Facebook moves all Instagram photos to its own servers.
- Virtual reality headgear maker Oculus sued by game publisher ZeniMax for "illegally misappropriating ZeniMax trade secrets relating to virtual reality technology, and infringing ZeniMax copyrights and trademarks"; Oculus says "lawsuit is nothing more than ZeniMax seeking to correct for a massive missed opportunity through the assertion of meritless litigation."
- Apple reportedly readying two new iPhones for launch coming September 19; latest rumours suggest 16GB variant likely to be dropped.
- Indian e-tailer Flipkart goes the Amazon way; releases Digiflip Pro tablet for Rs. 9,999.
- Search giant Google begins removing search results in EU following recent court ruling.
- Microsoft announces a new Android phone Nokia X2 running on a modified version of Android Jelly Bean 4.3 and an all new Nokia X platform v2.0 UI; existing Nokia Android phones Nokia X, X+ and XL will not eligible for the update.
- Eugene Goostman, a computer program developed to simulate a 13-year old boy, has duped humans into thinking it was a boy, thereby passing the Turing Test devised in 1950 by computer science pioneer and Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing, who said that if a machine was indistinguishable from a human, then it was "thinking".
- Pinterest lands on Windows Phone.
- Chip maker Intel required to pay US$1.4 billion fine for indulging in anticompetitive tactics in Europe against rival AMD by granting rebates to companies, including Dell, HP, and Lenovo, for acquiring all or nearly all of their chips from the company.
- Sony shows off Oculus Rift rival Rroject Morpheus at Electronic Entertainment Expo E3.
- YouTube readying a paid music streaming service.
- Mozilla attempts to reach India and Indonesia with cheap $25 smartphones, reports Wall Street Journal.
- Tablet sales decline as phablets continue to capture consumer attention.
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