What Recon Instruments' HUD SDK means to you [video]
Yesterday at Google I/O, Recon Instruments announced the HUD SDK. I couldn't get time at the booth until today, they were so busy. Recon is best known for its goggle mods, which put an Android computer inside a heads up display that provides alpine skiers and snowboarder with all kinds of useful information such as speed, navigation and location, among others. Oh, yeah, music, too.
The development kit turns the device into a platform. Now third parties can write their own apps -- it's no longer a Recon affair. Tyson Miller explains what the SDK means for the company, its customers, developers and future products.
Google+ celebrates 1st birthday with Events and History
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One year ago today, Google moved onto Facebook's turf and stunned techdom in the process. How much has changed? Google+ now has a total of 250 million users. Of that figure, Google says 150 million people use the service at least monthly, and 50 percent of those active users do so daily. That doesn’t actually mean 75 million people go to Google+ every day though -- it just means that they have some sort of interaction with Google’s social features, or more likely, click +1 buttons.
What’s the next Google Nexus smartphone going to be like?
By now, we've all seen the Nexus 7 tablet, Google's first attempt to penetrate the tablet market directly. For $199, the Nexus 7 will be a huge hit among tablet fans worldwide. It will be directly supported by Google, which means updates will actually be released on time. That is a major advantage over any other Android tablet currently on the market, and will remain an advantage over future ones as well. Google is known to deliver a consistent "stock" Android experience, which is what most cutting-edge tech fans love.
But what about the next Google Nexus phone? It’s totally overshadowed by the tablet right now, so it's a perfect time to think about what's next for the Nexus brand.
Google takes on Amazon with Compute Engine cloud service
Google has Amazon in its sights. The Mountain View, California company has announced Google Compute Engine, its answer to Amazon's Elastic Compute (EC2) service. While the company currently only offers its cloud platform in limited preview, it is likely wider availability will come in short order, likely later this year.
Google will provide customers with virtual machines in 1,2,4, and 8 core-configurations running Linux. Each virtual machine will come with 3.75GB of RAM per virtual core, and storage is provided through Google's new persistent block device, or its newly announced Google Cloud Storage product.
Google polishes iOS, adds Chrome trim
In its second day keynote at the I/O 2012 developer confab, Google announced it has brought the Chrome browser to Apple's iOS.
Macquarie analyst Ben Schacter recently released a report that stated that Apple may already be reviewing the app, estimating that it should be released second quarter of this year. However, due to the restrictions in Apple's developer terms of service, it's not going to be the full Chrome experience.
Weirdest software launch ever: BlueStacks marries Android to Mac
In what was undoubtedly the strangest event at Google I/O this year (and possibly even of all time,) Mac and Android exchanged vows and were married. Yes, you heard that right. Outside of Google I/O in San Francisco yesterday, Android virtualization software maker BlueStacks launched the alpha version of its BlueStacks App Player for Mac OS and celebrated it with a mock wedding.
The company officially announced its Android App Player would be headed to the Mac platform last November, in the very vague time frame of "sometime next year," but the bombastic way in which the company debuted the software came totally out of left field.
Would you sell your iPad and buy Google Nexus 7?
I ask because this morning I got email from a reader who is doing just that. "I ordered my Nexus 7 yesterday for $249, and I am selling my iPad gen 1 for $200", Brian Fagioli writes. It's not a bad trade-off. The original iPad is obsolete when iOS 6 ships, while Nexus 7 packs the newest Android version, Jelly Bean. But would you, and even for a newer iPad?
Google announced the tablet yesterday at Google I/O. Two models are available for preorder -- 8GB ($199) and 16GB ($249) -- and ship in mid-July. I wouldn't call Nexus 7 an iPad-killer, since it's a product with different ambitions: Reclaiming the Android tablet ecosystem from Kindle Fire. But the lower price and smaller size, and Android 4.1, do appeal. The question is to whom.
What you need to know about security software
What does security software even mean now? It’s such a vast concept that it can cover everything from file scanning to parental controls and everything in between. It pretty much covers everything except someone telling us, "Don’t do that, you’re going to regret it!"
It is the most quickly evolving type of software that we run on our computers, but it hardly gets noticed.
Google I/O Liveblog Day 2 -- how could it possibly be better than this?
I've covered lots of events over the years, but few as exciting as Google I/O 2012. Seriously, the cloud computing giant innovates in ways that, well, people attribute to Apple. There's a very aspirational quality about presentations so far, right down to the hard-knuckle coding sessions. You can feel a real sense of empowerment in the air -- that somehow these developers, and the customers they create products for, will have better lives for participating in this ecosystem.
Like yesterday, I will liveblog the keynote, which begins at 10 am PDT (1 pm Eastern Time) and post in reverse chronological order, meaning the newest stuff will be one top. But it's hard to imagine how Google could out-do yesterday's stunning presentation. Still, there is much ground to cover -- Chrome, Chrome OS, Google TV and the rumored Amazon Web Services-like platform, to name a few. There are still two days of sessions yet. Check back and refesh often.
Android 4.1 extends language support, and this developer loves it [video]
Yesterday, at Google I/O, I spoke with one developer waiting to get his big goody bag -- Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7 and Nexus Q -- about his reaction to the first day's keynote. Like many other developers here, to my surprise, he develops for Android before iOS.
Among Jellybean's new features: Broader support for languages, including Arabic, and that makes this Google I/O attendee smile.
New Zealand judge gives Megaupload a huge win
Justice Winkelmann of the New Zealand High Court just gave Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom a huge win. In today's session, Judge Winkelmann ruled that the police search warrants used to seize property -including hard drives and computer equipment- from Kim Dotcom's New Zealand mansion were illegal. According to the ruling, the warrants did not properly describe the offenses to which they were related.
Since day one, Kim Dotcom's legal defense has called into question the very nature of the case. Because copies of Dotcom's drives were turned over to the American FBI before New Zealand digital forensics teams could check them, Winkelmann ruled the data to be unlawfully obtained.
Need a free, compact web server? Try Serva
Equipping your network with a web server can provide some useful extra ways to share files and information. Of course if you’ve tried to set one up before then you’ll know the process isn’t always straightforward, but Serva aims to change all that.
The program offers straightforward support for several protocols (http, ftp, tftp, dhcp, dns, sntp, syslog), yet somehow remains ultra-lightweight (under 2MB). And better still, it’s portable, which means you can run servers just when you need them, without affecting the host system for the rest of the time.
Take control of MacBook Pro graphics with gfxCardStatus
Got a MacBook Pro with a dual GPU? gfxCardStatus is a free tool that enables you to not only see whether your system is currently using the integrated or discrete GPU, but also gives you the chance to manually switch whenever you want -- all without the need to log out of your account or restart OS X. The latest version of the app adds support for the Retina displays sported by the newest additions to the MacBook Pro range.
A simple menu bar makes it easy to choose which of your GPUs should be used, or to remain in dynamic mode so all of this is taken care of for you. There are various reasons why you might want to override the automatic settings. If you find that a particular app caused your discrete GPU to be used, you can get some extra life from your battery by opting to use the integrated GPU instead.
Slideshow Creator turns your pics into vibrant videos
When you’d like to share a particular set of photos with friends and family then you could just send them the JPEGs. Converting those images to a video slideshow with your own soundtrack, captions and custom transitions will look considerably more impressive, though -- and with a copy of Bolide Slideshow Creator to hand, that need not take very long.
Installing the program is quick and hassle-free. There are no toolbars to dodge, no unwanted extras to look for during setup, you’ll get the Slideshow Creator and nothing else.
Meet Google Nexus 7, Kindle Killer
I told you so, in April. Contrary to pundits at the time viewing Google's tablet as an iPad competitor, I saw something else: Google isn't gunning for Apple but Amazon. After getting my hands on the tablet this evening, and comparing the experience using my wife's Kindle Fire, there is no doubt. Google will probably save Android from Amazon, but the end cost may be greater gains for iPad.
By just about every measure -- the exception being buying tens of thousands of retail goods -- using Nexus 7 feels like Kindle Fire, only better in every way. Significantly, the experience is different from using Google Nexus smartphones or other Android tablets. That's because Google Play is so visible. I can't say if that's a function of Android 4.1 Jellybean or how Google has set up the tablet. But content pushes to the forefront, like Kindle Fire, and much of it is similar.
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