Lots of Google stuff

The past 2 weeks have been big weeks for Google with the announcement of 3 new products and a new version of the operating system Android.

Jelly Bean Upgrade

First off I am going to go through the software which is called Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. If you have a Nexus device you should have the option to install it. From a design point of view this is not a massive change in fact you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 4.3 and 4.2.2. Which is to be expected as it is just a point upgrade. So if it isn't the looks then for this to be any kind of an update there needs to be some under the hood goodies and there are a few and I have focused on the main three.

Restricted profiles for tablets: this aims directly at the stat that a lot of tablets are used by more than one person. So what Google have done is create a way for households to have one tablet with multiple profiles, each with their own apps and logins effectively making the tablet change to whoever is using it. Plus with one Admin user (parent) you can control and restrict what other users of the tablet can do making for a safer and more controlled environment for those with young children.

Bluetooth Smart support (a.k.a. Bluetooth Low-Energy): If you are a fan of wearable tech and not having to charge your bluetooth gadgets often this is great news. Especially considering how much power you could save if all your bluetooth devices used Bluetooth Low-Energy. This also opens the door for solutions similar to Apple’s iBeacons which uses Bluetooth low energy, as it is always on, to allow for notifications and location positioning.

Accelerated 3D graphics with OpenGL ES 3.0: Enjoy beautiful graphics and amazing realistic scenes with OpenGL ES 3.0 you really can bring some fantastic graphics to mobile devices where we can enjoy more immersive worlds. Of course this is mainly aimed at games developers but that should not stop people from thinking about how they could use the technology to create great experiences on mobile.

Overall this is a pretty small update and hopefully it means that manufactures can get there devices updated quickly to 4.3. An important point because Android has finally gotten some traction with Jelly Bean having a 40.5% slice of the Android cake. When you compare that to Apple and its 98% iOS 6 penetration Google is helping manufacturers get their phones up to date.

At the same event they also talked about hardware, the Nexus 7 and a new device called the Chromecast. Before Google started to talk about their new tablet they set the scene with some stats all about how the growth of tablets is exploding and that the Play store now has 1 million apps in the app store 50 billion downloads and 2.5x increase in revenue per user.

Nexus 7 (2013)

After that they went straight into the Nexus 7 (2013) a joint device between Asus and Google which is a higher resolution thinner and more powerful version of the original Nexus 7 (2012). Unfortunately nothing really revolutionary here just evolution.

Chromecast

Chromecast however was a bit of a surprise mainly because it wasn't really expected. So what Google have done is create a way for cross platform sending of content to TV’s. Very much like Apple’s very usefully AirPlay but the difference here is this is cross platform, whether you are on an Android tablet or an iPad you will be able to implement this into your app and allow for the sending of content to your TV.

Chromecast itself is a dongle like product that plugs into the back of your TV and is powered by the USB that is in the back of most modern TVs.

This really is an interesting piece of technology mainly because the product is only $35 which makes it almost the cost of an impulse buy. Due to their cheapness and the fact that you got 3 months of free Netflix with it meant the effective price of the devices was $11. For that price Google will probably get a fair bit of penetration, however the only thing that will hold them back is whether or not they get app developers to integrate the code to make their apps compatible. Which brings us to a major difference between Airplay and Chromecast, with Apple’s version being very easy to implement because it is done so by Apple on all of their devices almost no work needed from developers.

At the minute of course as it is new there are not many apps that work with it, the list consists though of some big hitters Google’s YouTube and Netflix. What is clever is that the Chromecast goes off and fetches the video so that you can still use your phone for other things and if you leave the house for example the video will continue to play if say you were watching with a group. The final feature of the Chromecast is the ability to mirror your Chrome browser from your laptop, its a little laggy but for $35 you can't really complain.

Moto X

Finally is the big one the phone that all geeks and Android fans were waiting for. I will freely admit that this phone was so hyped I don't remember being so excited for a phone since the original Palm Pre (great phone tradagiady Palm no longer exists). The reason for the hype is because this is the first phone that was produced under the wing of Motorola’s new parent Google. Meaning this phone really had to be good, unique and change how we look and use our phones.

The big question is if it lived up to the hype and in a few ways it did but unfortunately most its thunder was taken when the new Droids were announced by Verizon that have a lot of the same features as the Moto X.

What makes this device different? Mainly it’s the way it has been designed. Motorola has gone for a more Apple approach where the experience is key, who cares how many cores your processor has as long as it delivers a beautiful and smooth experience? Personally this is how we should do things when it comes to tech too many companies are stuck in this spec war where their phones have more megapixels, 2.0GHz processors and tonnes of features without telling consumers why it is better to have those things. As a consumer I don't care about processor speed or numbers of cores (as a geek I do) mainly because Android has matured enough that it is a solid operating system that is smooth and consistent. In the past you needed the extra horsepower because of the lag you got when using older versions of Android.

There are three things that make the Moto X unique gestures, always listening and customisations.

The Moto X has an extra 2 cpu cores that are dedicated to voice recognition and gestures. these low power cores are always on and always listening meaning that you can activate the camera at any moment by just giving the phone a double twist like you're turning a door handle. The second core is always listening for your voice and can be activated by you and only you by saying “Ok Google Now”. Allowing you to have a hands free experience and interaction with your phone.

These 2 features are really a great example of the rise of the natural user interface these interactions don't need UI just the knowledge of how to interact with your device. One could argue that this is one of the first Natural User Interface phones available.

The final a major differentiator is that this phone has 504 different combinations form the front plate to the back and the buttons all can be changed with different colours and textures, my favourite being wood. They can do this in the USA because they have moved assembly to a factory in Texas making for a 4 day lag from ordering it online and it arriving at your front door.

From all this we can almost get a peek at the future and see how we are going to interact with technology. You will have wearable devices always connected to your phone delivering you up to date information and you will be able to have a conversation with your phone asking it to perform complex tasks. With all of this on a device that was pretty much designed by you for you. Bringing us closer to the world of pixels where you will be able to interact with screens all around your environment.