Wednesday 25 June 2014

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT GOOGLE i/O 14 REACTION

Above: Android 5 "L". Lollipop? Lemon Meringue Pie? Liquorice Allsorts?
Above: 64-bit at last! Move over iPhone and iPad!
Above: Sundar Pichai introduces Android One which is aimed at the World market.
Android One costs under $100!
SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
GOOGLE i/O CONFERENCE 2014, REACTION
#Google #i/o2014 #Android #Chrome #ChromeOS #AndroidWear #AndroidAuto #AndroidTV #Chromecast #Glass #Nexus #Silver

Good evening, Synapse Circuit Readers. I hope that all is well with you! Did you catch the Google i/O Keynote? You didn’t? Ok... I will give you the rundown...

In short: Mind Blown - Again!


PREDICTIONS THAT CAME THROUGH...

ANDROID 5: LEMON MERINGUE PIE?

Shock, horror! I was pretty much spot on about much of the Google i/O developer conference. I knew that there would be no news of Nexus devices as Android 5, Lemon Meringue Pie(?) wasn’t hinted at. On the eve of the i/O there wasn’t the usual leaks with the coming of a new Android version. It was, as always, wishful thinking on my part that there would be some grand new toys! New toys always come with a new version of Android.

So, I reckon we’ll see new toys towards Christmas along with Android 5, Lollipop(?). And I bet that the reason why we haven’t seen the Galaxy S5 Prime and HTC’s Prime offering is because they want to take advantage of the 64-bit Android and will adopt 64-bit processors to keep up with the iPhone and iPad as far as 64-bit is concerned.

So, expect 64-bit handsets and tablets towards Christmas! It could very well be that Samsung will be releasing a 64-bit Galaxy Note 4 which would come in time to coincide with my next upgrade! Whoohoo! 


SUNDAR PICHAI
Unsurprisingly, the eloquent Sundar Pichai swept aside the bizarre remarks of Tim Cook. All Android users and those that know anything about technology would dismiss Cook’s comments outright when he talks about the competition. Pichai wisely did not bother to say anything derogatory about Apple, Cook and mobile devices and quite rightly went on to state facts about how Android is growing through handsets and tablets; the news is simple: Android Rules The World. No matter what Cook and co says nothing change that. Yes, there will probably be two iPhones this year, 4.7” and 5.5” but they – like iOS incarnations – have come too late. Too late for a corporation that claims “Android is a stolen technology...” as it is clear that the iPhone is trailing behind. The iPad’s edge is becoming duller by the month and by the end 2014 the iPad and apps is not going to matter. It’s great that Google is doing its own thing at their own pace which appears to be comfortable for them. They could have rushed the next version of Android but they take time to make sure it’s right from UI design looks to the functionality.



Above: Chrome for Android's new look!

MATERIALISM
I am looking forward to the release of Android 5, Liquorice Allsorts(?) due to new Material Design aspect to the UI (user interface) that acts like paper. Material Design just looks awesome! Icons, cards, notifications just look spectacular and I can’t wait to have it on my devices! Google are paying more attention to the design aspect of Android and “L” - as they refer to it – is going to blow away every other mobile operating system going.

I got that bit right and to be honest it wasn’t that difficult to predict due to the fact that Android releases have been slow to a crawl but one can see that this is for a reason. I knew that design and functionality was the reason and, of course, getting the 64-bit element in. There’s Project Volta to reduce battery strain and if it turns out like I think it will it means that a lot of us will be enjoying longer uses of our devices.

What I wanted to hear was the devices that will be compatible with Android 5, Lemon Drops(?) but there will no doubt be some casualties. There again many Android users do not really notice the difference between the different versions as Android as a whole works very well for most users. I would imagine that users with premium devices from 2011 may be in the safe zone! My Galaxy Note 2 could do with Android 5 as it crashes royally when using the i/O app to watch the live video streams. It is annoying to say the least. I can imagine how my devices would run on Android Lolly! Dare I say that some older devices may be saved by the likes of custom ROM creators?

DID I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY?
From what I gathered it looks like Android Lemon Pie will be able to run on other processors apart from ARM... x86 and MIPS. Does that mean that effectively Android could make better use of the PC and other computer systems? That would be something! I have always wanted an Android desktop for moments like this when I am sitting here typing-up my articles. Look at it this way: If the Galaxy S5 can shoot and edit 4K video then surely a dual core and quad core PC running Android 5 would prolong ageing desk and laptops. No doubt one would have to invest in a graphics card capable of 4K video.

CHROME
Yes, I almost got Chrome and Android right... Instead of Android adopting bits of Chrome it is quite the other way around. Chrome will be able to run some Android apps – at least I thought that’s what I understood.

Chromecast has more attributes to it such as allowing handsets to broadcast whatever is on the screen. Then there is Android TV – I am not too sure how that works... A lot of the tech press were predicting set-top boxes but none were mentioned. So, from what I have gathered Android TV will be built into Android 5 that allows users to stream from Google Play Movies and other sources through Chromecast. It sort of tallies up with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S media event and the focus on content!



Above: Android Auto.

ANDROID AUTO
No surprise that Google announced Android Auto for making interacting with the handset safer with voice commands whereby, for instance, you can ask for a place and get direction without touching the phone!  Cool!

I was hoping to hear more about their driverless cars. I guess that there will be more about their driverless cars later on.

PROJECT ARA & ROBOTICS
I was a little surprised that we didn’t learn more about Project Ara that allows folk to put their own handset together by removing and replacing modular components. Perhaps Google will have an Ara handset ready in time to coincide with Android 5!

We never got to learn what Google will do with those robots they’ve acquired! Bah!

SILVER NEXUS
The Nexus concept was hinted upon and that there is a possibility that we’ll see a Nexus 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 when – you’ve guessed it – Android 5 is released in the fall. At least it’ll coincide for Christmas – I hope! I envisage that we’ll be seeing a few Nexus devices to usher in Android 5 for sure.

There was no mention of the much rumoured “Silver” that is said to be replacing the Nexus concept. I can only imagine that it if Silver is on the horizon we won’t see it until the first quarter of 2015; I get the feeling that Google are planning something groundbreaking – again – to shake up the handsets and tablets that will make use of 64-bit processors and better hardware in general.



ANDROID WEAR
As predicted, Google showed off Android Wear, Google Fit and watches from LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live. The demonstration of Android Wear was awesome! Google have managed to beat Apple to the punch with releasing the Wear devices from LG and Samsung. Moto 360 will be released later on this summer. I think they have gotten the interface right! The wearable devices from LG and Samsung look very promising indeed... Just like the first wave of Android handsets I can see that there will be more manufacturers looking to take a slice of that pie! Therefore we will see a rapid development of design like we witnessed with the Android tablet only the wearable will develop faster! More so when these manufacturers work out the issues with producing these flexible screens!

There wasn’t any mention of Google Glass and I can only imagine that they are still perfecting it.

CONCLUSION

I really think that Apple stocks have gone down in value after this year’s Google i/O Keynote. Google are unstoppable! Google have so much going on that they do not have time to fit it all in!

THANK YOU FOR READING!

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