Tuesday 24 June 2014

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT GOOGLE i/O CONFERENCE EVE 14



SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
GOOGLE i/O CONFERENCE 2014, THE EVE
#Google #i/o2014 #Android #Chrome #ChromeOS #Glass #Nexus #Silver

Good early evening, Synapse Circuit Readers. How are you? I hope that all is well! Yes, it is the eve of the Google i/O conference and it brings such excitement to us Tech Lovers! Google i/O is the new Christmas! Ha ha!

I’ve pretty much done my predictions and way ahead of any other tech magazine / blogger! Hee hee hee...


HAPPY
Yes, I am happy that not too many things have been “leaked”... Sure, it was common knowledge that there would be development with Android Wear, Chromebooks, and minor developments with Android and so on. Oh, Google Glass is on sale on the UK Play Store for £1k! Gosh! I’d love to have one!

We’ve not seen or heard anything on the next Nexus handset; it may not happen. It could very well be that a Motorola handset will replace the Nexus until this “Silver” concept has been ironed out. Ok, we’ve heard a little about HTC doing an 8” tablet but I reckon many of us would still welcome the Nexus 7 2014. But as we advance in Tech – especially with Android – the notion of the 7” tablet is becoming outdated; I believe Samsung is going to release a 7” handset. Can you believe it? Of course you do! Once upon a time we’d laugh at such a concept... A 7” handset! Golly gee! Thanks to Asus and the FonePad it changed a lot of our perceptions! I took a look at the FonePad and I almost got one! It is so inexpensive but at the same time the processor, Intel Atom™ Z2420 1.2 or 1.6 GHz, isn’t all that. I might have invested if it was a quad-core processor. I have the Intel RAZRi and I wished I hadn’t bothered as it is S... L... O... W... The screen is less responsive too! So, that’s why I probably will not go for a device containing an Intel chip – unless they bring out some decent processors. But rumour has it that Intel will team up with Samsung on a device – now this I have to see! But yes, if the spec was good, I would consider a 7” tablet capable of making calls.

Is that in the Google ethos? But I do wonder if Samsung will create a 7” Galaxy Tab S just for Google; it would make sense. It would also make sense if it were able to make calls too! 7” is the new phablet!

ANDROID
I am not expecting to hear of a new immediate Android release, no. What I am expecting is to hear of an incremental update i.e. 4.4.5 and 5 will be released towards the fall. What I think is happening is a design overhaul, more Google app tweaking / refinement, so we’ll see more of an improvement in notifications and overall speed. Google has been gearing up to a major release since Jelly Bean and it is continuing to get there.

Sundar Pitchai has revealed that he wants to do what Apple does in telling the world about what is coming instead of waiting until a release is ready. Yeah, the Apple smoke and mirrors machine is to announce “improvements to the best operating system in the world” that has been a staple of Android for years. It’s a good move to let the world know what is being planned as it shows where the innovation is coming from and I think it’ll help manufacturers plan new releases for the Christmas holidays for example.

Android and its survival depend upon manufacturers working together. At the moment Samsung is trying – and succeeding – to out punch Apple but this causes some friction with Google – not as much as the media would have us believe. Companies like Samsung need to innovate and develop their technology and with the advent of Tizen it will allow Samsung to express itself without limitation. I do think that Tizen threatens iOS more than it does Android. I don’t think Google have anything to worry about because it is easier to pick up a great brand new Android handset than it is to pick up any iPhone model. iOS and Windows mobile operating systems will face stiff competition from Tizen when it is fully operational. I own over 7 handsets (simply because they aren’t worth much after a 2 year contract, so I keep them, root and experiment) and they are all Android. Should Tizen prove to be a formidable operating system I’d try a handset. I do think that Samsung will end up pushing Google way beyond anything Apple can do. It’s what Google has done for Samsung! It wouldn’t surprise me to see in the not too distant future a dual screen handset that features both Android and Tizen.

Tizen makes me wonder if Samsung will eventually cease TouchWiz in favour of widgets. These widgets could be sold on the Play Store. I would imagine that a lot of time and effort goes into TouchWiz but if they are going to concentrate on Tizen it would make sense to turn some of those wonderful ideas into widgets that can be bought by Android users and therefore have another revenue stream.

GET READY FOR THE LAUNCH
I would really appreciate it if Google announced improvements to its launcher as I have it on one of my handsets. It’s on a phablet and therefore I do not need many homescreens. However, for my smaller handsets I wouldn’t mind being able to rotate my homescreens in an infinite scroll and to have a landscape mode. Fingers crossed! But who knows?

CONCLUSION

It is going to be a very exciting conference from Google this year as they keep pushing the boundaries of technology. We’ve yet to learn what these robots are going to do that they have recently acquired. I hope to learn more! Get ready!

IN THE MEANTIME...
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