UPDATED 13:57 EDT / MAY 16 2013

NEWS

Google I/O Brings New API for Maps, Chrome, Search, and Android

The 6th annual Google I/O developer conference just kicked off at Moscone Center in San Francisco, Apparently, the search giant will be hosting numerous technical sessions and demonstrations of its products, along with new technology enhancements. The conference started with a surprise appearance by Google CEO Larry Page at the keynote, where he delivered a speech and spent around half an hour taking questions from the audience.

As we are talking about the DevOps Angle here, let’s quickly get into what goodness is expected for developers at the conference. Understanding the exciting transformation computing is going through at this moment, Google said that it is focusing on ways to help developers innovate and experiment beyond the boundaries. That’s why it is focus primarily on Android and Chrome – two amazing open source projects that have transformed the way people leverage technology and make use of it in normal lives. Here’s what Google said about it on its blog,

“We focus so much on our two open platforms: Android and Chrome. They enable developers to innovate and reach as many people as possible with their apps and services across multiple devices. Android started as a simple idea to advance open standards on mobile; today it is the world’s leading mobile platform and growing rapidly. Similarly, Chrome launched less than five years ago from an open source project; today it’s the world’s most popular browser.

In line with that vision, we made several announcements today designed to give developers even more tools to build great apps on Android and Chrome. We also shared new innovations from across Google meant to help make life just a little easier for you, including improvements in search, communications, photos, and maps.”

Let’s take a quick look at what is in Google’s new development queue.

Android & Google Play

Google has introduced several new developer tools for both Android OS and Google Play Store. In addition, it unveiled Google Play Music All Access, a monthly music subscription service with access to millions of songs that joins its music store and locker. It’s going for $9.99 a month in the US, though Google is offering a complimentary 30 day trial. Soon, there will be a special Samsung Galaxy S4 coming to Google Play, which brings together cutting edge hardware from Samsung with Google’s latest software and services.

Talking about Android, Google is launching three new APIs for developers. First one is fused location provider and will use only 1% of the battery power that was used by older APIs. Second API is Geofencing and improves apps’ response to phone user location changes. Thirs one is activity recognition and enables apps to determine whether you are driving, biking or walking.

Chrome

Google previewed a next-generation video codec VP9 for Chrome that facilitates faster video-streaming performance and several Chrome Experiments. For developers, it has introduced the requestAutocomplete API for faster payments.

Google+

Those who love Google + Hangouts and Google + will be more happy with the new design of Google + that helps easily explore content and improves online photo experience. Google+ Hangouts has also been upgraded for seamless connectivity with friends over the web.

Search

Search will be more predictive now as Google has added the ability to set reminders by voice and “spoken answers” on laptops and desktops in Chrome. So, all you need to do is to ask Google a question and it will speak the answer back to you.

Maps

With clutter free experience, the next generation of Google Maps makes exploration even easy. In the new enhancement, Google Maps technology draws a tailored map for every search that highlights the information you need.


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