google i/o

This week at Google I/O, Google announced it's beefing up Google+ Hangouts by introducing a one-on-one chat feature, access to chat history, and a standalone app. But how about adding some real red meat, like say, SMS integration?

Never fear, hardcore messaging carnivores -- it's on the way.

So says Dori Storbeck, community manager for Google+ Hangouts & Chat, responding to a question on her Google+ page:… Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Google Maps began as roads and satellite photos. Now, through a project called Ground Truth, it's becoming an ever more sophisticated virtual mirror of the real world.

But how? Google engineers described their methods Wednesday at the Google I/O show, describing how they've moved from licensing satellite photos to building 3D version of the world that can be updated in minutes.

The answer might surprise close Google watchers accustomed to the company's heavily automated, algorithmic, computer-centric way of doing things. There's plenty of that, but it also takes lots of elbow grease, said Michael … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO -- Larry Page spoke softly from the stage at the Moscone Center West on Wednesday morning, but the carrot he dangled in front of developers was accompanied by the big stick he brandished against his competition.

Page let his company do the heavy lifting of going after rivals with major product updates. Changes to Google+ aimed aggressive shots at Facebook and Skype. An overhaul to Google Maps pushed it far beyond what the nearest competition from Bing can bring. Meanwhile, the new streaming music service Google Music All Access served up scorching features that could undermine the very … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Parties can say a lot about the companies that hold them.

So it was with Google I/O Wednesday night at the Moscone Center West here. Classic rocker Billy Idol was the headliner, jumping around the stage shirtless, and a profanity-prone DJ caught some attention afterward, but the audience paid just about as much attention to the multitude of robot exhibits.

There were robots you could train to pick up jars, robot bartenders, life-size Rock-em Sock-em robots in a boxing ring, and remote-control robots people could ride around on.

Best of all was a giant hydraulic arm that would … Read more

Google's Play Books service got an update Wednesday that allows users to upload e-books or other documents to the cloud to create an online library that can be shared with a variety of the devices.

Updates to the Android and iOS versions of the e-reader app will allow users to upload up to 1,000 PDF and EPUB files to their Google Play locker. Files can be uploaded from userss computers or imported from Google Drive, as long as the files are less than 50MB in size.

Once uploaded to the library, the files will be readable on the … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Google Wallet is growing up and it's not just about paying for stuff by tapping your phone anymore.

On Wednesday, the company made three announcements at its Google I/O developer conference with regard to Google Wallet that take the service well beyond specialized tap and go technology to make Google Wallet more usable on the Web.

"We are not pulling away from NFC," Peter Hazlehurst, director of product management for Google Wallet said in an interview. "We are simply making a much richer Wallet experience. There are still places where NFC can't be … Read more

For Google, there's only enough room for one game in town.

The Web giant on Wednesday took the wraps off Google Play, its new game development platform, during the first day of the Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco. The cross-platform game service promises a handful of new developer features, including the ability to sync gaming activity between devices and save game progress on Google's servers.

But something that won't be saved on Google's servers will be the games that Google+ users have been playing for the last couple of years. As part of … Read more

Google rolled out a few photo-related updates at this year's Google I/O conference, and more than anything they deftly illustrate the simultaneous benefits and pitfalls of automation. Highlights promises to select the choicest photos from your endless stream to display only the best, most interesting captures. Auto Enhance promises to clean up on demand the underexposed, flat, and out-of-focus photos that pollute all of our photo streams. And the joyfully named Auto Awesome purportedly creates animated GIFs, all-smiles family portraits, and perfect panoramas.

When they work, these are great features. When they don't, you want to bang … Read more

Google showed a completely overhauled Google Maps service and Web interface today at I/O 2013. The site is receiving changes and updates on the front and back end to make it easier for user to navigate and developers to work with.

The most obvious changes are the visual updates and redesigned elements, featuring a Google Now-inspired "cards" aesthetic, deeper integration of the Google+ social network for recommendations, and a reshuffling of how users interact with the site and how information is presented to them.

Before you start spamming your browser's refresh button over at maps.google.… Read more