Last week’s Google I/O was an immense week for developers and followers of the Google brand alike; indeed, for those immersed in the world of wearables it was an especially big week, as several different types of watches and partnerships were announced at the conference. However, one announcement flew particularly under the radar: Google will not allow for third parties to create custom skins or smartwatch interfaces on the Android Wear ecosystem. This means that, essentially, what you see is what you get as far as interfaces ad layouts go. So far, the responses to this realization have been mixed, but it means that the smartwatch experience will be universalized across the Android platform; everyone will have the same, consistent user experience from the wrist to the television.
Category: Percolate
Glympse Breathes New Life Into Location Sharing
While location sharing is nothing new, startup Glympse has some key differentiators including a focus on real-time tracking and ephemeral sharing. Glympse lets you temporarily share your location w/ anyone by simply sending a link, accessible for a set period of time, from minutes to hours. The service can continually track your location if you choose to enable that feature, including traveling speed and arrival estimates. Even more interesting is their partnerships with Ford, Verizon, Gogo and more to enable sharing in-car, in-flight and anywhere else you may be traveling.
Bitcoin Legal in California
In what amounts to a huge win for digital currencies and online payments systems across the board, California signed into law bill AB 129 – otherwise known as the ‘Lawful Money’ bill that legalizes digital currencies across the state. The bill, however, doesn’t introduce any form of regulation for Bitcoin, and to a certain extent relies on governmental intervention on that front. It’s the biggest victory for the most prominent alternative currency yet, and represents a big step forward in the public acceptance of digital currencies and digital wallets.
Facebook Home Is Officially Dead
One year ago, Facebook wanted to take over the home screen of the smartphone with a platform known as Facebook Home – it would display Facebook photos on lock screens and provide seamless access to messages, status updates, and the rest of the network. Nevertheless, many users baulked at the total takeover by Facebook; many saw it as an attempt to usurp control, while others still simply preferred the native phone interface. Either way, it didn’t catch on, and now the team has disbanded at the Facebook headquarters. It points to the fact that users want to have control over customization on their screens; social networks trying to impose themselves over the mobile experience can’t claim the space just yet.
Google Cardboard Mobile Virtual Reality
With a plethora of smart devices, we often ignore the power of our phones. Google proved this point, releasing Cardboard, an easily assembled Virtual Reality headset constructed from…cardboard and an Android device. The result is an immersive VR experience through a number of different applications like Earth and YouTube within the Cardboard app.
Foursquare Will Charge For Data
In a move that echoes companies like Googe, Foursquare will now charge the heaviest data users for its services. According to Foursquare, only 1% of its 63,000 registered organizations will fall under the “heavy data” bracket. It follows Google Maps’ announcement in February of 2012 to charge heavy users, which prompted Foursquare to move off of Google’s platform in the first place. Foursquare is clearly trying to find its feet, and going forward it remains unclear how they will thrive.
Car As Media Channel: Google Announces Android Auto
Car innovation does not keep up with the rapidity we expect from mobile or PC developments. What has largely been plaguing the auto space has been a lack of cooperation as each car manufacturer creates their proprietary technology, not to mention their 3+ year development cycles. Take Ford Sync for example, which has a custom app platform where developers can only create apps for new Ford vehicles. If that developer tries to iterate for another manufacturer, they have to start over. For real innovation to take place, their needs to be a standard operating system in the car.
Enter Android Auto, announced this week at Googe I/O which looks to power the infotainment systems across 40 car manufacturers including Honda, Hyundai, Volvo and more. Similar to Apple’s Carplay it works by plugging your phone into the car console which then displays it on the center display. Interestingly enough, the apps are all voice-controlled and glanceable to address safety concerns. The result brings more media into the car and improves utility like better navigation, location recommendations and more. The mobile component makes Android Auto current as app updates will be reflected in the car.
Google Rolls Out App Indexing To All
Google Play is now letting developers appropriately index the content within apps so they can be integrated into Google Search. Google can now search within apps, including deep links to the content within the application. For instance, a search for a recipe might yield results to a cooking site as well as a deep link to a recipe within the Epicurious app. Expect this to increase discoverability and have search lead to deeper app engagement.
According to Google: “App Indexing helps you drive usage of your app through Google. Deep links to your app appear in Google Search results on Android so users can get to your native mobile experience quickly and easily.”
Google Announces Android TV
Google unsuccessfully launched Google TV in 2010 but their announcement of Android TV at Google io yesterday looks more promising. Content will be paramount with access to the Google Play store as well as Netflix, Hulu and more. It will also have “Chromecast-like” functionality to cast other devices to your TV as well as some gaming from Google Play Games network similar to Amazon’s Fire TV.
In an increasingly cluttered space, Google’s point of differentiation may be their search which leverages their Knowledge Graph to offer recommendations and aid discovery. With such a breadth of content across multiple providers, an intuitive interface and easy search will be key in the battle for the living room.
Yahoo To Charge For Ads By Views
Yahoo announced that it will begin charging only for display ads that actually come into view on someone’s screen. Advertisers have, for many years, paid for placements across the web regardless of whether or not they’re seen, and now advertisers will get precisely what they pay for as part of this program. It’s a shift towards accountability that should yield positive results for Yahoo’s relationship with the ad industry across its many social and multi-device platforms.
