ASUS VivoTab Note 8

• ASUS website
• As an alternative to the Surface Pro 3 more for drawing stuff due to stylus
• 8″ screen (1280×800)
• iPad mini sized but full Windows 8.1
• US$250 (32GB)
• Charges via micro USB
• No full USB port:
  • only has 1 micro USB port
  • requires USB OTG cable (similar to phones) to provide full USB port
• Atom processor can be a bit slow (not as bad as previous netbooks) but good value for full fledge device

Nokia XL

• Specs on GSM Arena on  Nokia XL
• Nokia website: Nokia XL
• Low end Android with a custom skin including Nokia software (e.g offline Here maps)
• Plasticky but nice

Scottevest

• www.scottevest.com
• Tech-enabled, pocket-filled clothing
• Carry your stuff and tech gadgets in your clothing without being too bulky (from bottles of water to iPads)
• Up to
  • 2 pocket hats/boxers
  • 10 pocket pants
  • 19 pocket shirts
  • 42 pocket vests

Intel Android Devices

• 80+ Intel Android Devices
• Intel XDK: Design, debug, build, and deploy HTML5 web and hybrid apps across multiple app stores, and form factor devices.
• Free hoodie + Acer Iconia Tab 8
• Android NDK: Toolset that allows you to implement parts of your app using native-code languages such as C and C++.

iBattz

• Mojo Battstation Optimus 20400
  • 20400mAh
  • 2 USB ports: 2.1A and 1A
  • Passthrough
  • 2014 Best in Show from iLounge.com
  • Bought at AV Electronics
• Beware cheap powerbanks using cheap components / full of sand
• Android apps for viewing charge rate:
  • Current Widget
  • Galaxy Charging Current Lite
• Related: “Buying Guide for USB Battery Packs / Powerbanks“

• Android wear UI is not customizable
• Pairs with Android phone via Bluetooth (requires Android 4.3+)
• 1 day battery life
• Notifications appear on watch
  • Swipe left to dismiss
  • Swipe right to take further action (e.g. open in phone)
  • Reply with voice (only for certain apps)
  • Requires 2 hands
• Availability (in certain locations):
  • Currently available: Samsung Galaxy Gear Live / LG G watch
  • Moto 360 available in the summer of 2014
• Samsung Gear live (vs the G Watch)
  • smaller screen (1.63″ Super AMOLED vs 1.65” IPS LCD)
  • higher resolution (320×320 vs 280×280)
  • smaller battery (300 mAh vs 400mAh)
  • extra Heart Rate Sensor (common sensors: Compass, Accelerometer, Gyroscope)
  • has a Bluetooth / Wi-Fi antenna
  • cheaper in US (US$199 vs US$229) (Australia: $1 more expensive, AUD$250 vs AUD$249)
• LG G watch
  • possible charging contact corrosion should be fixed
  • can charge while wearing (using the cradle), not ideal but possible

Chromecast

• Chromecast Website
• Ability to pair with devices that are not on the same network using ultrasonic sounds
• Plex

Chrome OS

• Android Apps ported to Chrome OS
  • Requires extra work to be functional (not automatic)
  • Submit an app to be ported to Chrome OS

Cardboard

• Cheap virtual reality using a phone, lenses and a foldable cardboard headset
• Cardboard Developer Website
• Android App
• Chrome Experiments for Cardboard
• Google I/O Session: Cardboard: VR for Android
• DIY 3D Virtual Reality Goggles: Cardboard implementation many years back

Android L

• Preview for Nexus 5, Nexus 7 2013
• Android Runtime (ART): replacing Dalvik
• Project Volta: aims for better battery life. ArsTechnica investigates Project Volta
• Android Enterprise features
  • Personal and Enterprise information into different segments on the phone
  • Samsung contributes KNOX security technology to AOSP and will be in Android L

Android TV

• Android TV Website
• Google Content (movies & music) on the big screen using voice commands
• Game focused: has hardware game controllers, similar to Ouya
• Controlled using swipes with Android wear or voice commands on an regular Android device
• Can cast screen/content from Android devices to Android TV using Google Cast
• Play Store available to install apps

Google Fit

• Google Fit Website
• Google’s ‘me too’ fitness platform
• Google’s response to Apple’s HealthKit / Samsung’s S Health

Android Auto

• Android Auto Website
• In-board car dashboard powered by your Android device
• “Dumb” dashboard monitored, all powered by external Android device
• Google’s response to Apple’s CarPlay

Polymer

• Polymer Project website
• Polymer Elements
  • Polymer Core elements: a set of utility elements including general-purpose UI elements (such as icons, layout elements, and toolbars), as well as non-UI elements providing features like AJAX, signalling and storage.
    Docs | Demos
  • Paper Elements: Polymer’s paper elements collection implements material design for the web. They’re a set of highly visual, highly interactive elements that include things like controls, layouts, hero transitions, and scrolling effects.
    Docs | Demos
• Polymer Designer: Designer is a drag and drop tool for prototyping apps using Polymer. Save your experiments as Github gists.

Watch the Google I/O 2014 Keynote on YouTube

Goodie count

• LG G Watch / Samsung Gear Live
• Moto 360 (maybe)
• AndroidTV
• Intel Hoodies and Intel Android Tablet
• Cardboard
  • Play Store app
  • Chrome Experiments for Cardboard
• T-Shirts and stuff
• Not freebies but bought goodies
  • Windows 8″ tablet & SCOTTeVEST Revolution Jacket

Android One

• Reference hardware for OEMs
• High quality affordable smartphones
• Stock Android & Automatic Updates from Google
• 4.5″ Android device, dual SIM, FM radio, micro SD card slot
• Under US$100

Material Design

• Google’s holistic approach to design (Google Design guidelines)
• Material Design introduction

• mfirdaus the Google Play developer is going to Google I/O 2014 along with some GDG Brunei folks
• He wants free goodies especially the Moto 360 and probably Glass as well

Links

• Google I/O website (Google.com)
• Google I/O 2013 (Wikipedia.org)
• Google I/O 2013 Round up (gigaom.com)
• Google I/O 2012 (Wikipedia.org)
• Google I/O 2012 Round up (gottabemobile.com)
• WWDC 2014 video stream (apple.com)
• WWDC 2014 Round Up (imore.com)

• Lumia 520 for AUD$176
  • Specs don’t really matter because it’s a pretty good experience
  • 512MB RAM which limits some heavier apps but still a pretty smooth experience. Much better than cheap Android phones
• Good Polish unlike Android back in the day that had a lot of rough edges
  • In between iOS and Android but closer to iOS
  • Find my phone
  • Sky Drive Integration
    • Save Photos automatically
      • can’t seem to enable only on WiFi so may be hazardous to your 3G data
      • doesn’t upload screenshots
    • Office Documents synced in the cloud
  • Office
    • Can create and edit Word and Excel files offline
    • Can view Powerpoint files
      
  • Bluetooth transfer data migration
  • Consolidated settings (like iOS) but also and in app
  • Glove usage! (probably a Lumia feature)
• Good Features
  • People Hub
    • Combines all social streams (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) into one stream
      
    • Like Twitter lists but for all social networks supported
      
    • Photo Stream of all updates with photos
  • Bluetooth image sharing!
  • Has Android like intents/sharing of data to other apps. E.g. from photo app, can share photo to apps like WhatsApp / Email / any app that supports receiving images
• Gripes
  • App selection still small. No official Dropbox app, no instagram
  • Search page is not a web page. E.g. Search in browser address bar brings you out of the browser to the search page, and clicking a link in the search page goes back into the browser
  • Sharing Intents inconsistent
    • But doesn’t seem to work for all things… Can share photo (.jpg file) from camera to WhatsApp but cannot share screenshot (.png file)  to WhatsApp. Can’t share URL to WhatsApp.
    • Perhaps more of a non-mature app ecosystem rather than Windows Phone fault. App developers need to program their apps right
  • Notifications could be better
    • If app is a Live Tile, then you can see the notification number
    • If app is not a Live Tile, there is no easy way to know what app caused the notification (iOS has it best with badges)
  • No quick toggles
    • Have to go into settings to turn things on and off similar to iOS (e.g. enable/disable data / WiFi)
    • Hard to toggle vibrate
  • Can’t disable screen rotation. Less sensitive than Android which is good.
  • No file explorer or file system like Android
  • No auto-sign in like Android for Google sites
    
  • Switching apps shows “Resuming…” quite a bit. More to do with how Windows Phone handles apps. Could be due to limited memory of 512MB and may not occur with higher end devices with more RAM
  • No Bluetooth tethering (available in iOS and Android)

Links

• Lumia 520 Review – The Verge
• Lumia 520 – GSM Arena