I/O 2013: Google Announces Music And Games Services

A live demonstration of the capabilities didn’t work during the keynote, which Barra attributed to networking problems that often arise inside the cavernous Moscone Center.

“There are actually lots of games launching today with many of these capabilities that we are talking about,” he said.

Location APIs

At the conference, Barra also highlighted three new location APIs aimed at allowing developers to build more location-based features into their apps.

The APIs, all part of Google Services, are a Fused Location Provider API, which makes determining user locations faster and more accurate while using far less power than existing APIs; a Geofencing API that allows developers to limit the use of an app within certain physical boundaries; and an Activity Recognition API, which lets users track their physical activities.

App developers are also getting some innovative new tools that are being added to the Google Play Developer Console, which was unveiled at I/O 2012, said Ellie Powers, Google’s product manager for Android. The additional tools, which came in to Google as suggestions from developers, are aimed at helping app developers gain new users and revenue from their Android apps, said Powers.

The new tools also include a tab where apps are analysed in the console and given optimisation tips to try to help developers make their products more popular, such as adding screen shots of an app so that buyers can see how it will look on a tablet.

Another key new tool in the console is an App Translation Service, which helps developers find affordable options to get their apps professionally translated into other languages for increased sales.

“It used to be a lot of work to find a translator for your apps,” said Powers. The new service displays several translation vendors that can be hired to translate the code in the apps in about a week.

Live Video

The Google I/O conference continues through 17 May with a wide range of daily training sessions and code sessions where developers can get help with their projects, answers for code questions, and input and additional eyes on the work they are doing using Google code. More than 120 talks, ranging from introductory topics to advanced subjects about Google Maps, Android, Google Chrome, Google+, App Engine, Google Glass and more, will be featured in the technical sessions, according to Google.

Also to be shown and shared with attendees at the conference are Google’s Street View Trekker and SVII cameras, which Street View teams are using to collect the amazing images being gathered for the project from around the world. The Trekker camera is a backpack-mounted camera that is helping to collect images in remote locations, including the Grand Canyon. Attendees will be able to try out the Trekker backpack on a virtual hike through the canyon.

At the 2012 I/O Conference last June, Google rolled out its Glass project, the latest Android Jelly Bean operating system, the Nexus 7 tablet and the Nexus Q Media Hub. The Nexus Q was a surprise announcement – an entirely new small, bowling-ball-shaped media hub for the home controlled by an Android tablet or smartphone. Enhancements to Jelly Bean included improved performance; added search capabilities; voice typing that could be done offline; and an improved notifications interface that lets users respond to calendar reminders, emails and texts without having to open each of those applications.

Individuals can watch live video of many of the sessions through Google Developers Live @ I/O, which is streaming many of the sessions and activities straight from Moscone Center to the Web. All the sessions will be available on Google Developers Live on YouTube after the conference.

Do you know Android’s secrets? To find out, take our quiz.

Originally published on eWeek.