I've been showing friends something I picked up at Google's developers conference yesterday, and it's been inspiring ooohs, and wows, and squeals of joy and delight. No, it isn't a smartwatch. It isn't even a gadget. It's a cheap piece of cardboard , and it's getting even the tech-jaded people here excited.
There's a new update to the Google Search app that's starting to roll out that lets you say "OK Google" to trigger voice search from anywhere instead of just the homescreen. That is awesome.
They keynote at Google's big developer conference is over, and in its three hours(!) we found out about AndroidTV, Android Auto, and the next big release of Android for you phone. But there was also a ton of rumored stuff that Google didn't announce. Here's what was missing, and our best guesses at why.
We human-type beings suck at using our mobile devices while driving and frequently kill and/or dismember ourselves in an attempt to pull off that stupid stunt. In attempt to keep Android users alive to buy more Android products, Google today unveiled Android Auto. We just got to play with it a bit, and we liked what we saw.
For years, Google's been trying to plow its way onto your TV with flawed hardware, and today, it shifted its sights away from Google TV, and announced Android TV . It's the very simple way that Google is going to make your TV smart. Finally.
At a wearble computing talk at Google I/O we learned that Android Wear notifications that pop up on your wristables will be available to Google Glass this Fall. It's an obvious evolution that'll sync notifications to all your devices.
We just went hands-on with Samsung's first Android Wear, the Gear Live . It was lovely and very promising. But then we just got to strap Motorola's Moto 360 on, and oh man, it's gorgeous. GORGEOUS. Here are our quick first impressions.