Google Open Project simplifies collaboration on large screens

Google is always looking for innovative ways to integrate its Chrome and Android platforms deeper into our lives, especially in the way we work. With Open Project (as in projection), Google is getting close to offering an easy, low-cost solution to one of the most difficult problems technology problems: face-to-face collaboration.

Think of our smartphones and tablets as somewhat like islands of their own. We do things on them, but those things, especially the apps, stay inside those devices. We can definitely share the data with others, but simultaneous access, especially simultaneous physical access, is tedious at best. Other solutions that involve a large, collaborative spaces (anyone remember the Surface table?) require hardware or software that is either not yet in existence or, at the very least, prohibitively expensive.

Enter Google Research’s latest foray into collaborative workflows. Open Project doesn’t simply share the data or files with others, it shares the Android app itself. The name “project” might be a bit misleading since Open Project doesn’t simply display your smartphone or tablet screen on another display, it allows full interaction with the projected app, just as you would control the app on the mobile device. All that’s needed to make it work is an Android device with an app that includes the Open Project library, a display, preferably a large touch screen monitor, and an Open Project server that simply handles the communication between the two.

The display shows a QR code that a device scans to initiate the process. Users can then select the position and size of the projected window. Once the app is projected onto the display, users can interact with the app on the display or even on the smartphone itself. All the processes and hard work actually still happens locally on the smartphone, so the external display’s only minimum requirement is that it can display a web browser. And of course some input method, whether it be touchscreen or a keyboard and mouse. If a picture can paint a thousand words, then moving pictures can probably paint a million, so here’s a video of Open Project in action.

Being still at its infancy, it’s too early to say if the concept, and the implementation, will catch on in the long run. But with such simple and relatively affordable hardware requirements, it might not be too difficult to get it working in most workplaces in the near future.

Download: Open Project whitepaper

VIA: TechCrunch

Dolphin Browser takes on Google, partners with global search services

Dolphin, the popular mobile web browser, is anything but ambitious. The company is now announcing a partnership with several big names in the international search engine business in its efforts to expand into the global market, potentially snubbing search giant Google in the process.

Dolphin’s new partners are the search engine leaders in their respective countries, including Yandex in Russia, Baidu in China, Yahoo! Japan, and the privacy-oriented DuckDuckGo. This is part of the company’s campaign to bring more relevant local content and services to its target users in different countries and to become the de facto gateway to the Internet in what Dolphin calls as “mobile-first” countries, where people connect to the Internet primarily or mostly via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

This move takes Dolphin dangerously close to Google’s turf. Google, who started out as a search engine, also develops its own browser, Google Chrome, which is available on desktops and mobile devices. Dolphin CEO Yongzhi Yang concedes that in the US, Google, and Apple, dominate the browser market, but it’s an open market in the global level. Dolphin prides itself in its localization features, with 21 supported languages, focusing on making the web accessible to other countries where Google doesn’t hold much sway.

The competition sounds like David and Goliath and it will be interesting to observe how it plays out in the days ahead. Dolphin, however, might be at a disadvantage even in the so-called “mobile-first” countries. With its focus on mobile platforms, Dolphin, unlike Google, does not have a version of its software for the desktop, which still makes up a substantial number of devices that connect to the Internet.

SOURCE: Dolphin

EU to require phone makers to use standard charger

Citing the alarming growth of e-waste, a European Union committee has unanimously voted to require all smartphone, and probably tablets as well, manufacturers to use the same type of charger. While many such European companies have already adopted a common charger interface, this could potentially pose problems for Apple who has consistently been using its own proprietary connections.

As part of its efforts to have a universal charger, the internal market and consumer protection committee of the European Union voted to introduce legislation that would require companies to use a single system for all their devices. In practice, however, companies have already been using micro USB connectors ever since it was chosen as the region’s official standard in 2010 by the European Union. This resolution, then, would only serve to make the practice legally binding, which should not pose much of a problem with most companies.

The same cannot be said, however, for Apple. The Cupertino-based creator of iPhones and iPads have been using its own 30-pin and Lightning connectors, which, as many already know, do not work with any other device other than Apple’s products. Although Lightning to micro USB and 30-pin to micro USB adapaters exist, with the latter only available in Europe, this new mandate might force Apple at the very least, to include such adapters right out of the box.

That said, the resolution isn’t final, as it still has to go through a long parliamentary procedure that will take the committee decision to the council, then to the Parliament, and then finally to voting. That should give Apple enough time to get its business in order or to offer its objections on the matter.

VIA: CNET

Final Fantasy V, Kingdom Rush Frontiers hit Google Play Store

‘Tis going to be a fun-packed season ahead as new games and sequels to hit titles begin to hit Android. In this round we have the next installment to the popular Kingdom Rush as well as the debut of a classic Final Fantasy title.

First up is Kingdom Rush: Frontiers, bringing back the addictive tower defense game to Android. Better, bigger, and badder. Don’t let the tiny and cute graphics fool you into panning this finger-numbing fast-paced game. Guide your armies over new terrains, including deserts, jungles, and the underworld. Choose from 11 heroes to prepare your territory against sandworms, shamans, and other new enemies. And, of course, there will be epic boss fights.

As reported last week, the fifth epic story in the Final Fantasy franchise has also now arrived on Android. Although it is more than 20 years old now, Final Fantasy V has captured the hearts of many gamers with its revamped graphics and improved job system, not to mention the Final Fantasy hallmarks of epic story lines, unforgettable characters, and, of course, random monster encounters. You can watch the launch trailer for Android below.

Kingdom Rush: Frontiers can be yours for $2.99 while Final Fantasy V carries a heavier price tag of $15.99, both available now from Google Play Store.

Download: Kingdom Rush: Frontiers, Final Fantasy V

The story behind Google’s design sense U-turn

The words “Google” and “design” are not usually two words you utter in the same breath without some sort of negation in between. But for the the past years Google has, slowly but surely, made strides in reinventing itself and its products, bringing it much closer to that aesthetic domain that has previously solely been Apple’s purview.

April 4, 2011. That seems to be what Google’s designers regard as the date that ushered in the company’s design revolution. It was the day that Larry Page took over the reigns as Google’s CEO. Before then, Google was both famous for its extreme minimalistic and functional aesthetic and, at the same time, notorious for lacking any sense of unity and harmony. But as times, technology, and users change, so did Google need to adapt to become not just relevant, but also desirable.

Google underwent a face lift that was gradual yet noticeable. Android needed to be more than powerful, which no one disputes, but also less daunting and more beautiful. Google services had to transition from being disparate entities, each sporting its own team’s design sensibility, to a unified look and behavior under Page’s “One Beautiful Google” mandate. The results are the redesigned Android, Google Now, Google Maps, Chromebook Pixel, the new Nexus 7, Google Glass, Chromecast, and more. Products that do not eschew design as an excuse for being powerful.

Design at Google is still not perfect, but the journey is far from over. In just a few years Google has come a long way, but it still has a bit of traveling to do. But if this trend is any indication, Google will soon be a company that provides not only the technology and power that we’ve grown to depend on, but will also exude a sense of beauty and finish that we will grow to love and desire.

VIA: Fast Company

Samsung, Huawei, others form MobileBench benchmarking consortium

Benchmarks are the bread and butter not just of device reviews, but more importantly of fine-tuning and analyzing hardware performance to deliver the best user experience. It is no wonder, then, that device manufacturers are interested in creating benchmarking tools that will enable developers to more properly gauge the device and the platform, and to that end the MobileBench consortium was born.

In a meeting in Shenzhen, China, Samsung, Huawei, OPPO, Broadcom, and Spreadtrum have formed the new industry group that aims to develop and standardize better benchmarking tools to assist mobile device designers and developers in assessing system performance. Through unbiased tests and guidelines, MobileBench also wants to provide users with a better ruler to measure the overall user experience and, therefore, help them make informed purchases.

The MobileBench consortium will first focus on developers and platform designers and plans to release two professional tools soon. The MobileBench tool is targeted at engineers and system designers and will let them benchmark not only individual components but also perform more complex tasks. The MobileBench-UX benchmark tool, on the other hand, focuses more on the end-user side of the experience, measuring activities such as multi-tasking, video viewing and recording, and more. The group also plans to release a consumer version of the tools that will let users perform benchmarks on their own with more standardized results.

Curiously absent from the roster of members are Qualcomm and NVIDIA whose respective Snapdragon and TEGRA chips power a large majority of mobile devices in the world. The MobileBench consortium, however, is said to be still seeking new members, so it remains to be seen if the two system-on-chip giants will be jumping in to provide truly standardized and impartial benchmarking tools.

VIA: Engadget

Clash of Clans invades Android, still in closed beta

It is always good to hear when developers and publishers finally decide to spread the success of their products to the throng of Android uses all over the world, such as the case of Supercell. The developer behind the Clash of Clans has finally relented and is now bringing the hit game to Android.

Like a lot of developers, Supercell found Apple’s iOS to be a more lucrative platform and has refused to port their game to Android. That is, until recently. It seems that last month, Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen found some wisdom in also catering to Android, especially if the company wants to make inroads in Asian, and we daresay add, other emerging markets, where Google’s open mobile platform has taken a stronger foothold. And so it seems that Supercell is making good on its word.

In a Supercell fan meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday, the company sneakily inserted the announcement of the beta for Clash of Clans at the end of the 3-hour event. Those who have already left by then were disappointed at not being there when the momentous revelation was made, but the move was nonetheless met with undulated delight by Android-wielding fans of the game.

Unfortunately, the game is still in limited-access beta and there have been no details yet on how to get into the VIP list, if possible at all at this point. But if it just took the company a month or so to go from “considering Android” to “almost on Android”, we can probably expect a public release of the game very soon.

VIA: The Next Web