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9 most important announcements at Google I/O 2015

What's new with GoogleGoogle I/O, the search giant's annual developer conference, kicked off yesterday with a number of big announcements. Here are some of the more interesting and impactful items we learned about Google's upcoming software initiatives.Android MGoogle announced Android 6.0 is coming later this year. Tentatively dubbed Android M – we're sure a candy-themed name like Milky Way is likely to be announced soon – the next iteration of Android promises to improve overall speed, performance, and polish, while introducing a number of interesting features.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Seven things Google is doing to please developers

At its I/O keynote, Google did its best to get developers excited about building apps for Android with new tools and money-making schemes. But Google is also expanding support for developers who’d rather create iOS apps.Google hasn’t always been the best partner a developer could have, but this year’s I/O conference is showing how that’s changing with better developer tools and services. Here are some of the most important ones announced by the company during the opening keynote.Android Studio gets C/C++ supportGoogle launched a preview of Android Studio version 1.3, which includes some useful features. The most notable addition to the IDE is code editing and debugging for C and C++. This means Java and C/C++ code support is integrated into one environment free of charge for Android app developers, letting them choose between the two languages. The implementation is based on the JetBrains Clion platform, and the Google NDK (native development kit) plugin provides features such as error correction and code completion. Version 1.3 also offers faster build speeds and a new memory profile.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How wearables will shape the future of mobile payments

Last week, at the Wearable World Congress in San Francisco, executives from Capital One, MasterCard and PayPal participated in an animated discussion about the future of mobile payments and explained why wearable technology is an important part of their companies' game plans.Speaking from a shadowy stage in the city's Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, just spitting distance from the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean, Stephane Wyper, MasterCard's vice president of startup engagement and acceleration, said MasterCard's is focused on leveraging the latest and greatest gadgets, including wearables, to create loyal customers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Skip the waiter and order with this Bluetooth mat

If you hate waiting for restaurant servers and can’t abide mistakes in your order, there’s an app—and a mat—for that.Putmenu lets diners send their choices directly to a restaurant’s kitchen once they place their smartphone on a smart mat. All they have to do is pick up the mat’s ID via a Bluetooth LE link, order through the app and wait for the food to arrive.Of course, it also minimizes human interaction with restaurant staff and could threaten their jobs. But someone still has to bring out the food.At a demo in Tokyo on Friday, a smartphone with the app was placed on the Bluetooth mat. The mat’s ID was immediately registered, allowing burgers on a mock menu to be ordered. The order was then printed by a cloud-linked kitchen terminal.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Friday, May 29

Google I/O brings a boatload of updates for mobile, payments, Internet of ThingsGoogle’s annual I/O conference was chock-full of developments, starting with the next update to its mobile operating system, code-named Android M. Improvements to the core user experience include an overhauled permissions system. The bottom line is that it should be easier for developers to get users to install and update their apps, because they will no longer ask users to agree to a long list of permissions up front. Instead, apps will query users when they try to use a feature that requires a permission, and let them allow or deny those at will.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Daum Kakao hopes social network Path will lead to international expansion

Social network Path will soon be under new ownership.The privacy-focused service found few friends in its native San Francisco, notching up just 10 million regular users in five years of existence, most of them in Southeast Asia.That geographical focus, though, has caught the attention of Daum Kakao Communications, the South Korean company behind the popular instant messaging platform KakaoTalk, which sees Path as the perfect way for it to expand internationally.Social networking services need to reach a critical mass of users to survive in a community. Some become global successes, but others succeed only regionally. Google’s Orkut found that mass only in Brazil before closing last September, while Path found success in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, where it is one of the top three social networking services, according to Daum Kakao.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google hypes Android M, Android Pay, Google Photos at I/O 2015

Google kicked off its annual I/O developer conference Thursday in San Francisco, showing off a new version of Android, a VR camera rig, numerous developer resources, and a lot more besides in an opening keynote that took up the better part of two hours.Senior vice president of product Sundar Pichai emceed the event, which Google says attracted 6,000-plus developers and featured presentations from engineering vice president David Burke, engineering vice president Jen Fitzgerald, Android Wear director David Singleton, director of product management Aparna Chennapragada, among others.Much of what had been rumored before the show did, indeed, appear on stage at the Moscone Center – including the aforementioned new Android version, Google Photos, Android Pay and more. But there were conspicuous absences, as well – Google didn’t mention its enterprise-focused products like Android and Apps for Work, nor the rumored Project Fi wireless service, or the Project Ara modular smartphone.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

College kids to the rescue with IT support startup HelloTech

Not that Baby Boomers or Gen X homeowners are clueless about technology, but startup HelloTech is banking on people of a certain age needing a bit of assistance to live the Internet of Things dream.The West Los Angeles startup this week announced it has added $2 million in venture funding to the $2.5 million it attracted last fall to expand the on-demand, in-home tech support service that it officially rolled out this week in LA.CEO Richard Wolpert, a 4-time startup founder whose background includes stints as president of Disney Online and chief strategy officer at RealNetworks, says the need for HelloTech has been borne out of the explosion of new and useful home technologies and the decline in retail tech outlets (aside from Best Buy and its Geek Squad) that offer tech installation/support.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google’s Project Brillo is an OS for the home — and a lot more

Google has made a big play for the Internet of Things, announcing a new OS on Thursday that will connect appliances around the home and allow them to be controlled from an Android smartphone or tablet.Dubbed Project Brillo, it’s a stripped down version of Google’s Android OS that will run on door locks, ovens, heating systems and other devices that have a small memory footprint, and allow them to communicate and work together.Project Brillo also includes a communications layer, called Weave, that provides a common language developers can use to locate devices on a network and tap into their capabilities, said Sundar Pichai, Google senior vice president, who announced the system at Google’s I/O conference in San Francisco.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google takes another swing at payments with Android Pay

Google is overhauling its approach to mobile payments with Android Pay, which will let people use their smartphone to make payments in brick and mortar stores as well as in apps like Lyft and GrubHub.The changes are an effort by Google to reclaim momentum in the area of mobile payments, where Apple Pay has been fast taking hold and other rivals like Samsung’s LoopPay are emerging.Android Pay will be incorporated into the next version of Android, currently known as Android M, which was unveiled at Google’s I/O conference for developers in San Francisco Thursday. The service will also work with previous versions of Android as far back as KitKat, said Dave Burke, VP of engineering at Google.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FCC proposal would extend Lifeline voice subsidy to broadband

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will consider including broadband within a controversial program that subsidizes telephone or mobile service for poor people.Recipients of the FCC’s Lifeline program, which provides a US$9.25 monthly subsidy for voice service, could use that money to purchase broadband service instead under a proposal from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Eligible households would continue to receive one $9.25 monthly subsidy, and they could choose whether to apply the money to traditional telephone service, mobile service or broadband, FCC officials said Thursday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

20 best iPhone/iPad games

GamesAs we head toward summer 2015, it’s time to check in and see how the mobile gaming industry has fared for Apple iOS platforms, the iPhone and iPad. Here’s a look at top rated games issued so far this year, based on App Store user reviews and professional reviewers on Metacritic. We hope you’ll discover a few hidden gems in here.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cellphone use involved in more than 1 in 4 car crashes

Cellphone-related car crashes were up for the third straight year in the United States and now account for more than one in four crashes, according to the National Safety Council.The nonprofit council created by Congress in 1913, a few years before cellphones came onto the scene, has based its latest report on crash stats from 2013. Its numbers involve crashes involving drivers who are texting or talking on either handheld or hands-free phones.  The Council estimates texting-related crashes rose from 5% to 6% while those involving talking on phones stayed at 21%, for a total of 27% of the 5.7 million crashes in 2013.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Not even an Apple Watch can save shirtless dad bod

Maybe I don't get out enough, but I haven't seen too many Apple Watches in the wild yet. The first 2 I saw belonged to fellow IDG Enterprise editors, who were wielding them at our recent offsite editorial meeting. Both gave "so far, so good" reviews to the devices. The third one I spotted in the wild was at a big concert in Boston this past weekend and the wearer made quite an impression on those in the vicinity. Aside from sunglasses, the only apparel he wore above his waist was the Apple Watch with blue wristband. He was the only shirtless guyI remember seeing at the event, which attracted a mainly college/20-something demographic that I sense this gent was not a member of.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Thursday, May 28

Lenovo’s concept smartphone lets you interact with projected imagesA Lenovo concept smartphone that’s fitted with a laser projector module can display content on a hard surface, like a table or wall, where users will be able to interact with the projected images. On Thursday, Lenovo showed off “Smart Cast,” which can also read the gestures of users interacting with the projected images: in one demo, a user was able to play a song on the image of a piano keyboard projected onto a table.Google said to be planning a do-over on mobile paymentsTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Lenovo shows smartphone that lets users interact with projected content

Smartphones and smartwatches won’t just display content, but will also be able to beam it on to tabletops, walls and even to the eye, according to Lenovo.More remarkably, users will be able to interact with the projected images.On Thursday, Lenovo unveiled a concept smartphone called “Smart Cast” that’s fitted with a laser projector module on top of the device. The feature lets the handset display the phone’s content on a hard surface, like a table or wall.However, the phone isn’t just a mobile digital projector. It can also read the gestures of users interacting with the projected images. In a demo, the Chinese company showed off the concept device, by using it to project a virtual piano keyboard on a table. The user could then play a song on the keyboard.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

After medical marijuana, Sidecar eyes alcohol and pharmaceuticals

Earlier this month, Sidecar expanded its mobile ride hailing service to deliver medical marijuana in San Francisco. It’s not the only substance the startup wants to bring to your door.Sidecar is in talks with potential partners to deliver alcohol and pharmaceutical drugs to its users, said CEO Sunil Paul. And in case you’re craving them badly, it will get them to you in an hour. It’s not yet delivering those items but plans to by the end of the year, Paul said in an interview Wednesday.Sidecar’s ride hailing service works similarly to that of Uber and Lyft, with a few differences. The app lets riders choose from a list of drivers who are able to set their own fares. And the company claims to be more transparent than rivals when surge pricing is in effect, specifying the exact fare up front. Still, Sidecar hasn’t proved as popular as Uber and Lyft and is active in far fewer cities.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft app store gets a spring clean before Windows 10 launch

Microsoft is cleaning house in the Windows Store, enacting policies that could see some apps removed as it tries to reduce clutter and ensure fair pricing ahead of the Windows 10 launch later this year.The new policies, designed to make it easier for users to find quality apps, will also clamp down on developers who abuse keywords to game the Store’s search results.First off, Microsoft wants to ensure users can distinguish between different apps, which means developers will need to use icons that accurately reflect what a program does, and that aren’t too similar to other app icons in the store. The same rules will apply to application titles, and to application functionality.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FCC ruling could bolster robocall battle

The Federal Communications Commission could soon clear a path to help in the ongoing battle to fight unwanted and in many cases illegal robocalls and text messages.FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is proposing a number of changes that the FCC says would “close loopholes and strengthen consumer protections already on the books,” such as the widely used Do-Not-Call Registry. The FCC proposals were in response to industry players who sought clarity on how the Commission enforces the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)."The FCC wants to make it clear: Telephone companies can – and in fact should – offer consumers robocall-blocking tools," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a blog post. In the past some carriers we concerned that blocking automated calls could be construed as violations of the TCPA that requires them to ensure that all calls placed over their networks reach their intended recipients.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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