Here's a Google Glass double story for you this morning.

First, we have some intriguing intel for Google Glass developers. It looks like Google plans to subtly tempt developers to hack Glass on purpose. According to insider sources, one of Google I/O's sessions this week will be dedicated specifically to giving developers root access to Glass, with the intent of encouraging them to create experimental applications. Despite the fact that your warranty will be voided if you gain root access to the device, Google actively wants developers to pursue this, just to see how far they can take their creative energies. ~ Technology Review

Second, we wanted to take a moment and gauge interest in Google's newest "outside the box" product. Google Glass has become a polarizing device in the media. Almost everyday we hear stories of people & groups who hate it or love it. Of course, there are also some folks who are cautiously skeptical and sitting firmly in the middle on this device. This gives us the perfect opportunity for a Thursday morning poll. Here's the gist of it below,

Are you excited by the prospect of Google Glass and think it could be a highly successful new gadget in the future?
Do you think Google Glass is a silly toy that will flop as badly as the Segway?
Or, are you not quite sure what to make of this creature yet, and want to wait until the final retail launch to offer your judgement?

Share your perspective in the poll and the thread.

Amongst the plethora of new stuff Google announced at the Google I/O 2013 Keynote yesterday, one of the new services they will be offering is actually pretty exciting because of how mundane, yet useful it will be. Google plans to offer a new service soon in which you can send and/or receive money to friends directly through Google Wallet or even just through Gmail! What's really amazing about it is that if you are sending money via Google Wallet, there will be no fees at all, the transaction will be completely free. Sending through Gmail will incur a small fee, but for the added convenience it is to be expected. Here's a video above demoing the service, and a full quote from Google's blog below for more of the details,

Paying back your friends is now as simple as sending an email, whether you’re chipping in for lunch or reimbursing your roommate for your share of the rent.

Google Wallet is now integrated with Gmail, so you can quickly and securely send money to friends and family directly within Gmail -- even if they don’t have a Gmail address. It's free to send money if your bank account is linked to Google Wallet or using your Google Wallet Balance, and low fees apply to send money using your linked credit or debit card.

To send money in Gmail, hover over the attachment paperclip, click the $ icon to attach money to your message, enter the amount you wish to send, and press send.

While sending money in Gmail is currently only available on desktop, you can send money from Google Wallet at wallet.google.com from your phone or laptop. You will need to have set up Google Wallet to send and receive money, and Google Wallet Purchase Protection covers you 100% against eligible unauthorized payments.

We’re rolling out this feature over the coming months to all U.S. Gmail users over 18 years old, so keep an eye out for the $ icon in the attachment options. You can also get earlier access if your friends have the feature and send money to you.

To learn more, visit our website.

Source: GMail Blog

For any of our members who had to miss the Google I/O 2013 keynote, they made the entire 4 hour event available on YouTube. Here it is above if you have half a workday to spare now. Enjoy!

For weeks now we have been hearing rumors about a new Hangouts unified messaging service from Google. Today at Google I/O they made it official and shared the details,

• Hangouts combines all Google messaging services including Google Talk, Google+ Hangouts and Google Messenger
• It will be available starting Wednesday on Google Chrome OS, Android and iOS
• It can also be accessed through desktop versions of Google+ and Gmail
• Hangouts will also allow users to save text, images and videos from any of their chats conducted across all platforms
• It will also allow you to access them through Google’s cloud storage service
• Hangouts will also let users start video calls with up to 10 people at the same time

Even though Google hasn't really announced any cool new gadgets (other than the unlocked pure Android SGS4), it is obvious they have been focusing hardcore on developing better software experiences. It's sometimes easy to forget that not all major technological advances are physical objects. Software is what drives our devices to do so much, and it's developers that make this amazing stuff possible.

Source: Google I/O

One of the most exciting things shared at Google I/O this year is some major improvements to their Google Now voice search functionality. In fact, they made it clear their intention is to eventually eliminate "search as we know it." The keynote speaker for the Google Now service made it clear that his dream since childhood was to create a computer experience in which the user communicated via voice with the device, just like in "Star Trek the Next Generation" TV series. The Google Now team has evolved the product to a whole new level, and although we aren't quite to the Star Trek level of things, the new functionality is dramatically closer than before.

For folks who have had the pleasure of using Google Now, it is an amazing and truly useful tool, but it's new functionality takes that much further. The demonstration shared several new focuses and features for the service.

First, they updated the intelligent search feature “knowledge graph,” and it now attempt to anticipate future searches based on past and current queries and your location. It now offers a much more personal experience as well. One of the examples in the demo found our user asking Google Now in plain conversational English a number of useful questions, including flight times, geographic locations and features, and much more. It can even interpret your intent and offer information without you sharing very many details in your query.

Google also added a hands-free conversational search to the Chrome browser, and users can start the voice recognition software with a simple, "okay Google." Google responds with a search result and an audio answer. It can even display cards in your browser after a search to allow you to categorize better.

Ultimately, describing this functionality is much less impressive than seeing it demonstrated. Eventually Google will likely make the keynote video available and when they do, be sure to start watching at about the 2 minute mark to see the new Google Now functions demonstrated in real-time. It's amazing how far we have come toward fulfilling that dream of voice communicated control of our devices.

Source: Google I/O

Google has announced their new music streaming service today at Google I/O. The music service will come as part of Google Play Music, and gets a subscription tag called 'All Access.' Some of the great features you get with All Access:

• Immediate and instant access to millions of tracks and Albums
• Recommended Playlists
• Featured lists and genre's
• Can be accessed via Browser, PC, Tablet, and Smartphone
• Turn your listening/artist preference into your own 'radio station'
• Ability to skip, move and delete tracks from your 'radio station'

The service is launching today in the US with a FREE 30-day trial. Following the trial, the service will cost just $9.99 per month, but if you try out the service before June 30th, Google will give you full access for only $7.99/month.

As originally posted by "cereal killer" on DroidForums.net

Those crafty Googlers at Google I/O this year shared a ton of new info regarding the direction of Android, the Google Play Store and the services and software for developers and consumers. We wanted to share a quick breakdown of what they said.

First, Android activations are already up to 900 Million total. This means we will easily hit the 1 Billion marke before the end of the year. As far as app installs go, 48 Billion apps have been installed from the Google Play Store, with 2.5 Billion last month alone. This has had a huge positive effect for devlopers, as revenue payed out to developers has risen by 2.5x per user in just one month.

They also announced several new services for both developers and consumers. Here's a breakdown of new Google Play Services,

There are three new Google Maps APIs

• Fused Location Provide which is a new location API - it is faster & more accurate and uses far less power than before
• Geofencing - creates virtual fences
• Activity Recognition - helps the Google Maps recognize whether you are driving, walking, riding a bike and more

Google Created a new Google IM cross platform sign-on which got the press and developers pretty excited.

They also improved GCM (Google Cloud Messaging)

• Now supports persistent communication with servers
• Now supports upstream messaging
• Synchronizes notifications across multiple devices

Google also announced their new Google Play Gaming Services and Gaming APIs

• Cloud Safe - saves user data across multiple devices (you can finish level one of a game on your phone and start where you left off on your tablet for example.)
• Achievements and Leaderboards - encourages friendly competition with friends - check out your rankings compared to others - allows for cross platform comparisons
• Comprehensive Player Matching Service for Multiplayer - Easy to invite & quickly find and join friends or new people for multiplayer gaming

Android Studio - based upon IntelliJ

• Allows developers to be faster & more productive
• Includes multi-configuration editor - can make easy alterations for apps across multiple sized and multi-language devices & more

Google Play Developer Console has been improved with 5 exciting new features

• Optimization Tips
• App Translation Service
• Referral Tracking
• Revenue Graphs
• Beta Testing & Staged Rollouts

Finally, they also shared their new Google Play improvements including a UI that scales across multiple devices and a similar design for the web based version.

After this they showed off their new Google Music Subscription service called "All Access" which is a pretty big deal for the industry and will shake things up a bit. You can read more about that at our separate story from "CK." They topped things off by announced the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition Pure Android Unlocked device.

Of course, the keynote is still going on, and they are diving... [Read More]