We were surprised to see no new Nexus hardware at Google I/O on Wednesday. We were expecting at least a new Nexus 7, and possible a white Nexus 4 with 32GB of storage. The closest we got was a Samsung Galaxy S4 “Nexus edition” with stock Android.
But we may not have to wait too long before Google updates its 7-inch slate. In fact, it looks like the company has already begun teasing the device in its new promotional video for Google Hangouts.
Google unveiled a ton of astonishing new features, updates and applications at the Google I/O keynote on Wednesday, however something they failed to mention was the brand new update for their YouTube application for the Google TV.
RunKeeper on the Pebble is like having your own personal trainer.
The Pebble smartwatch was a runaway success on Kickstarter, and backers have been receiving units in the mail for the past several months. Nearly 70,000 Pebbles have been shipped, and today the watch’s SDK has been updated to allow two-way communication between the Pebble and mobile apps. Pebble is encouraging devs to create “watchapps” that can “send and receive data from a connected smartphone app.”
Apps were previously restricted to the Pebble’s basic functions, but now nearly every facet of the watch can be controlled with (and control) a third-party iOS or Android app.
The new Google Hangouts app for Android and iOS is the best messaging service Google’s produced yet, but one thing that will probably prevent it from taking off is its lack of SMS support.
If you tried the Hangouts yesterday you probably noticed the amount of people you can talk to is sparse. That’s because Hangouts only uses Google+ to connect to other humans so all of your friends would have to sign up for Google+ before you can use Hangouts to send them a message.
The dearth of people on Google+ probably means that Hangouts isn’t quite ready to be your go-to messaging app quite yet, however, Google’s Community Manager says SMS integration is coming to Hangouts soon.
Handheld games consoles like the Nintendo 3DS and the Sony PlayStation Vita have long been suffering at the hands of smartphones and tablets. But the latest data from IDC and App Annie should give handheld game developers — including Nintendo — something to really think about.
While consumer spending on Android and iOS continued to rise during the first quarter of 2013, it fell considerably on handhelds.
