June 2012 Summaries

Google I/O 2012, held in San Francisco, concluded with significant announcements and demonstrations, marking it as one of the most remarkable events to date with over 5,500 developers attending in person and millions more joining online globally. Major highlights included the launch of Google's first tablet, Nexus 7, and the Nexus Q, a social streaming media player, as well as the introduction of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which offered smoother graphics and new features. Other key announcements were Google Now, a new search experience on Android, Google+ Events, and Google+ apps for tablets, along with a live demonstration of Project Glass during a skydive, and the introduction of Chrome for iOS and offline support in Google Docs. The event also saw the limited preview launch of the Google Compute Engine, with additional updates spanning across various Google platforms, including Google Drive, Maps, and App Engine.

Google has introduced new educational initiatives to support and enhance the skills of developers around the world, unveiled during the Google I/O event attended by over 5,000 developers. In addition to Google Developers Live, which facilitates real-time interaction between developers and Google engineers, the company announced the launch of Google Developers Academy and Google Developers University Consortium. Google Developers Academy offers training materials on various Google technologies, including Google App Engine, Google Drive, YouTube, and advertising APIs, with plans for regular updates. Meanwhile, the Google Developers University Consortium aims to foster a collaborative academic community by providing a platform for educators and researchers to share and exchange teaching materials, research, and insights on Google's developer tools. These programs are designed to build and enhance the skill set of current and future developers, aiding them in creating innovative applications.

Google Compute Engine, launched by Google in 2012, is an Infrastructure-as-a-Service offering that allows users to run Linux Virtual Machines on Google's robust infrastructure, which powers its own services like web indexing and search queries. This service provides scalable computing resources, enabling users to launch large compute clusters with consistent performance, thanks to Google's sophisticated network technology. Google Compute Engine offers notable cost-effectiveness by providing 50% more compute power for the money compared to other leading cloud providers, leveraging the economies of scale achieved by Google's efficient data centers. The service includes features such as on-demand virtual cores, various storage options, high-performance networking, and a scriptable command line tool for VM management, complemented by partnerships with companies like RightScale and Puppet Labs to facilitate cloud migration and management. Initially available in limited preview, Google Compute Engine is part of Google's broader effort to empower developers and businesses by offering flexible and powerful cloud solutions, positioning itself as a key player in the evolving cloud computing landscape.

Google announced Version 2 of the Google Drive SDK at Google I/O in 2012, offering significant updates such as an expanded API, a simplified developer experience, and full mobile support for Android and iOS apps. The new Drive API enhances file operations by providing methods for listing, searching, converting formats, copying, managing revisions, and sharing files, and it is designed with open standards like RESTful architecture, JSON, and OAuth2 for authorization. The update facilitates easier integration with mobile apps, allowing them to securely access Google Drive for reading and writing files, while also simplifying web app development with features like the embeddable sharing component and support for Google document formats in various export formats. Users can now access and edit files on mobile devices similarly to the web, eliminating the need for Chrome Web Store installations, and new Drive apps are being introduced, ranging from mobile photo editors to cloud-based IDEs. Developers interested in integrating their applications with Google Drive can find detailed documentation on the Google Developers website, and support is available through Stack Overflow.

In June 2012, Google introduced significant enhancements to Google Apps Script, unveiling them at Google I/O to enable developers to create more sophisticated applications and share them more efficiently. Originally designed to enhance Google spreadsheets, Apps Script has evolved into a comprehensive platform that extends functionalities to Google Sites and web applications. The introduction of script.google.com allows developers to create and store scripts directly in Google Drive, facilitating easy sharing like other Google documents. HtmlService now supports the creation of web apps using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, with safety ensured by Google Caja, while ScriptDb offers an embedded JSON database for more efficient data storage and retrieval. Apps can now run with user authorization, increasing their versatility, and developers can publish their apps directly to the Chrome Web Store. Extensive documentation and support resources, including a new user guide and community interaction on Stack Overflow, accompany these updates, making it easier for developers to leverage these new features and distribute their applications globally.

Maile Ohye, a Developer Advocate at Google, offers succinct advice for startups looking to enhance their website's search engine optimization (SEO) without extensive time investment. She emphasizes that meta keywords tags are irrelevant for Google search, while titles and meta descriptions deserve attention due to their usefulness. Ohye suggests a quick video for gaining SEO insights in just ten minutes, promising startups peace of mind with minimal effort. Additional resources are available on Google's developer site, and she encourages startups in their entrepreneurial pursuits.

EdgeCast Networks, a major content delivery network operator, has integrated Google's mod_pagespeed into its core Application Delivery Network (ADN) service to enhance web performance by rewriting and optimizing HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and images. This integration allows EdgeCast to offer real-time optimizations and leverage the full computational capacity of their edge nodes, which can significantly improve web page loading times. Early results indicate a pageview performance improvement of up to 77% when using the ADN service with mod_pagespeed, and a standalone performance boost of 33% with mod_pagespeed alone. Gogotech, an e-commerce solution provider, is evaluating these services and sees potential in further enhancing their client offerings. The collaboration between Google and EdgeCast aims to make the web faster for users worldwide, with both companies bringing significant expertise and technology to the project.

Google I/O, the annual developer conference, is set to begin on June 27, 2012, offering more than 130 technical sessions, 20 code labs, and 155 Sandbox partners, with options for global participation through over 350 I/O Extended events and live streaming via I/O Live. The conference will feature keynotes on June 27 and 28, which can be viewed on desktops or through the Google I/O mobile app, and will include live sessions on Android, Chrome, Google+, and various APIs, with videos available afterward on Google Developers Live. Additionally, there will be behind-the-scenes content, including interviews, tours, and continued live streaming during the After Hours party, where Google has collaborated with entertainers and visionaries for an engaging evening. Mike Winton, the founder and leader of Google's global Developer Relations organization, plays a key role in the event, which aims to provide a comprehensive and interactive experience for developers worldwide.

Scott Knaster's post on the Google Developers Blog discusses the importance of preserving endangered languages, highlighting Google's efforts through the Endangered Languages Project, which serves as an online repository for research, documents, and recordings of vulnerable languages. The blog also mentions the innovative work of University of Houston students who developed a translation device for converting sign language to spoken English and vice versa, emphasizing the significance of bridging communication gaps. Additionally, it touches on the intriguing subject of interspecies communication with an example of a dog, Shinook, that comprehends sign language commands. The post is part of the Fridaygram series, which shares interesting tidbits from Google and beyond, appealing to tech enthusiasts and highlighting the broader cultural and technological intersections of language.

Vincent Nguyen, co-founder of Android Community and SlashGear, shares his anticipation and strategic approach for Google I/O 2012, an event known for its mix of innovation and developer focus. Having attended since its inception in 2008, Nguyen notes the evolution of the conference into a major platform for Google to showcase its latest technologies and initiatives. He discusses the dual focus of his coverage: while SlashGear will take a consumer-centric approach to highlight technologies that could impact daily life, Android Community will delve into more technical specifics for its advanced readership. Nguyen anticipates significant discussions around Android's growth, app accessibility, security, and privacy, as well as potential developments in Google TV and wearable computing like Project Glass. He emphasizes the importance of the event for developers to engage with Google's engineers and the excitement of uncovering unexpected announcements. Despite not everyone being able to attend, Nguyen and his team aim to convey the event's insights and enthusiasm to a broader audience through their reporting.

Will Smidlein, a 15-year-old developer, shares his enthusiasm for attending Google I/O 2012, highlighting the invaluable opportunity to learn from leading developers and explore new technologies such as HTML5 and Android. Starting his programming journey at age 10, Will has developed various web-based projects and values the chance to connect with fellow developers in person, beyond their online identities. He emphasizes the importance of diversifying one's skills and leveraging events like Google I/O to gain insights from experts and try new programming languages. Will advises young developers to focus on learning and building connections in the tech community, rather than rushing to build a portfolio, to gain a competitive edge in the future. Despite the event's costs, he finds the experience of engaging with top-tier developers and learning directly from the creators of programming languages to be irreplaceable.

Google I/O 2012 is approaching, and Nils Hitze, the founder of GTUG Munich, is organizing an I/O Extended event in Munich to offer a community-oriented experience for those who can't attend in person. This event will feature public viewing of Google I/O sessions, complemented by a BarCamp and an Android Hackathon, providing attendees with opportunities to engage in discussions and innovate. Nils highlights the importance of such gatherings for fostering creativity and collaboration among developers, and he expresses personal interest in learning more about ADK and Project Glass. He emphasizes the uniqueness of I/O Extended Munich as a tech-focused public viewing event akin to sports event viewings, complete with local culture elements like beer steins. Despite not attending Google I/O in person due to family commitments, Nils values the scale and networking opportunities the event offers, alongside its impressive array of technological showcases and influential attendees.

Aygul Zagidullina and Misha Matiyenko-Kupriyanov, passionate Google Developer Group (GDG) leaders, share their experiences and excitement as they prepare for Google I/O 2012, a key event for developers focused on Google technologies. The couple, who even spent part of their honeymoon at the previous year's Google I/O, describe how Google products have become integral to their lives and work, helping them connect and collaborate on various projects. Aygul, a research scientist, and Misha, a web developer, are both eager to engage with the international GDG community, learn about new technologies, and attend sessions on topics such as the Google+ Platform, Android design, and Google Cloud services. Their commitment to sharing knowledge and fostering developer communities in Europe reflects their dedication to leveraging technology for both personal and professional growth, as they look forward to the innovative ideas and networking opportunities that Google I/O offers.

Google I/O 2012, a highly anticipated event for developers, is celebrated for its dynamic mix of demos, announcements, and networking opportunities, drawing attendees who are eager to explore Google technologies. Jared Goralnick from AwayFind emphasizes the importance of meeting experts and leveraging Google tools like OAuth and Google Wallet to enhance his company's offerings. Marcin Kwietniewski of Wave Accounting seeks to integrate Google Drive for better collaboration and is keen on sessions about visual design and Python for managing user data. Kevin Nilson from just.me highlights the excitement around Android and Google Maps sessions, valuing the hands-on learning experiences and the opportunity to connect with a diverse developer community. Each attendee underscores the unique value of Google I/O in fostering innovation and collaboration within the Google ecosystem.

Google Developers Live, introduced by Louis Gray from Google's Developer Relations Team, is a platform designed to extend the excitement and learning opportunities of the Google I/O conference throughout the year. This initiative offers developers worldwide access to live, interactive broadcasts, including developer-focused game shows and Office Hours, allowing direct interaction with Google engineers. By providing starter-level sessions on a range of topics such as Android, YouTube, and more, the platform aims to prepare developers for more advanced content, encouraging continuous engagement with Google's products and APIs. Google Developers Live serves as a hub for developers to connect with experts, participate in app reviews, and access original programming, ensuring that the knowledge and innovation displayed at Google I/O are accessible year-round.

Google BigQuery, launched publicly in May 2012, enables developers and businesses to derive real-time insights from vast datasets without needing hardware or software investments, and has since seen weekly feature updates to enhance its capabilities, such as supporting up to 20 concurrent queries based on data volume. This advancement allows for the creation of visually interactive dashboards, as demonstrated by collaborations with data visualization providers like QlikView and Bime. QlikView uses BigQuery to rapidly process data and provide insights, such as comparing maternal age across different regions, while Bime has developed a user-friendly interface that facilitates detailed analysis of business data, demonstrating the power of BigQuery to manage extensive data without requiring SQL management. Ju-kay Kwek and Momchil Filev, key figures in the development and business strategy of Google's Cloud Big Data initiative, highlight these innovations as part of Google's efforts to leverage its data processing infrastructure for Big Data solutions.

In June 2012, Nicolas Garnier from Google's Developer Relations announced enhancements to the OAuth 2.0 Playground, a tool designed for experimenting with the OAuth 2.0 protocol, particularly focusing on the newly launched Google Drive API. The updates allow users to test the Drive API by integrating the Playground as a Drive app, enabling users to open and access Google Drive files directly from the Drive interface. This integration allows the Playground to initiate OAuth flows to fetch file metadata, and users can also upload files using a multipart request, facilitating the creation of new files on Drive with a single API request. These enhancements aim to assist developers in building Drive-enabled web applications, and Garnier encourages developers to engage with the team via Stack Overflow and Google Groups for any inquiries.

Amid preparations for the Google I/O conference, Google is enhancing its I/O Extended events globally to be more engaging beyond mere viewing, and has unveiled the Develop For Good hackathon contest in collaboration with Google.org, aimed at leveraging technology for social good. This initiative follows Google's involvement in the Random Hacks of Kindness Global, an event uniting developers worldwide to innovate solutions for societal challenges, such as creating accessible algorithms for visually impaired users. The weekend also promises inspiration from the Chinese space program's historic manned docking mission, Shenzhou 9, featuring China's first female astronaut, and anticipation builds for NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, which aims to discover signs of life on the red planet ahead of any human missions. The blog post, authored by Ashleigh Rentz, intertwines updates on these technological and space endeavors with lighthearted mentions of geek culture, marking both Rentz's transition from Google Developers Blog Editor to a focus on space writing and the ongoing tradition of sharing intriguing developments through the Fridaygram series.

AngularJS 1.0, launched by the Google AngularJS team, introduces a framework that enhances web application development by allowing developers to use HTML as the template language and extend its syntax to clearly express application components. This release focuses on simplifying the structure of web applications through features such as unobtrusive two-way data binding, which automatically synchronizes data between the user interface and JavaScript objects without requiring additional classes or methods. AngularJS allows the creation of reusable components by extending HTML's capabilities, enabling developers to define custom elements and attributes. It also offers a straightforward way to manage views and routes with URL deep-linking and provides robust support for testing through dependency injection and an end-to-end scenario runner. The AngularJS team's goal is to reduce the complexity and boilerplate code typically involved in web client applications, and they provide extensive resources and community support to facilitate the learning and adoption of AngularJS.

Google.org and the I/O Extended team launched the "Develop for Good" Hackathon, encouraging global participation from developers to address challenges related to repressive regimes, political citizen engagement, and environmental sustainability. Participants have the opportunity to win tickets to Google I/O 2013 by creating innovative solutions for three specific challenges: conflict reporting in blackout situations, enhancing citizen engagement in politics and elections, and promoting greener practices. The hackathon invites developers to prepare and submit their projects by June 29, 2012, with winners being announced by August 1, 2012. The winning teams will receive up to five tickets to the I/O 2013 event, and the best web app across all challenges will earn its creators the latest Chromebooks. Interested developers are encouraged to join or host an I/O Extended event and can find more information on the organizers' website. Anna de Paula Hanika from Google.org emphasizes the initiative's focus on leveraging technology to improve the world.

PageSpeed Insights, developed by Libo Song and Bryan McQuade from Google's PageSpeed Insights Team, is a Chrome Developer Tools extension designed to analyze and enhance the performance of web pages. The recently released version 2.0, available on the Chrome Web Store, provides detailed analysis and specific recommendations for optimizing page load speed, such as identifying costly JavaScript calls, optimizing images, and improving the loading of third-party content. The extension integrates seamlessly with existing Developer Tools and uses technologies like Native Client and the open-source PageSpeed Insights SDK to automatically optimize web resources, including images, CSS, JavaScript, and HTML. The team encourages users to try the extension, offer feedback, and suggest new features to further improve website speed optimization.

In the June 8, 2012 edition of "Fridaygram," Scott Knaster from the Google Developers Blog highlights several intriguing topics, starting with the World IPv6 Launch, which marks a significant advancement in expanding the Internet's capacity by transitioning from 32-bit to 128-bit addresses, thereby increasing the number of available IP addresses to over 340 undecillion. The post also covers the rare astronomical event of Venus transiting across the sun, an occurrence captured in a stunning video by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Additionally, the blog embraces a touch of nostalgia with animated GIFs of classic video games for enthusiasts who enjoy retro gaming experiences. Amid these highlights, the post also briefly pays tribute to the late Ray Bradbury, noting his departure from Earth.

The blog post from Google's Developer Blog, written by Scott Knaster, highlights a variety of intriguing topics, including the World Wonders Project, which allows virtual visits to remarkable global sites like Stonehenge and Shark Bay via Street View technology. It also introduces innovative sensors developed by MIT that detect ethylene gas to determine the ripeness of fruits and vegetables, potentially enhancing the fresh food experience. Additionally, the post features a captivating photograph of lightning over a rainbow in China, offering a visually stunning moment to appreciate. The "Fridaygram" series aims to share interesting, albeit not necessarily developer-focused, topics that capture the curiosity of tech enthusiasts, and this edition gives a nod to HyperCard on its 25th anniversary.