November 2016 Summaries

Google has introduced the first Google Slides API, allowing developers to programmatically create slide decks using data from spreadsheets or databases, enhancing the presentation of such data for audiences like management or potential clients. This integration involves using the Google Sheets API to read data, followed by the Google Slides API to generate slides, populate them with data, and create visual elements like tables and charts. Developers can interact with these APIs by sending JSON requests, enabling dynamic updates to linked charts whenever source data changes, or opting for static images if desired. These capabilities are demonstrated in a DevByte video and further explored in a detailed code sample, showcasing the potential for innovative applications by combining both APIs.

The updated Developing Android Apps course on Udacity, which has been revised in collaboration with Google, equips students with the necessary skills for the Associate Android Developer Certification exam. The course now includes the latest features from Android and Android Studio, such as the Constraint Layout editor and Firebase Job Dispatcher, while maintaining compatibility with older Android versions. It caters to user feedback by restructuring lessons to enhance accessibility and incorporating smaller, practical app-building projects alongside a comprehensive Sunshine weather app. Esteemed experts from Google and Udacity contribute to the course, offering learners a flexible, self-paced learning experience. Additionally, Udacity provides a package that combines the course with a certification exam voucher, helping students validate their proficiency in entry-level Android development.

TensorFlow 0.12 introduced preliminary native support for Windows, addressing a major request from users since the open-sourcing of TensorFlow. This release allows users to install TensorFlow on Windows 7, 10, and Server 2016, and includes GPU support for those using CUDA 8, enhancing the speed of TensorFlow training. The TensorFlow package is available through PyPI, simplifying installation with the pip command. The update, which aims to provide a comprehensive experience for Windows users, reflects significant contributions from key individuals at Microsoft. Additional details on new features are accessible in the release notes, and updates continue to be shared via TensorFlow's Twitter account.

Google Code-in (GCI) is an online contest aimed at introducing pre-university students, aged 13 to 17, to open source development by completing small tasks at their own pace, covering areas such as coding, documentation, outreach, quality assurance, and user interface. Organized by Google's Open Source Programs Office, the contest, now in its seventh year, involves 17 participating open source organizations and provides mentors to guide students through tasks that typically take 3-5 hours to complete. Participants earn rewards like digital certificates, Google t-shirts, hoodies, and a trip to Google headquarters for grand prize winners. Since its inception, GCI has engaged 3,213 students from 99 countries, and interested teachers can access resources to help students participate.

Google Play announced the first-ever Indie Games Contest in Europe to celebrate and recognize the creativity and innovation of indie game developers on its platform. Developers from selected European countries with small teams are invited to participate if they have published a game on Google Play since January 1, 2016, or plan to submit a new game in a private beta. The contest offers various prizes, including exposure through premium placements on Google Play, YouTube influencer campaigns, and tickets to industry events like Google I/O 2017. Finalists will showcase their games at the Saatchi Gallery in London on February 16, 2017, where the top 10 will be selected by attendees and the Google Play team to pitch before a jury of industry experts. Even those not entering can attend the event and participate in a workshop held at Google's new office in Kings Cross, making it a comprehensive celebration of indie gaming in Europe.

Launchpad Accelerator announced its third class of startups, welcoming participants from Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Mexico, and expanding to include developers from Argentina, Colombia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The program offers intensive mentoring from Google engineers, top technology companies, and venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. It provides equity-free support, credits for Google products, and public relations assistance, while startups work closely with Google for six months in their home countries. This cohort kicks off on January 30 at Launchpad Space in San Francisco, where participants receive free technical training and one-on-one mentoring to aid in building their applications and businesses. The initiative plans to continue expanding into more countries and encourages future applicants to stay updated through the Launchpad Accelerator site.

In November 2016, Firebase announced an enhancement to its App Indexing API on Android, enabling users to search for personal content across various apps directly from a single search interface. This update allows developers to integrate their apps with Google's on-device index, ensuring that personal data remains on the device while granting developers full control over the indexing process. The API supports predefined data types for common content like messages and songs but also allows for custom types. By logging user actions, the API helps improve content ranking in Google Search, and because the data is indexed on the device, it remains accessible even offline. This integration is designed to boost app engagement by allowing users to quickly return to their personal content. Developers are encouraged to explore the implementation guide and codelab for further assistance.

The Dart Developer Summit 2016 showcased significant advancements and developments in the Dart programming language, emphasizing its rapid growth as the fastest-growing language at Google. Key highlights included the launch of AngularDart 2.0, which achieved a 40% reduction in framework output size and a 15% increase in speed, along with the introduction of AngularDart Components used in customer-facing apps like AdWords and AdSense. The summit also featured a talk on Dart's strong mode, enhancing the language's type system for better performance and productivity, and presentations on Flutter's capabilities in speeding up mobile development with features like hot reloading and code rewind. The event offered various other insights, such as a case study on building a CRM app with Dart and a large-scale JS-to-AngularDart rewrite project, with all 18 talks available for viewing on YouTube, highlighting the community's enthusiasm and future aspirations for Dart's development.

Google has enhanced the Google Sign-In experience by simplifying the user interface, updating branding, and expanding accessibility beyond Google+ profiles, resulting in increased usage by major apps like The Guardian. The updates include a redesigned consent screen displaying user information, such as name, email, and profile photo, and a transition from Google+ Sign-In to a more streamlined model that requires using updated libraries or changing authentication scopes. Post-January 2017, the deprecated Plus People API may return empty results, prompting developers to adopt alternatives like the People API for richer user connections and Firebase Invites for app distribution. Additionally, Google has overhauled its Identity/authentication APIs to simplify implementation across platforms, with resources available for developers to transition smoothly.

The 2016 Chrome Dev Summit highlighted the advancing capabilities of the mobile web, emphasizing the expansive reach of web browsers like Chrome, which now has over two billion active users worldwide. A key focus was on Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), which offer mobile users, especially in emerging markets, a feasible alternative to native apps by providing features like offline access, push notifications, and add-to-home screen capabilities. The summit showcased success stories such as Alibaba's 76% increase in conversion rates and The Weather Channel's 80% reduction in load times after implementing PWAs. Attendees also learned about new tools and APIs, such as Chrome's DevTools and the Polymer App Toolbox, designed to aid developers in creating efficient mobile web apps. Additionally, the PaymentRequest API was introduced to streamline mobile checkout processes, potentially increasing conversion rates. The event underscored the importance of developing for the web and provided numerous resources for developers to enhance their mobile web experiences.

The Google Sheets API, introduced at Google I/O in 2016, offers new features such as cell formatting that were not available in previous versions, enhancing its functionality to align more closely with the Sheets user interfaces on desktop and mobile. The process of formatting cells, like bolding the first row of a sheet, is achieved by creating JSON payload requests and sending them to the API. This is demonstrated through a sample JavaScript code that sends a POST request to the Sheets API using the sheet ID and requests. The article highlights the importance of constructing JSON payloads correctly for API calls and provides resources like a deep-dive blog post and a JavaScript codelab to aid developers in managing data, such as customer orders, within Google Sheets. The video tutorial and accompanying resources aim to help developers leverage G Suite APIs for app enhancement, with future content set to explore integrating Google Sheets with Google Slides through API functionalities.

A.I. Experiments is a platform designed to make machine learning accessible to a wide audience, including engineers, hobbyists, students, and the curious, by offering hands-on experiments and resources for creating new projects. The site features a variety of experiments that demonstrate how machine learning can interpret diverse data types such as images, language, and sound. These experiments are crafted by individuals from different fields, such as web development and music, using accessible tools like Cloud Vision API and TensorFlow. Additionally, A.I. Experiments provides videos and open-source code to help users understand and create their own projects. The platform encourages participation by allowing users to submit their own creations and explore contributions from others, with further inspiration available through collaborations with Google Arts & Culture.

The Chrome Dev Summit 2016, spearheaded by Darin Fisher, VP of Chrome, commenced with a keynote that highlighted the latest web advancements, featuring over 20 sessions led by Chrome engineers. The event is accessible via live streaming, with sessions being posted as videos over the span of two days. This summit serves as a platform for developers to gain insights into the latest developments in Chrome, with the content being shared across various social media platforms to reach a wider audience.

In its first year since being open-sourced by the Google Brain Team, TensorFlow has rapidly become the most popular machine learning project on GitHub, with over 480 contributors and more than 10,000 commits. The project has seen significant advancements, such as performance enhancements, distributed training support, and integration with big data infrastructure, along with the expansion to platforms like iOS and Raspberry Pi. TensorFlow has been instrumental in various projects, from improving Google Translate to supporting DeepMind's generative models of speech and music, and has been utilized by global researchers for diverse applications, including identifying sea cows and sorting cucumbers. The project is committed to scaling from small devices to large server farms and fostering an open-source ecosystem with related software and models. TensorFlow Serving simplifies model deployment in production environments, and Google Cloud Platform's Cloud Machine Learning provides a managed service for TensorFlow, further extending its reach and capabilities.

Google announced the general availability of the Google Slides API v1, which allows developers to programmatically access and create Google Slides presentations. This API revolutionizes the process of generating presentations by enabling the automatic transformation of business data into slide decks using pre-existing templates, eliminating the need for manual creation. Developers can utilize the API by sending JSON payloads to perform actions typically done through the Slides user interface, such as creating slides, inserting text, and replacing text with images. Early integrations with partners like Conga, Trello, Lucidchart, and Zapier demonstrate its potential, and developers can access resources like sample code and Quickstarts in multiple languages via the Google Developers console to start building applications.

Firebase, a comprehensive app development platform, has significantly expanded its features since its introduction at Google I/O, now offering a total of 15 capabilities across iOS, Android, and web platforms to assist developers in building and scaling successful apps. Recent enhancements include improvements to Firebase Crash Reporting, which now provides context-rich crash diagnostics by integrating Firebase Analytics event data, and Firebase Test Lab, which supports testing on a wider array of devices and offers a free tier for developers. Firebase Analytics has introduced features for real-time conversion tracking, BigQuery exporting, and integration with Google Data Studio, enhancing data-driven decision-making. Game developers benefit from a new Unity plugin and enhanced C++ SDK, while FirebaseUI has been updated for easier integration with common UI elements and identity providers. To facilitate learning and community engagement, Firebase offers resources such as a new Udacity course and a demo app while encouraging feedback and interaction through various channels.

The Chrome Dev Summit 2016, hosted by Chrome Developer Relations, is set to commence on November 10th at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, focusing on themes such as building high-quality web apps, enhancing performance for user engagement, and exploring the future directions of web development. Attendees can participate in person or via a livestream, with a schedule available to help manage their time effectively. For remote participants, the event will be fully accessible through a livestream on the Chrome Developers website, with sessions and keynotes available, and additional content will be uploaded to the Chrome Developers YouTube Channel. Participants are encouraged to engage in social media discussions using the #ChromeDevSummit hashtag and can interact with the event team on Slack for real-time Q&A.

In an effort to enhance web security, Google has collaborated with various stakeholders to facilitate the widespread adoption of HTTPS, recognizing its increasing role in secure browsing, especially among Chrome users. The Transparency Report's new section on HTTPS reveals that more than half of page loads and two-thirds of browsing time on Chrome desktops occur via HTTPS, a trend expected to rise. HTTPS not only enhances security but also boosts site performance and supports features like service workers and web push notifications. Google provides guidance and FAQs to ensure smooth transitions for webmasters, with major sites like Wayfair and CNET successfully migrating without adverse effects on search rankings or traffic. Additionally, the shift to HTTPS is supported by Google ads, ensuring no disruption in ad performance or revenue during the transition. As the web progressively adopts HTTPS, Google encourages early migration planning to achieve a secure-by-default web environment.