December 2016 Summaries

Land Lines is an innovative project developed by Jeff Nusz and the Data Arts Team in collaboration with Zach Lieberman, designed to allow users to interact with Google Earth satellite images through gestures on their devices. The experiment enables users to "draw" or "drag" to find and connect satellite images, using Earth as a palette and their fingers as a brush. This real-time application operates in a phone's web browser without servers, leveraging machine learning, data optimization, and vantage-point trees for efficient image analysis and gesture matching. By preprocessing over fifty thousand high-resolution images with Open CV's Structured Forests edge detection and ImageJ's Ridge Detection library, the team significantly reduced the dataset to a few thousand images characterized by prominent lines. The project exemplifies big visual data exploration and connection themes, and its development insights and open-source code are accessible on GitHub.

The Google Slides API, launched by the G Suite team, enables developers to create dynamic presentations by manipulating text and images programmatically, thus allowing for minimal yet impactful text in slide decks. This is achieved through API requests in the form of JSON payloads sent to the API's batchUpdate() method, similar to how the Google Sheets API functions. Developers can insert and format text by specifying parameters such as object IDs, text ranges, and styles, enabling fine control over presentation elements. The API's capabilities are demonstrated through videos and documentation, which guide developers in using these tools to automate the creation of visually appealing slides, potentially enhancing the impact of presentations created via software applications.

Earlier this week, the Google Developers YouTube channel surpassed 1 million subscribers, marking a significant milestone after over eight years of providing valuable content to developers worldwide. The channel, which has shared over 2,000 videos viewed more than 100 million times, covers major developer events like Google I/O and Playtime, and offers best practices for utilizing the latest tools to enhance user experiences. As they celebrate this achievement, the team is preparing for another year of content to assist developers globally, encouraging viewers to subscribe to their various YouTube channels, including Google Developers, Android Developers, Chrome Developers, and Firebase, to stay updated.

Scratch Blocks is an open-source project created by the MIT Scratch and Google Kids Coding teams to enable developers to build engaging coding apps for children by incorporating a block-based programming grammar derived from MIT's Scratch language and Blockly's architecture. The project emphasizes "tinkerability," allowing kids to experiment and iterate quickly by making blocks themselves the code, rather than converting them into a text-based language. Scratch Blocks supports two block grammars: a horizontally connected icon-based grammar suitable for beginners and small screens, and a vertically connected text-based grammar for more complex concepts, facilitating transitions between different coding experiences. The initiative also focuses on optimizing the mobile experience by enhancing touchability, loading speed, and multi-touch support to accommodate the growing use of mobile devices for coding activities. Developers and interested parties can stay informed and participate via the project's GitHub and Developer Page.

Google announced updates to its Internet of Things (IoT) platform, unveiling a Developer Preview of Android Things, which allows developers to create smart devices using Android APIs and Google services with enhanced security and updates directly from Google. Feedback from Project Brillo has been incorporated, and familiar tools like Android Studio and Google Cloud Platform are included to streamline development. The platform also offers turnkey hardware solutions, such as Intel Edison and Raspberry Pi 3, for easy scaling to production. Simultaneously, the Weave platform is being enhanced to simplify cloud connectivity for devices, with companies like Philips Hue and Samsung SmartThings already using it, and others like Belkin WeMo and Honeywell in implementation. Weave provides essential cloud infrastructure, allowing developers to focus on product creation without needing to invest in cloud services. With plans to merge Weave and Nest Weave for interconnected device communication, Google aims to expand the IoT ecosystem, providing resources and a community for developers to innovate and share ideas.

Actions on Google, announced by Jason Douglas, PM Director for Actions on Google, is a developer platform designed to enhance the Google Assistant by allowing developers to create Conversation Actions that connect users to diverse services through natural language interactions. These actions, which can be used on devices like Google Home without needing additional apps or skills, offer a conversational user experience. The platform, launched in December 2016, provides developers with tools and resources, including collaborations with API.AI, Gupshup, and consulting companies, to facilitate the creation of engaging user interactions. Google has announced future plans to expand the platform's capabilities to support devices like Pixel phones and Google Allo, as well as introduce features for purchases, bookings, and deeper integrations across various verticals. Developers are encouraged to join the early access partner program to influence the platform's evolution and are invited to stay informed through newsletters, community groups, and forums.

The Gmail API team introduced a feature that allows developers to update Gmail user settings programmatically, including modifying email signatures without using the Gmail settings interface manually. This capability is part of a broader suite of settings the API can adjust, such as filters, forwarding, IMAP and POP settings, and the vacation responder, although certain sensitive operations require domain-wide authority. The process involves using a Python call to the `GMAIL.users().settings().sendAs().patch()` method, enabling automated updates to email signatures. The article also highlights additional resources, including videos and documentation, for developers who wish to explore other functionalities of the Gmail API, such as accessing email threads and messages. Newcomers to the API are encouraged to start with the overview page to familiarize themselves with its capabilities.

In December 2016, Google announced an update to the domain scheme of the Google AMP Cache, where each site would be served from its own subdomain of https://cdn.ampproject.org to enhance security through the HTML5 origin model. This change requires AMP publishers to update their CORS implementations to accommodate new subdomain patterns, which will eventually replace existing URLs, though these will still be supported and redirected for the time being. Subdomains will be human-readable, closely resembling the publisher's domain, unless technical limitations necessitate a one-way hash. Publishers and service providers like ads and analytics vendors need to adjust their systems to accept requests from these new subdomains, while Google Search plans to adopt this new URL scheme promptly and offers a testing sandbox for developers to ensure compatibility and address any CORS-related errors during the transition.