Hasta La Gadget!

Google’s big Android shakeup, replacing OS founder Andy Rubin with Sundar Pichai back in March and thus bringing Android and Chrome under the same umbrella, won’t lead to a merge in the short-term, but developers can expect big software – though perhaps not hardware – news at Google I/O this week, the new chief says. The big developer event this week will focus predominantly on getting the most out of Chrome and Android, not launching new hardware or combining them, Pichai told Wired, though the freshly-empowered exec also took the time to discuss Google’s broader attitudes to mobility and personal devices. Perhaps most controversially, Pichai isn’t convinced that people-centric Android modifications, like Facebook Home, quite deliver what they should. “I think life is multifaceted” he argues, “people are a huge part of it, but not the center and be-all of everything.”

Although chatter of Android and Chrome being brought closer together has been circulating for some time now, rumors of a merge were accelerated when Rubin made his surprise announcement that he was seeking other challenges within Google. Given Pichai’s existing role as the head of the Chrome browser and the Chrome OS platform, it seemingly telegraphed Google’s intentions loud and clear when he was named Rubin’s replacement.

Google had already been clear that Android and Chrome will stay separate for the meantime, with chairman Eric Schmidt insisting that no current plans had been drawn up for a merge. That’s a point of view Pichai shares, saying that even as the new head of Android, he doesn’t feel the urge to instantly enmesh his fiefdoms.

“I don’t think my views have changed much,” Pichai argues, suggesting that each has its own strengths and its own success in the market. “Android and Chrome are both large, open platforms, growing very fast. I think that they will play a strong role, not merely exist.”

Nonetheless, just as Matias Duarte told us back at Mobile World Congress, there are undeniably areas of overlap between the platforms. Different screens may have different priorities and demand different compromises and form-factors, but there will be places where Google can streamline to the benefit of users, developers, and device manufacturers, Pichai suggests:

“At Google we ask how to bring together something seamless and beautiful and intuitive across all these screens. The picture may look different a year or two from from now, but in the short term, we have Android and we have Chrome, and we are not changing course … We want to do the right things at each stage, for users and developers. We are trying to find commonalities. On the browser layer, we share a lot of stuff. We will increasingly do more things like that. And maybe there’s a more synergistic answer down the line” Sundar Pichai, senior VP, Google

That evolved attitude toward a more holistic software ecosystem – blending where appropriate; keeping separate where not – will be showcased at Google I/O this week, Pichai hints. “It’s going to be different. It’s not a time when we have much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system” he explains. “Both on Android and Chrome, we’re going to focus this I/O on all of the kinds of things we’re doing for developers, so that they can write better things.”

Hardware or software or both, SlashGear will be bringing back all the news from Google I/O, which kicks off on Wednesday, May 15 and runs to the end of the week.

IMAGE: Reuters

Google’s Sundar Pichai talks Android-Chrome merge and I/O focus is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Here in the weekend days before Google I/O 2013, the company’s big developer conference for the year, two new clues leading to a new era in Motorola-made Android smartphones have been added to story called X Phone. The device in question has appeared as an AT&T-supported smartphone in the FCC this weekend as well as in benchmark test results on a publicly viewable archive. This device will likely appear as a developer give-away at the Google convention on Wednesday.

The Motorola XT1058 XFON has appeared in benchmark results pointing toward a far less top-of-the-line device than past Google I/O-bound smartphones have been. With a 1280 x 720 pixel 4-inch display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus processor under the hood, this device is certainly one that would better have suited the crowds of 2012′s convention.

A 4-inch display – this is smaller than the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the device given away at last year’s Google I/O, using here an amount of pixels that matches that Nexus device. With the Snapdragon S4 Plus dual-core processor onboard (the MSM8960), this Motorola device works with the same power as the Samsung Galaxy S III, the Motorola RAZR HD, and the first version of the HTC One X for AT&T.

The same processor also rests in the BlackBerry Z10, the Nokia Lumia 920, and the Nokia Lumia 928 (coming to Verizon soon as an upgraded version of the 920). Could it be that there’s an emerging “We don’t care which processor is in our phone as long as it gets the job done” segment in the mobile market?

The Motorola smartphone being revealed in miniature, tell-tale leaks here and there throughout the last few weeks has been attached to the device build code-name Ghost. The benchmark results for this device appears on GFXBench where they’re firmly attached to Motorola precedents like a build host code il93lnxdroid80.

You’ll also find this device up in the FCC with 4G LTE connectivity on AT&T. According to Blog of Mobile, this device is also open to a release on each of the other major carriers in the future – Verizon and T-Mobile included, 4G LTE included.

In the past, this device has also been tipped to be coming in a variety of colors and makes, the case available in more than just plastic or glass – more than just a normal one-off release. This device may very well be part of the Motorola tip for the future of the company with a perfect palm-sized form factor as well.

One way or another, this device will be nor ordinary, every-day release. And if it replaces the Nexus giveaway at Google I/O 2013, it may be a sign of Google switching gears with Motorola sooner than expected.

[via Android Community]

Google X Phone leaks converge: is Nexus done for? is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The mobile gaming device known as Project SHIELD is nearly ready to be launched to the public in its final form, NVIDIA making it clear today that they’re far beyond the point of no return. The company that brings the mobile world its Tegra processors for Android devices and high-powered desktop computers their GeForce GTX processors for superior gaming have shared a miniature behind-the-scenes look at the device that will tie the two worlds together, showing how close this device is to the real world here in the spring of 2013.

We’re just days away from Google I/O 2013, this heralding the introduction of new services from the source of Android, if not new products as well. As such, it’s no surprise that companies like NVIDIA are preparing for the storm of excitement with announcements of their own, starting right here with a peek at the production of the device they introduced to the world earlier this year.

What you’re seeing above is a mold used to create the final casing for Project SHIELD as it exists today. As this mold is being presented by NVIDIA as a finished part of this puzzle, we can only assume that the final product is well on its way.

According to NVIDIA, the casing for Project SHIELD is made starting with an injection of polycarbonate material into the the RHCM (Rapid Heat Cycle Molding) tool you see above. This is done at a terrifying 10,800 PSI and 300 degrees Celsius, says NVIDIA, while the mixture is made up of 90% Sabic 500ECR-739 PC and 10% glass. That’s a mixture that’s rough and tough yet lightweight for easy carrying.

This device retains much if not the entirety of the look it did when we first saw it back at CES 2013. There it also had a set of specifications that have stuck – a 5-inch 720p HD touchscreen display, NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor inside, and connectivity with the user’s GeForce GTX-toting gaming PC at home over their wireless network for full-sized PC gaming in a hand-held package.

The NVIDIA Project SHIELD device is the first all-NVIDIA-made mobile device the company has ever made. It’ll be sold by NVIDIA straight to consumers and will be found in retailers across the United States by the end of the year – and likely much sooner than that. Have a peek at SlashGear’s Project SHIELD tag portal for more demonstrations with this device and stick around for more action in the near future as well!

NVIDIA Project SHIELD behind-the-scenes suggests release is near is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve heard rumblings of Google‘s new unified chat service in the past, called Babel, but it seems the company is expected to announce the new service at Google I/O next week. However, before they do that, it’s been reported that Babel is being rebranded as Google Hangouts, and will merge with the company’s current Google+ Hangouts video chat feature.

TechRadar reports that their sources at Google have confirmed that the company is ditching the Babel moniker and will be going with “Hangouts” for its official launch. New screenshots also suggest that the new chat service has been rebranded as Hangouts, showing menu items that say “Sign out of Hangouts” and “add people to this hangout.”

This means that not only will Google+ Hangouts receive the new name that it pretty much already has, Google Talk will also be operating under the Hangouts name as well. Since this is an effort from Google to unify all of its chat services, it should definitely clear up any confusion between Google’s various chat services (like the confusing difference between Gmail Chat and Google Talk, which are essentially the same but operate under different names).

We started to hear babblings about a possible unified chat service from Google last month, when initial screenshots were also leaked by TechRadar. The images showed what the chat interface looks like, as well as some of the emoticons that would be available. However, the photos were taken at close range, so we aren’t able to get a good look at the big picture (pun intended).

As for how the new unified chat service will be implemented into Google’s various web services, that’s still up in the air, and we should take these rumors with a grain of salt anyway, but it’s possible that Google will simply incorporate Hangouts in all of their services with an icon that shows up in the bottom-right corner or something. We could also see a Hangouts mobile app from Google as well, which would get rid of the need for the Google Talk app. We’ll be at Google I/O 2013 next week, and we’ll keep our eyes and ears open for any discussions on a new chat service.

[Source: TechRadar]

Google Babel to rebrand as Google Hangouts, could launch at Google I/O is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Though you’re not going to be able to work with it yourself until later this month (at the earliest), the next big upgrade to Google’s mobile operating system is out there in the wild right this minute. As Google I/O 2013 approaches, so too have suggestions that Google will reveal a collection of feature upgrades for their most basic mobile operating system software. At the moment the signs of life for Android 4.3 are small, but they’re there – having appeared for the first time here on SlashGear earlier this week!

What you’re seeing below is Google Analytics look at not one, but two new operating systems that may be getting a bit of a test here in the week before Google’s push to the public. Though we’ve heard just a tiny bit of information on Android 4.3, and trust that Google will release it with a continuation on the code-name Jelly Bean, the other appearance isn’t especially trustworthy as a solid reading.

Android 5.3.8 comes from a provider by the name of Pardaz GoStar Ertebatat Berelian Limited Liability Company and comes from Iran. Because it’s essentially impossible for a new operating system from Google to have emanated from the source this one does here, it’ll be best to discount it as either a hacked system – pushing that number falsely – or as a non-Android OS posing as one for the giggles.

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, on the other hand, appeared from an unknown source and hit SlashGear 17 times on the 5th of May. This appearance is one that we’ve got no doubt about: Android 4.3 will be appearing very soon, you can bet on it. Have a peek at the timeline below for more information on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (Google’s newest upgrade to Jelly Bean from Android 4.2.2, that is), and stick around for Google I/O 2013 starting Monday of next week!

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean upgrade hits the web in secret is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.