Hasta La Gadget!

Google looks to be getting serious in its quest for online storage, announcing some new features at the Day 2 I/O keynote that will take on competitors like Dropbox and Evernote. One of those is in the introduction of Google Drive SDK 2.0, which will allow app developers for Android and iOS to implement Drive functionality straight into their mobile apps.

Developers will be able to implement uploads, downloads, or simple file edits within their own applications by leveraging the SDK. It mimics similar functionality that Dropbox has been offering developers for some time. On top of that, the programming interface has seen some tweaks, now coping with conversions and revisions.

Google Drive SDK 2.0 is up for download now, and some apps have already been updated to take use of the new functionality. Google says that others will be updated in due course. If you’re a developer and want the full details as well as the SDK, head on over here.

Google releases Drive SDK 2.0 is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Not everyone is apparently in love with British operator BT’s green boxes. Still, that isn’t stopping the company from serving up its high-fiber diet to those who want to have speedy Internet connections. For its latest project, BT’s Openreach division has started offering an “FTTP on Demand” program that provides fiber-to-the-premises at 330Mbps speeds to folks or businesses who order the service. The project will be done in phases at eight locations, starting with High Wycombe, Bristol South and St Agnes, Cornwall in July. Next up is Edinburgh’s Waverley exchange in September followed by Watford, Cardiff, Basingstoke and Manchester Central in 2013. Communications providers can decide to cover installation costs by absorbing a one-off charge, having higher monthly fees or passing the whole thing to the consumer. Want to gobble up more info about BT’s latest fiber-filled broadband service? Then check out the good, old PR after the break.

Continue reading BT kicks off 330Mbps ‘FTTP on Demand’ trials, reveals pilot locations

BT kicks off 330Mbps ‘FTTP on Demand’ trials, reveals pilot locations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 06:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s all about the need for speed in the world of the smartphone, and we’re certainly not going to say no to anything that makes the overall experience faster. Qualcomm and Akamai have teamed up to try and further optimize mobile page load times across devices. The duo are working on new protocol optimizations that will improve page load performance and save on bandwidth in the process.

Akamai will provide content via its Aqua Mobile Accelerator system while Qualcomm will serve it up on its now famous Snapdragon processors. Pages should load faster as Akamai caches the newest content from various websites, with Qualcomm’s hardware optimizations helping to keep everything moving along.

The two companies say that consumers will start to see the benefits of the partnership in Android devices starting from the fourth quarter of this year. If you crave every ounce of performance out of your smartphone, you’ll just have to sit tight until then.

Qualcomm and Akamai aim to reduce mobile internet load times is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It should hardly come as a surprise that folks are spending more and more of their time online on their cellphones, but a new Pew study released today has shed a bit more light on just how common that’s becoming. According to the research group, 17 percent of all cellphone users (including those without smartphones) go online “mostly” on their cellphone, while 33 percent primarily use another device, and five percent use both equally — a hefty 45 percent still don’t use their phones to go online at all, though. Not surprisingly, those numbers go up when broken down by those who do at least use the internet occasionally on their phone — 31 percent of whom go online primarily on their phone — and there’s an even bigger jump when looking at younger users. Among those 18 to 29 who use the internet on their phones, fully 45 percent use their cellphone for most of their online activities. You can find the full report at the source link below.

Pew survey finds that 17 percent of US cellphone users go online mostly on their phones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 06:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple data centers are popping up like spring flowers: following its North Carolina, Oregon and California plans, it’s now pitching a fourth data center in Sparks, Nevada, just outside of Reno. The enigmatically named Project Jonathan hub is expected to light up before the end of the year if it’s given the green light. Not surprisingly, Apple is promising jobs for the area, although the company is choosing the location for a reason: it’s hoping for tax breaks on top of the advantages that previously led it to funnel some of its money through Nevada. We’ll have a better idea as to the fate of the data center when Apple argues for the project on June 27th, but it’s reasonable to think Apple is eager to make the Sparks location a reality. The more capacity and reliability it can build into iCloud and iTunes, the better.

[Image credit: Amy Meredith, Flickr]

Apple pitches data center near Reno, gambles iCloud will pay off among other puns originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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