Hasta La Gadget!

This week we’ve gotten our first look at the Nexus Q, a device that’s made to be Google’s “first social streaming media player.” This device has been revealed in its final form at Google I/O 2012 where attendees will all be given the device for free in their very own Developer Pack. This device is made to be a hub, running Android, for all of your Android devices to connect to and push media galore to your home audio system and/or HDTV.

You’ll see the following hands-on demo video working with the Nexus 7 tablet, another piece of equipment revealed by Google this year also as part of the Developer Pack. This device is made to be the perfect companion for Google Play and all of its many bits of media in a way that requires not only a speaker system, but another Android device as well.

What you’ve got here is a magical looking undeniably heavy little spherical device that’s got half a sphere dedicated to turning the volume up and down (as well as a few other functions) that’s accented with a bit of color-changing action as well. This device connects to a series of audio and video outputs including 4-channel speaker-system devices and 1080p HDMI devices as well. You’ll be able to have several devices adding songs or videos to a list or you can control the device with one device on its own.

The whole device has a capacitive touch sensor for muting as well as off/on, you’re working with a Texas Instruments OMAP4460 (dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and SGX540 graphics core) inside, and both 1GB LPDDR RAM and 16GB NAND flash memory under the hood.

Have a peek at the hands-on video and photos above and below and also check out our Google I/O 2012 portal for more Google developer action all week! Also hit up our Android portal for all kinds of developer news throughout the week and the future as well!

Google Nexus Q hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the folks at Google dropped quite a few users out of a blimp to land on the Moscone Center for Google I/O wearing Project Glass – then they explained how they did it. This process included several different components that will be much more compact in the future, with the microphone, several sensors, and connections being rather large and bulky right this moment. This process included bicycle flips, running down the side of a building, and a couple more hardcore sports actions, so the glasses were also attached a bit more securely to each users face than they would have been otherwise.

In the demonstration after the big drop, it was revealed that the display is not in front of your eye when you use Project Glass, not in front of it. The camera lines up with the eye line of the user so that moments can be captured from the user’s perspective, while the design philosophy behind this project remained “ridiculously light.” Of course the units used on the air drop were certainly prototypes, while the final product will “weigh less than mini-sunglasses.”

As the device has been tested over the past few weeks, Google revealed that they found that the units would not only have to be light, but incredibly sturdy as well. Communication with images is set at the heart of this project, with the capture of fleeting moments being one of the primary activity of users in test form thus far. A first person point of view is being pushed here, and noone is safe, not even you shooting a terrible shot in a game of pool – beware!

Stay tuned all week for the rest of our I/O 2012 coverage and head to the Android portal as well to stay up to date on the mobile world of Google!

Project Glass gets demo product blast at I/O is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

At the tail end of today’s Google I/O keynote, the company demoed Google+ Events, which, as you might imagine, let’s you invite your virtual buds to an in-person hangout. You’ve probably already guessed that there’s some pretty tight integration with Mountain View’s other virtual properties, including Calendar, which means that sending your friends or coworkers a “save the date” to brunch or brainstorming no longer requires clunky email, or a phone call. That’s not to say that your contacts need to opt-in to the search giant’s social networking site to join the fun — email invites are still available by typing your friend’s address alongside your circles, or individual friends should you wish to plan an awkward inter-group soiree. You can choose from a variety of themes for your e-vite, which integrate motion or static banners. Once the fun begins, you can hop into Party Mode from your mobile, and photos you shoot during the event will appear beside the invite — friends can add pics to the page as well, which you can later download. For now, please accept our invitation to jump past the break, where a Google demo video awaits.

Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012’s opening keynote at our event hub!

Continue reading Google wants you to join the party, announces Google+ Events (video)

Google wants you to join the party, announces Google+ Events (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week the Nexus 7 tablet from Google has been revealed as coming at an amazing $199 including a release date of Mid-July and availability for purchase starting today. This device has a 7-inch HD display, brings on no less than the ultra-powerful NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, and is the first device that will get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. This tablet will likely be shown off later today for participants at Google I/O.

This device was revealed this week to the throngs of users working at and enjoying the 2012 edition of Google I/O in California. Have a peek at our I/O 2012 portal to make sure you’ve got all of the information we’re dropping all week long. Also have a peek at the timeline and gallery above and below to see everything there is to see on Jelly Bean as well as the Nexus 7 too!

Nexus 7 priced and dated is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week at Google I/O 2012 the teams of Google and ASUS have revealed the Nexus 7 ASUS tablet – the first official Nexus series Android tablet – with Jelly Bean. This device has 1200 x 800 HD pixels across its face, a Tegra 3 quad-core processor with 12-core GPU from NVIDIA, a front-facing camera (whose specs were not revealed), and a 9 hour battery (video playback). This tablet is 340g light, “fits perfectly in one hand”, and “just feels right.”

This device has been revealed to show off the Jelly Bean experience, but also to push the Google Play app store to the forefront as well. This device has a new widget called “My Library” – it connected to your cloud in the Google Play shop.

The new Google Play magazines app is included in this release, with a full selection of one of the newest items on the Google Play store. This device is obviously also made to show off the new Google Play TV show episodes and Movie purchasing revealed this week as well.

Have a peek at our I/O 2012 portal as well as our Android portal this whole week to keep up to date on all things I/O!

Google Nexus 7 tablet official is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.