What to Expect at Google I/O 2015 (PCMagazine)

The time is nearly upon us. The tickets have long sold out. Google I/O, the search giant's annual developer conference, kicks off today and promises a peek at what Google has in store for 2015.

All About Android in 2014

The 2014 conference (see video below) was notably Android-focused, with an overriding theme of taking Android out of mobile phones and putting it everywhere. Android, Google said, would be in watches, cars, TVs, and even laptops.

Among those, the most anticipated was Android Wear, which brought Android to smartwatches for the first time. But while Android Wear didn't really catch on, theApple Watch isn't exactly on every wrist, either.

I/O 2014 also saw the release of an enormous visual upgrade to the Android OS called Material Design. This emphasized a layered approach to app design, and including interactive elements that mimicked cut paper. It was a huge change for Android, and one that debuted with the release of Android Lollipop, an early version of which, dubbed Android L, was also announced at the 2014 conference.

What to Expect This Year

A quick note before we dive into the speculation is that what follows is just that: speculation. Technology moves fast, and the rumor mill moves faster, so take everything with a grain of salt.

New Android OS: Like last year, a new version of the mobile Android OS is expected to be at the center of Google's announcements. One big change Google may finally be introducing is fine-grained controls for app permissions. Currently, when you download an app you agree to grant the app access to tons of your phone's capabilities and your personal information with a tap. A new approach might follow in the footsteps of iOS and let users pick and choose which features and what information they want to share with apps. If included, this would be a big win for consumers and security advocates who have long criticized Android's permissions system.

But the big question on many salivating lips is, of course, what the next version of Android will be called. Tradition dictates that Android 6 will be named after some kind of sweet confection starting with the letter "M."  Reports say that the company's internal name for the new operating system is Macadamia Nut Cookie, but few of Google's internal names ever see the light of day. My money is on Marshmallow, though I wouldn't be surprised if Google simply referred to the OS as Android M until the operating system's formal release this fall, as it did for Lollipop.

Android Pay: 2015 is going to be a big year for payment systems. Apple grabbed a lot of attention with its Apple Pay service, and federal law mandating chip and pin cards will completely change how Americans use credit cards this year. Though Google has long supported in-app payments and NFC transactions through Google Wallet, Ars Technica says that an independent API called Android Pay could make purchases with your Android even easier.

Android in Cars: In 2014, Google debuted Android Auto, which brought Android features into the automobile, provided you had a phone already attached to your car. Android M is rumored to be even more tightly integrated with automobile navigation and entertainment systems, but Google might go even further, and provide a version of Android that's built right in to new vehicles.

Google may hope that an automotive version of Android could do for high-tech cars what it did for smartphones and take the hassle out of constructing interfaces for automobiles. Though car manufacturers have almost universally failed to produce decent navigation and entertainment interfaces for cars, I have a hard time imagining they'd let Google take the driver's seat.

Brillo for IOT: Google is rumored to be building a super-small version of Android that can run on low-power devices. Specifically, the kind of low-memory, Internet-connected devices you might find powering smart thermostats or fridges. Since its purchase of Internet of Things maker Nest, Google has been pretty quiet on the IOT front, but a special version of Android—rumored to be called Brillo—might help bring more devices to market, and bring much needed standardization to the space. Besides putting the call out for an audio expert and cozying up to other device makers, nary a word has been heard from Nest. Perhaps that will change this week.

New Chromecast: Google first introduced itsChromecast streaming stick in 2013, and the platform is ripe for a new upgrade. But at I/O 2014, Google also showed off Android TV, which the company insisted was not a specific device, but a platform for developing in-home entertainment systems. Perhaps it's time these two got together? At the very least, we should expect to see more from Google on how it will be delivering movies and TV shows to your living room.

Everything Else: What more could you want? Perhaps Google Play launching in China, finally bringing first-party app support for Chinese Android devices as Ars reports. Perhaps clearer rules on how long Nexus devices will receive major system updates and security patches, as Android Police expects. Perhaps a new Google Photos app that will offer great backup and editing features, while divorcing Google+.

Potential Surprises

Expecting the unexpected is good, but tricky, advice. Here's a look at some Google I/O 2015 long shots that we just can't rule out.

Virtual Reality: For me, the breakout story of I/O 2014 was Google Cardboard. This flat-packed headset brilliantly brought a virtual reality experience to Android devices using no special hardware outside of two lenses. Since then, Cardboard has seen a handful of new releases, and other Android-based VR systems have grabbed headlines. I/O 2015 could see another in-your-face surprise. From what I've seen of Google's Project Tango, the company clearly has the know-how to do something amazing.

Google Glass: The (in)famous wearable computer system debuted at Google I/O 2012 in spectacular, wing-suited fashion. Since then, the device received mixed reviews and serious social backlash. Google has moved the platform out of its moonshot department and into active development, but also promised more low-key presentations in the future. Of course, how Google Glass could ever be low-key, especially when Luxottica is involved, is a mystery to me.

Self-Driving Cars: Google has been quietly tinkering with its self-driving cars for years, and recently announced that 100 adorable proptypeswill be on the streets this summer. It wouldn't be surprising if one of these autonomous autos rolled onto the Google I/O stage, with or without human help. Or an invitation.

Protests: The most surprising moment of I/O 2014 didn't come from Google, but from the audience. Two protesters, apparently working independently of one another, interrupted the proceedings to loudly object to Google's involvement with alleged killer drones and real-estate deals. Will 2015 see more interruptions?

Google I/O's day one keynote kicks off at 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT. Be sure to check back for more live coverage and follow @PCMagLive for all the news from San Francisco.

Check Out These Lucrative Technology Careers (Salary.com)

9. Data Architect

Occupation: Data Architect
Annual median salary: $100,717

8. Information Technology Auditor

Occupation: IT Auditor
Annual median salary: $68,719

7. Database Administrator

Occupation: Database Administrator
Annual median salary: $87,330

6. Systems Analyst

Occupation: Applications Systems Analyst
Annual median salary: $96,207

5. Web Applications Developer

Occupation: Web Applications Developer
Annual median salary: $78,568

5. Web Applications Developer

Occupation: Web Applications Developer
Annual median salary: $78,568

3. Mechanical Engineer

Occupation: Mechanical Engineer
Annual median salary: $61,547

2. Programmer

Occupation: Programmer
Annual median salary: $55,509

1. Security Administrator

Occupation: Security Administrator
Annual median salary: $69,797

This isn’t your parents’ America Online: Verizon gives 5 Billion Dollars

The early Web pioneer once known for screeching dial-up modems and “You’ve got mail” has undergone a dramatic transformation since the collapse of its merger with Time Warner Inc., one of the biggest takeover failures in history.

As a standalone company since 2009, AOL has become a competitor in the growing online advertising business. That transition helped attract interest from Verizon Communications Inc., the largest U.S. wireless carrier, which Tuesday agreed to buy AOL Inc. for about $4.4 billion. What Verizon wants is to make more money from mobile video, and the new AOL can help.

AOL is now focused on online video and on so-called programmatic advertising, which uses computer algorithms rather than salespeople to buy and sell ad space on websites. The system works like an online marketplace: a shoemaker, for example, can get a display ad on a website in milliseconds, less than the amount of time it takes a reader to load a Web page. And data gathered on people’s browsing habits helps the shoemaker reach the right consumer with the right ad at the right time.

The goal is to become an automated middle man between advertisers and publishers. Last month New York-based AOL unveiled technology called ONE that helps marketers decide where to best spend their money, putting it in direct competition with two online ad giants, Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. The technology allows advertisers to see whether consumers are buying more products after seeing an ad on a smartphone, and enables them to shift more spending to mobile devices from desktops and television.

Online Video

AOL’s reinvention has come largely through investments. The biggest was the $418 million purchase in 2013 of Adap.tv, which matches advertisers and video publishers through an exchange.

AOL Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong has also been investing in the company’s websites to broaden their global audience. The Huffington Post, for example, has recently introduced sites in Greece and India.

Armstrong also wants to grab a share of the advertising dollars that are being shifted from television to online video as more Americans watch TV on the Web. AOL recently announced a deal with NBCUniversal, in which NBCUniversal video clips -- from networks like Bravo, E!, Esquire, NBC and USA -- will be available on AOL’s websites and apps. The companies will co-develop original online video series.

So far, the strategy has been working. Sales at the platforms unit, which includes digital advertising, grew 21 percent to $279.8 million last quarter.

AOL said Tuesday that the combination with Verizon “brings us to the scale of Facebook and Google.” Maybe not just yet, but it does make AOL a more powerful rival.

“It’s an ambitious plan,” Roger Entner, an analyst at Recon Analytics based in Dedham, Massachusetts, said of the deal with Verizon. “The mobile advertising market is dramatically dominated by Google.”

The $10 Hedge Fund Supercomputer That’s Sweeping Wall Street (BusinessWeek)

It sounds like the mother of all spreadsheets: 1 million rows, 1 million columns -- 1 trillion entries in all.

Fortunately, Braxton McKee isn’t using Excel. Instead, he’s tapping into the cloud to crunch all that market data on the cheap with software he built that learns as it goes.

The cost of that cosmic power: $10.

Welcome to the brave new world of cheap-and-cheerful artificial intelligence.

McKee, 35, is part of a wave of math and computer whizzes that’s pushing data science to new heights across Wall Street. What’s remarkable about their efforts isn’t that AI science fiction is suddenly becoming AI science fact (sorry, Steven Spielberg). It’s something more mundane: thanks to cloud computing, mind-blowing data analysis is getting so cheap that many businesses can easily afford it.

Sophisticated hedge funds like Renaissance Technologies and tech giants like Google Inc. have been deploying AI and its subset, machine learning, for years. Now data shops like Ufora, which McKee founded in 2011, are leveraging cloud power to help hedge funds and other financial players run complex, big-data computer models. The results are startling.

Five years ago, the sort of programming involved in McKee’s 1-trillion-point dense matrix would have taken months of coding and $1 million-plus of hardware. Now McKee simply logs onto Amazon Web Services to name his price for computing capacity and sets his code loose. Out of a loft in the Flatiron District in Manhattan, he works on what he calls “coffee time.” His goal is to make every model -- no matter how much data are involved - - compute in the time it takes him to putter to his office kitchen, brew a Nespresso Caramelito, and walk back to his desk.

Machine Learning

McKee, previously a programmer at Ellington Management Group, the credit hedge fund, has been backed by a venture division of Two Sigma Investments, a big quantitative firm run by a former artificial intelligence academic and a mathematics olympian.

Braxton McKee

Braxton McKee, founder of Ufora. Source: Ufora via Bloomberg

Quant shops like Two Sigma and Renaissance have been hiring machine-learning experts of their own. Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates and Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management also have been building up big-data analytics.

But much of the action is in start-ups. Like McKee, three Bridgewater veterans, Matthew Granade, Chris Yang and Nick Elprin, recently struck out on their own. Their San Francisco-based firm, Domino Data Lab, gives data scientists a way to review their old work and collaborate with professional colleagues, an important feature in the iterative process of programming.

Reading Comprehension

Another young firm, Palo Alto-based Sensai, helps companies analyze what’s known as unstructured data, such as corporate documents, transcripts and social media. That involves natural language processing, which is basically reading comprehension for machines.

The rise of cloud computing is making much of this cheaper and faster. It’s also helping spawn a new AI industry. In all, 16 AI companies got initial backing from venture capitalists in 2014, up from two in 2010, according to data compiled by researcher CB Insights for Bloomberg. The amount invested in the startups -- some of which describe themselves as doing machine learning or deep learning -- soared to $309.2 million last year, up more than 20-fold from $14.9 million in 2010.

While giants like Google drove the initial push for big-data analysis, technological innovation is democratizing access, both on and off Wall Street, said Granade of Domino Data Lab.

“Automotive manufacturing, the U.S. government, pharmaceutical firms -- we’re seeing sophisticated analytical need across the board,” said Granade, formerly co-head of research at Bridgewater. “Hedge funds seem to think of themselves as on the cutting edge. They are, on some level. But the rest of the world is moving very fast as well.”

Hedge Funds Wall Street Cloud Computing Science Software Hardware Manhattan San Francisco Work Palo Alto

Autonomous drones to 3D body scanners...

The future tech headed to your home

Autonomous drones

Fancy a peak at the technology that's just around the corner?

This week, chipmaker Intel unveiled prototypes that reflect the type of gadgets we will be using in the near-future.

This ASCTEC drone is able to automatically dodge obstacles and people as it navigates.

The drone has full 360 degree, 3D view of the world around its thanks to the six long-range Intel RealSense cameras that sit on top.

Controlling the drone is as easy as giving it a destination and then letting it find its own way - thanks to its ability to spot and avoid potential collisions.

Intel said such automated navigation will be necessary if retailers are to deliver goods using drones.

The cameras can capture colour video at 60 FPS, as well as recording how far away the objects they film are from the camera. Each camera can capture this depth information at up to 10 feet.

Through the drone's eyes

A snapshot of what the ASCTEC drone sees through its six depth-mapping cameras.

3D body scanning

Ever wanted to create a tiny bust of your head to give to your friends?

The answer may be no, but if you do then you're in luck. By Christmas this year tablets should be available that will allow you to scan a person so you can print off your own mini-me.

Capturing a scan takes less than a minute. The 3D model could then be printed off at home, or for those without a 3D printer forwarded to an online service to create a more elaborate model. The process could also capture people to allow them to be digitally animated or used as an online/in-game avatar.

The tablet captures the scan using the same long-range RealSense 3D camera used with the ASCTEC drone.

Intel says that Android and Windows tablets, running on both Intel Core and Atom processors, will be released with the long-range RealSense cameras.

Mini me

And here is the end result, a tiny, etched glass bust based on an earlier 3D scan captured by the tablet.

Become one with the data

One for gadget lovers not afraid to let technology get under their skin, or at least to pipe data through it.

This computer is transmitting data to the bracelet via the wearer's skin, a process that Intel calls 'Human Body Communication'.

Intel says the technology could provide an easy way to swap information between machines. For example, the user could highlight an address on a computer, touch the pad to download it to the bracelet, then touch a sat-nav to communicate that destination to the device.

Power without wires

Wires will soon disappear from computing if the tech giants are to be believed.

When it comes to wirelessly charging, Intel is betting on the Rezence technology, which is based on the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) standard and relies on magnetic resonance to juice gadgets.

Rezence chargers can beam up to 20W of power to nearby devices, charge multiple machines at once and transmit through a thick wooden table top, as seen here.

These 10 Pieces of Art Just Sold for Almost $800 Million (BusinessWeek)

The art market is on such a tear even the insiders are scratching their heads. Since New York’s spring sales started last week, at least $2.1 billion of art has been sold at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, with the top 10 lots accounting for almost $800 million.

Christie’s said collectors from 35 countries were bidding at its May 11 sale while Sotheby’s said clients from more than 40 countries were out in force the next evening. They jockeyed for Impressionist, modern, postwar and contemporary art.

Christie’s Global President and auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen takes bids on Pablo Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’),” which sold for nearly $179.4 million, setting a world record for artwork at auction, during a sale at Rockefeller Center in New York on May 11.

Christie’s Global President and auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen takes bids on Pablo Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’),” which sold for nearly $179.4 million, setting a world record for artwork at auction, during a sale at Rockefeller Center in New York on May 11.

“There’s a lot of money out there and people are chasing great works,” said Mera Rubell, who, along with her husband, Don, runs a private museum in Miami showcasing their collection. “Now the young artists are selling for millions.”

That means bargain hunters will be sorely disappointed: Picasso and Monet may be at record highs, but prices for living (if not quite young) artists are nipping at their heels. The 60-year-old Christopher Wool’s canvas spelling “Riot” in chunky black letters sold for $29.9 million — the same price paid for a 1948 Picasso portrait of his lover Francoise Gilot.

Records were smashed. In just 11 minutes, bidding for a Picasso surged from $100 million to $160 million before settling at $179.4 million, the most expensive work ever purchased at auction. The value of the work increased by 462 percent.

You know the market is frothy when a Monet that sells for $40.5 million doesn’t make the final cut for a top 10 list.

Pablo Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)” sold for a record $179.4 million.

This is the most expensive work ever sold at auction: Pablo Picasso’s colorful 1955 painting “Women of Algiers.” The price smashed the record held by Francis Bacon’s $142.4 million triptych, “Three Studies of Lucian Freud,’’ since November 2013. The Picasso buyer so far is unidentified. (Christie’s, May 11)

Alberto Giacometti, “L’Homme au Doigt,” $141.3 million

Mark Rothko “No. 10,” $81.9 million

Pablo Picasso, “Buste de Femme (Femme a la Resille),” $67.4 million

Vincent Van Gogh, “L’Allée des Alyscamps,” $66.3 million

Lucian Freud, “Benefits Supervisor Resting,” $56.2 million

Andy Warhol “Colored Mona Lisa,” $56.2 million

Claude Monet, “Nympheas,” $54 million

Francis Bacon “Portrait of Henrietta Moraes,” $47.8 million

Mark Rothko, “Untitled (Yellow and Blue),” $46.5 million

Build 2015: Microsoft's new plan to rule the mobile world (TechRepublic)

Microsoft plans to have at least one billion mobile devices running Windows 10 and any app you want, no matter its original platform. 

Getting developers to create apps for the mobile Windows platform has been a real problem for Microsoft for many years now. Developers have been coding for iOS and Android where the most of the people (and the money) live. However, if Microsoft can bring its plan to fruition, to have at least one billion Windows 10 devices in service within three years, that barrier to success may fall.

This plan was announced at the Microsoft Build 2015 Conference, and it included one clever and long overdue twist. Microsoft will now provide the tools necessary for developers to port their existing apps from the iOS and Android platforms to the Universal Windows Platform. This is a variation of the "if you build it, they will come" Field of Dreams theory. If porting apps to one billion Windows 10 devices is easy, then why wouldn't developers do it?

Universal Windows Platform

The key component for this strategy is the Universal Windows Platform, which allows developers to code once and have their app work and display properly on any device that runs Windows 10. Using Visual Studio tools, developers can create apps for PCs, tablets, phones, HoloLens, Surface Hub, Xbox, and Raspberry Pi.

But there's more to the Microsoft plan, because the company also announced tools that will allow developers to port their existing Android and iOS apps to the Windows 10 platform with minimal additional coding.

Build a bridge to somewhere

For existing Android developers and apps, there's a new runtime called Project Astoria available. These tools will allow developers to code for Windows 10 mobile devices from within their familiar Android IDE.

In similar fashion, Project Islandwood will give existing iOS developers the ability to code for those one billion Windows devices by importing Xcode directly into Visual Studio, where the existing code will be extended to include Universal Windows Platform capabilities.

 Image: Microsoft News Center

Bottom line

These tools, along with other tools designed to make app presentation on the Microsoft Store easier to accomplish and more consistent across devices, will help the company grow its database of available mobile apps. If more apps are available for Windows 10 users, then the "lack of apps" stigma often applied to Microsoft Mobile devices will disappear.

Microsoft has finally realized that having solid hardware--in the form of Lumina smartphones, for example--is not enough. Users, regardless of platform, want the apps they want. When Kate Upton appears on television commercials during the Super Bowl touting the joys of playingGame of War, she's not talking to users of Windows smartphones... at least not yet. The future of Microsoft is riding on the success of this code-porting plan.

With the availability of Project Islandwood and Project Astoria, developers can now port their apps to the Windows 10 platform quickly and with very little additional labor. This means more paying customers for them and more revenue for Microsoft. A rare win-win scenario.

The only remaining question I have is: Do these tools work as advertised? We'd like to hear from developers who have tried it. Are the tools solid, or is this just pie-in-the-sky marketing malarkey? Share your thoughts in the discussion thread below.