Google Previews Android Wear Notifications on YouTube, Developer Blog

Google is leaving no stone unturned to promote its Android Wear software project that extends Android to wearable devices. The search giant has released video tutorials for developers on YouTube, clearly aimed at attracting more to the new Android Wear ecosystem.

The new YouTube video named - "DevBytes - Android Wear: Page Notifications" by a developer advocate, Wayne Piekarski shows ability to add extra pages to existing notifications. Further, the video also shows that the Android Wear will allow users to see more details by swiping on the smartwatch display.

In addition, another Google developer advocate, Timothy Jordan has also shared notifications from Android Wear on Google+. The notifications show a Nest panic warning message; a regular Calendar notification about an event, a pop up message from a game (Clash of Clans), and Pocket Casts playing (podcast) of StarShipSofa science fiction.

In March, Google unveiled plans to help develop the watches and other wearable computers based on its own Android operating system. It's worth pointing out that Google revealed that it has been working with various brands such as Asus, HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung to bring watches powered by Android Wear later this year. The Mountain View giant had also announced that it has been closely working with chip makers like Broadcom, Imagination, Intel, Mediatek and Qualcomm; even fashion brands like the Fossil Group for upcoming smartwatches based on Android Wear.

Motorola's Moto 360 and LG's G Watch are the first two devices to run Google's new Android Wear. LG announced that it would introduce its G Watch in the second quarter, while Motorola confirmed that its Moto 360 Android watch would be available by summer

Google Search v3.4 App Teardown Hints at Numerous Upcoming Features

Google has started rolling out an update to its Search app (version 3.4) that adds some features, such as new reminders, a centralised list of nicknames, and more.

Now, Android Police, after a teardown of the Google Search app, lists some other features that appear in the strings of code; though none of these features are yet accessible by users of the updated Google Search v3.4 app.

Firstly, the site claims that the Google Search app teardown reveals a new card that will show images shared by friends on Google+. The site notes that some string of codes indicate that the 'shared Google+ images by friends' are linked to a location and will only appear when a user searches for a particular location or while travelling to a certain place. The site also claims that the yet-to-be-rolled-out cards for shared Google+ images from friends will include a +1 and an email button at the bottom.

Another future Google Search feature tipped by the teardown of the app points to media controls in Google Now. The alleged media controls feature in the Google Now is said to be included for Google Play Music app only and is said to appear when a user plays music via Google's Play Music app.

Other additions expected in the next update to Goole Search include real-timer integration, more detailed card for travel reservations, more elaborate sporting events cards, hotword detection settings and nearby products card.

The update to Google Search (version 3.4) also added the 'Parking location' card to Google Now on Thursday. However, the card has not been rolled-out to the Google Play store. The update brought the ability to automatically detect where users have parked their cars, and find the approximate location later, displayed in the parking location card on Google Now.

It's worth noting that the Google Search update (version 3.4) has not reached Google Play India yet and the listing is showing April 30 as the last update for the app.

Notably, Google has also started rolling out updates to its Play Music and Play Games apps (once again, the updated apps have not yet rolled out to India). The Google Play Music app (version 5.5.1509O.1140258) now lets users edit playlists from directly within the app, and the ability to share those playlists after making them public. The Play Games app (version 1.6.07) brings a new and improved slide-out navigation bar, gift notifications, and the grouping of matches and requests in the new Inbox.

In March, Google, after the roll-out of song recognition feature in the Google Search app for Android, added voice command for playing music.

Google Play's second birthday sale kicks off with special offer on games

The Android Market was rebranded as the Google Play store in 2012. The Play Store officially turned two on 5 March 2014, and Google was expected to celebrate its birthday again with freebies and discounts, however, it took until Thursday to get the freebies rolling in from Google stables all across the world, mostly owing to the varied time-zones.

Live on Google Play store, the 'special offer on great games' is branded as 'Google Play Birthday Present' on the Play Store home page, and on the promotion page, a message from the search giant reads, "Let's celebrate Google Play's 2nd birthday with us! Enjoy great games and do not miss special offers!"

(Also see: Android Market checks out, Google Play moves in)

A variety of games are being offered at discounted prices on the Play Store (India), such as Final Fantasy V, Radiohammer, and Venture Towns on Friday, while other already free games (such as Hay Day, Dungeon Keeper) come with a variety of in-game goodies free for the limited time of their listing on the sale.

The Google Play birthday sale got underway in Australia a couple of days before the actual anniversary. It included FIFA 14, Theme Park for free and Disaster Movie for 99 Australian cents. A user needs to go to the Google Play store and search for the deals as they are not readily displayed.

Also the deals and discounts, along with the freebies, are up for grabs only for a limited time period, which means that Android users will have to keep their eyes glued to the Play Store to ensure that they get the right deal on the products

Google introduces Indoor Maps for malls in India

Google announced on Wednesday that indoor maps for a number of public spaces such as malls and along with locations like the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi and the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad. The museums were already being covered by Google's Art View project, as reportedpreviously.

Google's indoor maps are already available in other parts of the world, in countries including the US, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

Google has recently been resurrecting their map offerings in India, after their Street View plans ran into roadblocks in June 2011, after security concerns were raised in Karnataka, just three weeks after they started.

Some of the major locations include Ambience Mall in Gurgaon and Select City Walk in Delhi. In a press release, Google stated that they have worked with 75 partners, across 22 cities to launch indoor maps in India and they will be adding more locations.

The maps cover the major metros and also big cities like Bhopal, Coimbatore, Dehradun, and Ludhiana. According to Google, detailed floor plans will automatically appear when you're using the Google Maps app on iOS and Android, and zoomed in on a building where indoor map data is available. Simply zoom out and the indoor Google Maps will fade away.

In some locations, users will have the option of using the indoor My Location feature to help you navigate your way inside. This means that when you move up or down a level in a building with multiple floors, the map will automatically update to display which floor you're on.  At these locations, you can also access indoor walking directions to help you get to where you need to go more quickly.

While Google has just started indoor maps, Nokia got a head start with their HERE maps. Nokia launched the service in June 2013, covering 150 malls, in 17 cities, as previously reported.

For a full list of locations, click here - the service is being rolled out in the following 22 locations for now: Bangalore, Bhopal, Chennai, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Moradabad, Mumbai, Noida, Pune, Raipur and Vadodara

Yahoo to stop users logging into its services with Facebook, Google accounts

Yahoo will stop letting consumers access its various online services, including Fantasy Sports and photo-sharing site Flickr, by signing-in with their Facebook or Google credentials.

The change, which will be rolled out gradually according to a Yahoo spokeswoman, will require users to register for a Yahoo ID in order to use any of the Internet portal's services.

The move marks the latest change to Yahoo by Chief Executive Marissa Mayer, who is striving to spark fresh interest in the company's Web products and to revive its stagnant revenue.

"Yahoo is continually working on improving the user experience," the company said in a statement, noting that the new process "will allow us to offer the best personalised experience to everyone".

The first Yahoo service to require the new sign-in process is Yahoo Sports Tourney Pick'Em, a service focused on the NCAA college basketball tournament which begins later this month. News of the change to Yahoo's Tourney Pick'Em sign-in process was first reported by the technology blog Betanews.

Since Mayer took the reins in 2012, the company has rolled out new versions of many of its key products, including Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Finance. Last year, Yahoo announced a program to recycle inactive Yahoo user IDs, letting new users claim email addresses that have not been used for more than 12 months.

In eliminating the Facebook and Google sign-in features, Mayer, a former Google executive, is effectively reversing a strategy that Yahoo adopted in 2010 and 2011 under then CEO Carol Bartz.

The change to the Tourney Pick'Em sign-in process began on Monday, the Yahoo spokeswoman said, noting that users could still access other services with Google or Facebook IDs.

The sign-in buttons for Facebook and Google will eventually be removed from all Yahoo properties, the Yahoo spokeswoman, though she declined to provide a timeframe.

Google announces Project Tango, a smartphone that can map the world around it

Google has built a prototype Android smartphone
that can learn and map the world around it. The
device comes from a new initiative called Project
Tango, and it's ready to get the phone into
developers' hands to see what the technology is
capable of. Google says that the phone will learn
the dimension of rooms and spaces just by being
moved around inside of them — walking around
your bedroom, for example, would help the phone
learn the shape of your home. The hope is that
by creating a robust map of the world, Google's
phone could eventually give precise directions to
any given point that needs to be reached.
It's an ambitious project, but that should be no
surprise given who it's coming from: Tango
comes out of the Advanced Technology and
Projects group — one of the few pieces of
Motorola that Google has opted to hang on to
rather than sell. "The goal of Project Tango is to
give mobile devices a human-scale
understanding of space and motion," says
Johnny Lee, leader of Project Tango. Google has
200 devices that it's preparing to give out to
developers who want to build mapping tools,
games, and new algorithms that take advantage
of the phone's sensors, and it expects to send
them all out by March 14th.
The Tango devices work by using a motion
tracking camera and a depth sensor built into
their backsides. While being moved around, the
sensors will detect their orientation and what's in
front of them, using that data to build out a 3D
map of their surroundings. While the basic goal is
to create detailed indoor maps, Google's
distribution of developer devices speaks to the
other possibilities it sees coming out of this type
of data: it suggests that Tango could be used to
create more realistic augmented reality games or
to assist the visually impaired when they're
navigating an unfamiliar area.
Google stresses that the technology is still in
early stages, but it still sees it as on the way to
reaching millions of people down the road. And
now, the Advanced Technology and Projects group
will have plenty of time and resources to make
that happen. Alongside the announcement of
Tango, Android chief Sundar Pichai extended a
welcome to the team, suggesting that they've
now fully fallen underneath Google. The group is
also responsible for Project Ara, which hopes
to build modular smartphones .
Project Tango appears to be a natural fit for
Lee's leadership. Lee's name may be familiar
from his work creating virtual reality tools out of
a Wii remote while at Carnegie Mellon, and later
for helping Microsoft develop the Kinect. He joined
Google in 2011 , and clearly he's still been
working on equally ambitious motion-tracking
projects since then. Google says it did not create
Tango all on its own, however, but with
assistance from various universities and research
institutions as well. The project has been in the
works at the Advanced Technologies group for the
past year.