Google I/O 2016 | Hacker News Reader

Google I/O 2016

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161 pointsemirozer72 comments

Lots of Project Tango + AR/VR presentations. I'm willing to bet the next Google/Nexus phones will have tech from Project Tango built in and become standard on future Android phones. Lots of apps/games could be built for it (and some that have been already built will debut during I/O). It could be one of those things that differentiates Androids from iPhones. Take a look at the 'Introducing Project Tango Area Learning' talk for May 18 for an example.

More info on Project Tango - https://www.google.com/atap/project-tango/

Project Tango sounds really cool. Dammit, traffic is going to be unbearable near Shoreline.

tango is not the only game in town

SVO: Fast Semi-Direct Monocular Visual Odometry 25 Feb 2014:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YnIMfw6bJY

SVO is very interesting, but Tango is much more than that. Tango also has hardware for depth perception, something that SVO does not offer.

As a side-note, the guys at ETH Zurich are friggin' amazing and they do so much cool research. A big fan here!

Cool: Talks about NDK, ART, and maybe just maybe, they will fix audio latency.

Not so cool: Game keynotes seem to keep spreading Play Services PR instead of talking about making games, available frameworks and tooling, like on Apple and Microsoft conferences.

Lots of Firebase - wild guess, but I assume Firebase support will be integrated in Android Studio extending/maybe replacing the current Cloud-Endpoints feature (which is unfortunate, because I use it extensively).

I hope they won't do that. I believe those approaches do a disservice to Android in general.

For instance, it really annoys me when Android Studio pushes you to add app indexing stuff, which in turn needs Play Services to work. Play Services unnecessarily bloats my APKs, so I go great lengths to avoid it.

I prefer a more agnostic Android Studio (and Android in general) rather than gravitating towards Google sponsored add-ons.

How you do in-app and push notif (GCM) without Play?

Hope we hear more from ATAP. They had some really interesting projects last year I'm hoping make it further towards market.

Sorry, but what's ATAP?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ATAP

Think Google X, but with 2 year instead of 10 year technologies.

example: https://www.google.com/atap/project-soli/

That looks incredible. Such a lovely video particularly when you see the fourier transform of a hand moving in space!

I hope this project will result in such products on the consumer market.

Very strange you were downvoted. It's Google's 'Advanced Technology and Projects' group. Incubator run by an ex-DARPA guy. Projects are given two years.

Ex-DARPA gal, actually:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_E._Dugan

Regina Dugan now works for Facebook.

Hmm. I didn't know about her. It mentions strategic investments in INFOSEC and many of my good papers are DARPA funded. I wonder if there's a list of what hardware/software architectures were funded under her time there. It's the lower-level people that decide on the projects that I'm aware of but the Director usually sets the culture and priorities with significant effects.

Ah sorry my mistake.

I'm more interested in Project Vault, which seems dead since the project leader quit Google soon after he announced it:

http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/29/googles-project-vault-is-a-...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6qrQzn8uBo

Because the question is literally answered by the first half a dozen results from any search engine?

The most interesting ATAP-related news so far this year is its director moving to Facebook.

I worked previously on an ATAP project when I was a university postdoc (much of the engineering work gets farmed out to universities and subcontractors). Eventually I began wondering why I was working fifty hours a week for Google on a postdoc salary. It's a strange arrangement to wind up in.

I thought the most interesting news from ATAP (last year) was project Jacquard [1]. It seemed very exciting and promising, but it doesn't seem that the tech has made it to market.

[1] https://www.google.com/atap/project-jacquard/

Jacquard was neat, my favorites were Vault and Soli though.

It doesn't look like they're really talking about anything new this year. A little bit about android auto but as far as I can tell, that's it.

This happens every year. They don't announce a lot of sessions until the keynote.

Wish they give more details about tensorflow and related stuff.

Otherwise it is going to be Google Frontend I/O once again just like last year.

I found a bug in Safari os x: don't be logged in, go to the schedule, expand one of the topics, click the plus sign and you'll get a message that says something like "log in to save" in the lower left. Now you can no longer click the window shade to close the popup, you have to click the 'Full Schedule" link.

I'm in love with the 2d/3d font and the way it animates both in the color cycling and number changing into one another. Its one of those things that I wish I would had thought of doing (knew how to do)

I wonder if I'm going to be able to download the version of Android which was announced at last year's Google I/O before they announce another one this year?

Don't ever change, Google.

Huh? Android 6.0 Marshmallow? It's on my phone right now.

And the next version (N) is already announced: https://developer.android.com/preview/index.html

This comment does not really make sense.

I'm guessing he is running a non-nexus device.

I have it on an HTC One M8 on T-Mobile. Maybe he has a manufacturer that doesn't like to update (coughSamsungcough) or a lazy carrier. But non-Nexus devices definitely get updates somewhat regularly now. Most manufacturer/carrier combos definitely got their act together compared to a few years ago.

I'm on the Sony Z3. Apparently some varities of the Z3 in some countries on some networks are getting marshmallow at the moment. But not mine, yet at least. It's not just Samsung who take ages updating, or who ignore the deal they're supposed to have with Google to provide major updates released within 18 months of the release of a device.

He, some versions of the Z3 are getting the N(!)[1]. I'd say it's probable that it's your carriers fault, the Marshmallow updates for the Z3 have been out for a while.

[1] https://developer.sony.com/develop/smartphones-and-tablets/a...

I've an unlocked phone, so in my country I'll get it before those with phones locked to a network. You can use sites such as xpericheck.com to confirm that currently 7 locations have MM on the D6603 variant of the z3 phone.

Google didn't sell you your phone, why were you asking Google for a new OS for your phone? Sony got Marshmallow from Google, Sony is refusing to give it to you.

It wasn't released? https://source.android.com/source/downloading.html

It sounds like you have beef with your phone manufacturer and/or carrier. Your anger with Google is entirely misplaced.

I'm not angry, just disappointed.

They are having it outside at Shoreline? oh boy.

weather in summer in the Bay Area isn't very risky.

The opinions stated here are my own, not necessarily those of Google.

I attended I/O a few years ago (prior to joining Google) and really enjoyed the Moscone Center. Mainly because there was lots of hotels and restaurants in the area. Lodgings around the Google campus are pretty sparse, this feels like a mistake to me. Being able to walk to your hotel after a long day of focusing/listening was definitely nice.

That said, being able to visit the Google Campus if you've never been there is really nice. As well, I'm betting this will greatly reduce the costs of hosting the event and those funds can be used in a different way. And with Google's fleet of buses, it looks like they will pickup and drop people off at the hotels they have rooms blocked off at.

EDIT: as drl42 points out, the mascone center is undergoing renovation and probably wasn't available.

It may be related to the fact this year is a special edition: the 10th Google IO edition.

From the website: "To celebrate a decade of working closely with the developer community, we’ll be hosting I/O in our backyard at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA, a venue that has played host to some of the world’s biggest entertainers and events."

Hosting this in MV is just... weird. All the hotels suck, there's no food, nothing touristy to do, etc etc.

I don't understand your note about costs. Google has infinite money. Even mid-tier meetings are held at Moscone, so I don't think it's that expensive.

Are the I/O hordes really going to be visiting the Google Campus? For what reason?

It's pretty weird.

That weekend is also Maker Faire (5/20-5/22) just up the road in San Mateo, so something to consider checking out if you're in the area for IO.

Indeed:

  Maker Faire: May 20-22
  Startup Conference: May 19
  Google IO: May 19-20

http://thestartupconference.com/tips-for-first-time-attendee...

</plug>

Moscone center is undergoing renovation.

Not Moscone West, where they have held IO in the past.

I lived in Mountain View down the street from Google the last few years but here's where people will/should be going:

Hotels: If you want something nice, you're going to go to Palo Alto or Downtown San Jose. If you're fine with budget basics, hit all the hotels along El Camino between Sunnyvale and Palo Alto. Personally, I would choose the Hampton Inn on Moffett Blvd. between the 101 and Central. It's clean, pretty cheap, and two blocks from Castro St. with all the restaurants and stuff.

Restaurants: Castro St. and Downtown Palo Alto are your best bets. There are a lot of options on Castro St. so expect it to get crowded but the food is actually pretty damn good. This is not Michelin rated new American food like in SF, so stick to the Asian options if you don't want to go wrong. Get Hot Pot at Little Sheep or Sushi at Sushi Tomi or any of the other 5 ramen places within walking distance. In Palo Alto, you can get finer dining options.

Touristy Things: The museums and cultural options are more limited so take a short CalTrain ride directly to SF if you want that. If you have the weekend to spend, Mountain View is about an hour closer to Santa Cruz than SF is so head over there to get your tan and enjoy the beach.

Last time I was in the area, I stayed at the Domain Hotel in Sunnyvale. About a 15 minute drive to Google and nice enough. And for touristy things: the Computer History Museum just down the road from the Google campus is definitely worth a visit.

In that same plaza is Laser Tag and not to mention that the Sports Page bar has outdoor sand volleyball courts and beer pong tables.

Laser Quest closed about a month ago (as did everything else in that plaza). If I remember correctly. LinkedIn purchased the real estate.

Wow... that is sad. Many fun times were had there with my team.

Agreed, there are tons of hotels and restaurants and things to do in the area, just not necessarily in walking distance (which is easily ameliorated by taking a fraction of the money saved from cheaper hotels and renting a car).

And by sitting in traffic, you save money that would have been spent on things to do!

Also lived down the street from them (right near Shoreline and Central.

The traffic will be horrible on Shoreline and 101. Thank god I don't live there anymore.

But yes, plenty of good options in the area and surrounding areas.

Also, for touristy things, people should consider going up to some wineries in the Santa Cruz mountains. Pichetti, Ridge, and some others are great options and fairly close.

But seriously--the traffic...

  > Touristy Things: The museums and cultural options are more limited …

CHM is ten minutes walk down Shoreline. If you don't think that's worth the trip to the otherwise insipid sf bay area, then I don't want to be your friend.

CHM is great and the docents there are fantastic. The Cantor Center at Stanford has a great little collection of art. There's also a TeamLab exhibition at PACE in Menlo Park that I hear is wonderful.

"If you're fine with budget basics, hit all the hotels along El Camino "

Unfortunately the budget basics are not so budget during Google IO. Prepare to spend big bucks if you want to stay close to Mountain View: I booked Best Western Inn in Mountain View (El Camino) for 300$ (!) per night (taxes included). Not to say that all hotels suggested by the Google IO page were quickly full booked.

For the week-end I'm moving to SF where there was much better hotels deals.

I'll speculate that the Google employees/engineers that are asked to change their commute every day for this event might be a consideration.

If you are going to be tourist, there are plenty of ways to get around. Monterey Bay is also another really nice spot and MV gets you an hour closer.

I suspect that shoreline holds a LOT more people than the Moscone.

"As well, I'm betting this will greatly reduce the costs of hosting the event and those funds can be used in a different way."

If it were a different company, maybe. But this is Google. They have effectively unlimited funds.

Moscone West, where I/O is usually held is not undergoing renovation. Just the main (North and South) buildings.

Is the entire event going to be outside? Or are they going to use a tent in the vast parking lot space like they do for festivals?

Umm .. how do you get a ticket?

I think you had to register. https://events.google.com/io2016/registration/apply/

Google I/O tickets are difficult to get - you apply, and they choose who can purchase a ticket by lottery.

One of the reasons for this is that they used to hand out swag worth more than the ticket price (latest Nexus phones, etc).

This makes sense for Google - increasing developer mindshare and experience on their platforms is worth more than the device cost. But this also had the effect of "everyone" applying for Google I/O to get the swag, even if you are not too excited about attending the talks.

I can't find ARA in the schedule :(

huh?

Hasn't this been announced for a while? Is there a reason this got submitted? Did the schedule just get released or something? Title should probably clarify.

Schedule was released about an hour ago.

> Mythbusting HTTPS: Squashing security’s urban legends

This one sounded interesting until I read the the abstract... I was hoping to hear some reflections on actual security.

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