Google planning world domination

June 30, 2014
 
Dan Katcher

Last month, at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple began its move to create products that could be used on the screens that recur throughout our days. In particular, Apple’s CarPlay, an iPhone interface for automobiles, seemed revolutionary. It was even more exciting to find out that CarPlay is expected to ship this year in cars made by Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo. So when Google announced Android Auto on Wednesday, it became clear that the Apple vs. Android rivalry is set to continue far into the future. And the Android Auto announcement is just one of the ways Apple and Google’s competition is heating up.

Much like CarPlay, Android Auto will connect you to all of your messages, contacts, and music. The advantage is that your GPS system will be GoogleMaps. Google has already partnered with 40 carmakers around the world — a significantly higher number than Apple — and the first cars compatible with Android Auto will be available at the end of this year. Some would say Google has managed to take away any and all advantages that Apple may have felt that it had when it first released CarPlay.

The next front is the TV. Android TV, rising from the ashes of previous project Google TV, may have enough improvements for it to be successful this time around. Android TV couples TV-watching and voice-activated Google search. So if, during your movie binge, you just have to figure out where you’ve seen that actor before, you won’t have to move from your couch. You ask the question and Android TV will answer using the power and speed of Google search.

Now to Android Wear, which in some ways is a direct competitor to Apple’s rumored iWatch. Google explains some of the functions: “Android Wear organizes your information… get messages from your friends, appointment notifications, and weather updates at a glance.” Google suggests that unlocking devices and searching for information uses too many of the precious minutes we have in a day. Android Wear will save time because it allows you to respond to texts and emails, and ask questions of your device all through your voice, with no unlocking or searching necessary.

It can also help you attain your fitness goals as it tracks your steps and, optionally, keeps track of your heart rate. The creation of Android Wear — and Google’s ability to release it before the iWatch — has given Google the chance to win over more of the hearts of dedicated Apple users. One important question though: Are these multitasking devices waterproof?

Finally, there is Android One, Google’s attempt to reach the far corners of the globe with progressive technology. The project is basically a set of rules and standards manufacturers can use to produce low-cost Android smartphones. This cost-effective phone gives Google the chance to take make significant in-roads in thus-far underserved foreign markets in smart technology. It undermines Apple’s iPhone 5c, which still costs $100 to $200. This development begs the question: How long is Apple going to be able to stay within its expensive price range with “higher quality” products before Google takes over? It seems we must wait until the new products from both conferences finally hit the market and let the consumers decide.
All of these adjustments Google has made to Android Software pushed the company’s stock (GOOG) up by 2.5 percent. And the big takeaway from Google’s I/O Conference? Android is now taking on many platforms, challenging Apple and ultimately giving its rival a real run for its money.

So, if you don’t know where to get started with a blueprint for your app, Rocket Farm Studios can take the pressure off.

Big news from WWDC

June 5, 2014
 
Dan Katcher

With so much news coming out of WWDC (Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, for those not in the know), I did a quick and super informal survey of Rocket Farm’s developers, asking the simple question: Which three announcements are the most important?
In no particular order, and with a tremendous lack of scientific rigor, they voted up the following:
1. Swift 
Somehow Apple managed to keep its biggest secret an actual secret. An entirely new language that no one knew about and an equally strong push to get developers to adopt it? That’s geek crazy talk. But they did it, so now the biggest question is why.
The answers are all about long term thinking. As noted at VentureBeat, it’s hard to contemplate throwing out Objective-C, a language that developers have spent years mastering. The good news, in Apple’s typical style, is that this new language is optional not mandatory, at least for now.
Apple’s reasons? For one, speed; Swift should be a faster language at run time. Also, simplicity. Objective-C is a 25-year-old language built on C. It’s gotten a lot simpler over the last few years, but it’s still pretty nuanced and presents a steep learning curve. Ultimately, the consensus seems to be that Swift is all about making it easier for developers, especially new developers, to develop. The learning curve will be shorter (in theory, at least – it has only been three days!). More devs means more innovation and a happier Apple.
2. Extensibility
Extensibility basically means that apps will now be able to communicate with each other at a level not seen before. It’s always been a fairly closed off sandboxed world for apps to date. Apple’s notion of extensibility breaks through that restriction, but in a carefully controlled way. First, it allows custom keyboards to be built into an app. Second, borrowing from Android, Apple now lets widgets live in the Notification center. While Android has had this feature for years, it’s an important step for Apple and for users alike. These changes should make for useful, productive user experiences. Finally, and probably most importantly, apps can now publish services – useful functions and features – that other apps can tap into. This move will allow developers to rethink their apps in terms of APIs, opening up possibilities just as APIs to cloud services have done so all these years.
3. Continuity.
Continuity is an interesting word. Apple, right now, is using it to refer to the ability to hand off tasks – editing, composing, even phone calls – from device to device with ease.  Now there are new APIs coming with iOS 8 that facilitate those hand-offs. And probably the biggest changes is the improvement and opening up of iCloud, which is now iCloud Drive. It remains to be seen just how open and easy iCloud will be; it is, after all, an Apple-only so any developer who wants to write for Android as well will have to make some strategic decisions . But, in theory, it just makes sense to provide tools that facilitate tasks traveling from device to device.  Time will tell how this one plays out.
And, of course, there’s so much more: health and fitness tool HealthKit, TouchID and the opening of fingerprint validation to apps, HomeKit’s promise to connect our homes to the Internet. Watch this space for more on all of those.

So, if you don’t know where to get started with a blueprint for your app, Rocket Farm Studios can take the pressure off.