The past month have brought many predictions at what Google will announce this Wednesday at I/O 2013. Given that I use a lot of Google products and follow them closely, I decided to try my hand at divining the future.
Operating system
- Google will release Android 4.3 — This is needed in order to launch new hardware and setup the new software they announce; support for OpenGL 3
- Google will announce Android 5 — I just do not see them letting iOS go up a version point unchallenged
- Google will release a new ChromeOS version that supports packaged apps
Hardware
- Refreshed Nexus 4 — adding LTE support and more memory
- New Nexus 7 — adding a more powerful processor, thinner body, higher resolution screen, and Qi charging
- New Nexus 11 — adding a Tegra 4 processor and Qi charging
- New Google TV/Nexus Q — price point <$125; supporting Miracast, bluetooth game controllers, and a new API that allows third party remote app use (think Nexus Q remote control play with Netflix)
- New Chrome Pixel — ARM processor, better battery life, price point <$800
- Google Glass — more reveal of features and partners
- Motorola X announcement — this is supposed to be a personalized, custom phone; do not expect to see dev giveaway; expect to see Guy Kawasaki on stage
Software
- Google Hangouts (Babel) — consolidation of all Google chat, IM, text, SMS, A/V conferencing into one platform; Google Voice will trail.
- Google Keep — expansion to cover bookmarks (like Delicious) and web articles (like Instapaper)
- Google Now — new cards, syncing of voice recognition profiles
- Google Maps — interface redesign
- Google Games — central game settings, syncing, and saving for both Chrome and Android
- Google+ — will announce some type of feed integration that covers the loss of Google Reader
Filed under technology.
For the last month, I have been going through my seasonal dissatisfaction with mainstream blog engines and CMSs. I have scoured the interwebs hoping that someone, somewhere had finally made something simple and awesome. I went down a rabbit trail with Kirby CMS, but found its directory structure to be too dirty for my liking. I had given up and started to build out my new site with Jekyll when I found an article that referenced Statamic. After five minutes of reading the site and watching the tutorial, I knew I had found my new CMS!
Forgive me for the default template. I plan to work on that soon. In the meantime, I have been itching to write, so here it goes.