“Innovation in the Open” or Input/Output? Take your pick. Whichever you chose, yesterday marked the end of 2011’s “Google I/O”, a two-day developer-focused conference that’s taken place every year since 2008. The live conference features comprehensive and highly technical sessions on ongoing developments in the world of Google’s open technologies and applications. Take a look at some of the key highlights of this year’s event; there are several exciting new Google products, applications, and services that will be available soon that could change the industry, as well as important updates that are coming to the Android mobile platform.

Chromebooks: “Ready When You Are”

June 15th, mark that date on your calendar because Google Chromebooks are on the way, with the first two offerings made by Samsung and Acer. The sleek, lightweight netbooks will run Google’s Chrome OS for computers which will exclusively use Google’s cloud computing services. Although the Chromebook may have come a little too late for consumer use with the rise of tablets and other netbooks, Google is “going right after Microsoft’s heart — the corporate IT department.” The initial plan is for Google to target businesses and schools with the Web-based operating system by offering a cheaper and easier alternative to manage than current Windows PCs. Monthly subscriptions will be available from as low as $28/user for businesses and $20/user for schools.

More about the Chromebook from Google’s Official Blog:

“These are not typical notebooks. With a Chromebook you won’t wait minutes for your computer to boot and browser to start. You’ll be reading your email in seconds. Thanks to automatic updates the software on your Chromebook will get faster over time. Your apps, games, photos, music, movies and documents will be accessible wherever you are and you won’t need to worry about losing your computer or forgetting to back up files. Chromebooks will last a day of use on a single charge, so you don’t need to carry a power cord everywhere. And with optional 3G, just like your phone, you’ll have the web when you need it. Chromebooks have many layers of security built in so there is no anti-virus software to buy and maintain. Even more importantly, you won’t spend hours fighting your computer to set it up and keep it up to date.”

The Future of Android

*Ice Cream Sandwich*

At the I/O conference, Google announced the next version of Android, called Ice Cream Sandwich. The name shouldn’t come as a surprise to Android users, as Google has put out each new version in the name of a tasty treat – from the likes of Cupcake and Éclair, to the most current Android versions Gingerbread and Honeycomb.

With Ice Cream Sandwich, however, Google is beginning their transition into standardizing the Android platform across all types of mobile devices (including tablets) in response to the complaints from developers and Android fanboys about the heavy fragmentation that has been a black eye for the Android OS. A post on Google’s Official Blog states, “Our goal with Ice Cream Sandwich is to deliver one operating system that works everywhere, regardless of device. Ice Cream Sandwich will bring everything you love about Honeycomb on your tablet to your phone, including the holographic user interface, more multitasking, the new launcher and richer widgets.” Now developers will be able to create applications for one firmware instead of having to accommodate to separate versions of Android which depended on the device, manufacturer, and telecommunications provider to release compatible updates.

*Important Changes to the Android Market*

Another black eye for Android has been the ease of navigability (or lack thereof) in discovering apps, but Google listened to the complaints and added several updates to the Android Market. Specifically, there are several new lists including a top “Trending” list, “Also Viewed” list, and “Also Installed” list that will make it easier for both customers and app developers alike.

Google also just launched a new app in the Android Market called Movies for Android, which allows users to rent and play movies on phones and tablets for $1.99 per movie.

The Launch of Google Music

Google Music is a new service that will allow you to upload up to 20,000 songs to Google’s cloud for streaming directly to your Android devices and computer. Everything will be kept in sync automatically between all devices that are connected through the service, even offering the ability to access your most recently played music when you’re offline. You can request an invitation to try out Google Music Beta here, and some of the new music service’s features can be seen in the video below:

While I only touched on a handful of the keynotes that were addressed at Google I/O 2011, there are some developments on the way (like the Android@Home project) that will change the game forever, but whatever the future holds for Google, it seems like they know how to have a good time.

Photo by Google.com

Android has come a long way since the inception of Google’s first Android-based smartphone, the HTC Dream. Better known as T-Mobile’s G1, the HTC Dream was the 3rd cell phone that I have ever owned, and I definitely saw promise in Google’s vision of an open-source platform. With over 1/3 of the smartphone market share, consumers are rapidly joining the bandwagon, and I’d like to share some Android apps that I believe will make the transition more worthwhile. Click on the application name to view more information as well as screenshot previews; to view a complete list of the Android applications I have installed, click here.

#1) Dropbox (Free)

“Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your Android device, and even the Dropbox website! With the Dropbox app, you can take everything that matters to you on the go.”

Dropbox is a simple way for you to transfer or access files, without the need of a cable connecting your phone and your computer.

#2) Google Maps (Free)

*Navigation: Free, voice-guided GPS navigation system
*Places: Find, rate, and get recommendations for places
*Latitude: See friends on the map and check in at places

A free navigation system, what more could you ask for?

#3) Elixir (Free)

“Elixir is a system information application with highly configurable widgets. Displays information about battery, cpu usage, memory usage, internal and external storage (sd-card), display, wifi, mobile network, location services (gps), bluetooth, sync, airplane mode, sensors, etc.”

Elixir is a consolidated system information tool. I’ve tried many others like it, but Elixir takes the cake by far. Not only is the UI simple and intuitive, but Tamás Barta, the developer, listened to one of the suggestions I sent him via e-mail and immediately implemented it into his next update. He’s constantly working on this app and with each update, it has only gotten better!

#4) Smart Taskbar (Free)

“Launch any application instantly. Slide your finger or click icon anytime in any App to bring up a mini sidebar for super fast app launching also works as app organizer, task switcher, task killer, and shortcut manager.

If you want to use your phone one handed with complete touch experience, you find Android system takes too many steps to complete one simple job, or you need a faster way to get things organized, get Smart Taskbar to make your life easier.”

Smart Taskbar is a convenient app that runs in the background; simply press the sidebar icon and it pulls up the app drawer without having to leave your current application.

#5) Fancy Widget (Free & Pro Version)

“Fancy clock and weather widget with lots of customization options.”

Fancy Widget reduces clutter by allowing you to view the date, time, and weather all in one widget. You can even click each individual part of the widget to open either a calendar, alarm clock, or weather application. While the free version is worth a download by itself, the paid version offers hundreds of customizable widget themes that you can toy with.

#6) PowerAMP Music Player (Trial & Pro Version)

“PowerAMP is a powerful music player for Android.”

If you are like me and you like to mess around with your smartphone and customize the hell out of it to fit your own style, then PowerAMP Music Player is not only the best looking music player out there on Android, but offers some of the best features like the lock screen widget and equalizer. The trial version allows you full featured access for 15 days before asking you to purchase it, but it definitely is worth it considering you will be able to download it at no extra cost on any Android phone you own in the future as well.

#7) Dolphin Browser? Mini (Free)

“Something powerful, something elegant, something valuable! It is Dolphin Browser HD.
Something fast, something simple, something new! It is Dolphin Browser Mini.
Browsing made wonderful.

Dolphin Browser Mini aims at providing a friendly user experience for all of you.
Enjoy this new version now and let us know how it works for you.”

Both Dolphin Browser HD and Dolphin Browser Mini are much better than the stock Web browser that comes on most Android phones. Both offer intuitive UI design and are more efficient/faster than most of the other top browsers I have tried (Opera Mini, Firefox Mobile, MIREN Browser).

#8) Camera360 (Free & Pro Version)

“Turn your phone into a professional camera. Provides LOMO, HDR, axis shift, draft, ghost, etc. and multiple styles.”

Makes your stock mobile camera 100 times better; Camera360 provides many different camera modes, effects, and enhancements that will give you a reason to leave your actual camera at home.

(For Rooted Android Phones)

#9) Titanium Backup (Free & Pro Version)

“The ONLY tool that can backup, restore, freeze (with Pro) your apps + data + Market links! Supports protected and system apps! 0-click Batch/scheduled backups! The PRO version has 0-click batch restores, Dropbox sync, Dalvik cleaner & MORE!”

A real lifesaver. Once you are rooted, Titanium Backup is one of the apps that you will be downloading first. It allows you to backup your existing apps and system data so that you can easily restore them.

#10) Root Explorer (Paid Version Only)

“Root Explorer is the ultimate file manager for root users. Access the whole of android’s file system (including the elusive data folder!).

Features include SQLite database viewer, Text Editor, create and extract zip or tar/gzip files, multi-select, execute scripts, search, remount, permissions, bookmarks, send files (via email, bluetooth etc), image thumbnails, APK binary XML viewer, change file owner and group.”

If you are rooted, Root Explorer is one of the bread-and-butter applications that you will need in order to take full advantage of the Superuser access that you are granted. Like the description says, it is the ultimate file manager on the Android market.

Photo by Tamás Barta via AppBrain