Day Two of the search giant Google's I/O developer conference in San Francisco kicked off on Thursday, June 29, bringing a series of improvements to some of the search giant's core Web products. Google announced upgrades to its Chrome browser and Google Docs, Google Drive for Apple's iPhone and iPad, and other exciting goodies.
Google Drive
While the biggest announcements kicked off the conference in its first day, Day Two brought some notable improvements as well. One of the most significant announcements involves Google's Drive cloud-based suite of productivity apps, formerly known as Google Docs. While previously the product required an Internet connection, with the enhanced Google Drive users can now work on documents even offline. This capability is immediately available for documents, but it will arrive later for spreadsheets and presentations.
Google has also been working on enabling users to sync Drive documents between various types of devices, and work on documents in collaboration with other people, regardless of the devices they are using. As part of this effort to make the product more versatile, Google announced that Drive will now be available for iPhone and iPad users as well.
As for developers, they can now design their apps to send faxes, or send and receive documents using Drive.you from within Google Drive. When collaborating with others, users can see the document updating in real time, regardless of the device used. According to Google, more than 10 million people started using Drive "in just over 10 weeks" after its release.
Chrome Upgrades
Chrome is one of the most popular browsers, currently used by more than 310 million people worldwide. Google Chrome browser product manager Brian Rakowski took the stage to announce some new capabilities for developers, demonstrating how they will now be able to build voice recognition into their Chrome apps in a simple and easy manner. Users, in turn, will be able to give commands to their apps without having to type or use touchscreens. Moreover, Google has also made available a version of the Chrome browser for Apple's popular iPhone and iPad.
Chromebook Improvements
Google introduced its Chromebooks last year, but their storage and connection limitations, along with their overall mediocre performance, stirred little interest. Now, however, Google said the new Chromebooks are three times faster than the original models, and they will also be more easily available. The new Chromebooks will soon go on sale in selected Best Buy and other retail outlets across the U.S., allowing for an easier purchase. The company also said it is currently working with various computer makers to roll out more Chromebooks by the Christmas shopping season.
Expanding the Cloud
According to Google, its cloud infrastructure is now more powerful and scalable, enabling developers to run their apps entirely in the cloud to as many users as they want, and it will all be available "for a reasonable price." Google demonstrated the new capabilities at the I/O conference by showing off an entirely cloud-based game called Bulletstorm. Set on a giant screen for the keynote attendees, the game ran smoothly and the graphics looked excellent, resembling a game running on a gaming console.
