Excited about Google I/O 2011!

I’m so excited about attending Google I/O 2011! Getting tickets to the attend the conference was difficult this year, so I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to go. I can’t tell you how many times I hit refresh in my browser, hoping my registration went through!

I’ll be attending most of the Chrome sessions at the conference. I’m interested in seeing how HTML 5 is being used and the direction this new version of HTML will take the web. I’m also curious about what Google’s going to announce at their keynotes. These will be streamed, so you can follow along online!

I won’t be live blogging, but I will be live-Tweeting! So please follow @daynah for my updates and live coverage of the conference. I’ll be posting plenty of geeky goodies and photos.

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Blog World 2010 Closing Keynote

Currently in the closing keynote of Blog World and New Media Expo 2010! Penn Juilette and Adam Carolla are on stage!

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Packing for Comic-Con

I’m just packing for Comic-Con right now… I guess you know what booths and sessions I’m attending. :)

More about Items in the photo: The Guild, Dr. Horrible, Glee

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Google I/O 2010 Overview

Another Google I/O has come and gone, and I had a fabulous and geeky time there. The great thing about Google I/O is that it’s geared toward developers, so the sessions are usually code-based or overviews of new APIs and developments over in Google HQ.

Of all the things I learned about this year at the conference, the most exciting was learning what direction HTML 5 is heading in. Last year, I learned about the new <video> and <canvas> tags, but there’s so much more now.

This year’s conference was much bigger than the previous years. The conference sold out quickly with 5000 attendees. There were sessions going on in every room on the second floor of Moscone West Hall. I was most impressed with the bigger Developer’s Sandbox. It was 4 or 5 times bigger than last year’s. It was great talking to companies and developers who are already implementing Google products into their products.

Although I was drained from attending all the sessions, I didn’t want to miss the Google After Party. It’s actually a very geeky event with food and robots! The MakerFaire was in town and they had some amazing displays, robots, and man-powered machines all over the party.. definitely something you don’t want to miss while at the conference.

There was a lot of fun and excitement at this year’s Google I/O. There were many amazing announcements as well, including the Web-M project (standard video codec), new features in Android Froyo including support of Flash, Google TV, and our fabulous gifts for attending — the Sprint HTC Evo 4g — a gorgeous smartphone running Android!

Below is a summary of all the sessions I attended. For more information on each session, please follow the links to the Google Waves. The official YouTube videos will be coming soon. For more information about the conference, see the official Google I/O 2010 website.

• Bringing Google to your Site
• Beyond Design: Creating positive User Experiences
• Developing with HTML 5
• Ignite Google I/O
• Google Analytics APIs: End to end
• Surf the Steam: Google Buzz, Location, and Social Gaming
• SEO Site Advice from the Experts
• Optimize every bit of your site serving and web pages with Page Speed
• HTML 5 Status Update

Summary of each Session

Bringing Google to your Site – In this session, we got many different examples on how we can add Google to our websites. Some examples were using custom searches (now with auto-completion), Google Feed API, Adsense with AJAX (new), SideWiki, Buzz API and Google Font API.

Beyond Design: Creating positive User Experiences – In this session, I learned that there are 7 principles for creating positive user experiences: 1) Be fast 2) Be yourself 3) Engage in conversations 4) Be willing to give up control 5) Be polite 6) Be prepared for failure 7) Be reliable. Examples of these principles were also talked about.

Developing with HTML 5 – This session was great since the presentation itself was written in all HTML 5 tags and coding. If you flip through the presentation, you can try out the bleeding edge features available for browsers in the near future. Some new HTML 5-specific tags and features are offline data storage, JS APIs, <head>, <hgroup>, <nav>, <section>, <article>, <aside>, <footer>, new form field types, <audio>, <video>, <canvas>, new CSS selectors and font support, transitions, and so much more. Run the presentation in a Chrome browser to see what lies ahead.

Ignite Google I/O – This session was a lot of fun. Ignite sessions capture geek cultures in a series of 5-minute speedy presentations. Each speaker gets 20 slides that auto-advances after 15 seconds. Topics were of various topics, from surviving the North Atlantic ocean and breaking world records, to our habits of searching on the internet, to playing battleships in a pond. It was very entertaining and super geeky.. and is best if you see the videos once they’re up.

Google Analytics APIs: End to end – This session was given by a UCR Alumni, Nick Mihailovski! This session demonstrated advance techniques of tracking statistics on your website using the Google Analytics API. For more information, see “What is Google Analytics”

Surf the Steam: Google Buzz, Location, and Social Gaming was not my favorite session since they spent a few minutes talking about the new Buzz Api, and then started stepping through code on how to implement the BuzzBingo game. The one thing I learned from this session was that there’s a new Buzz API — great if you want to create a social game!

SEO Site Advice from the Experts was an excellent session. It was a panel of SEO experts who went through a list of submitted sites and let us know what the site is doing right and wrong about SEO. They talked about how important it was to use text on your webpages, how meta keywords aren’t indexed by Google because people inflate them, branding techniques starting with the domain name, content needing to be above the fold, page ranks, 301 redirects, and much more.

Optimize every bit of your site serving and web pages with Page Speed – In this session, I learned about a new project called Page Speed. It’s an open-source Firefox/Firebug Add-on. Developers can use Page Speed to evaluate the performance of their web pages and to get suggestions on how to improve them. Showslow.com is a demo website that shows the speed of websites. For more information, see Page Speed.

HTML 5 Status Update – In this session, the Chrome team went over new features in HTML 5 we should keep an eye out for. Their demo of the new Gmail was fun and quite intuitive. Drag and drop attachments as if it was a desktop app. New areas in HTML 5 include Offline storage, Media, Networking, CSS3, and Platform Integration (drag and drop, notifications, geolocation).

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WordCamp SF 2010

I can’t wait to attend WordCamp SF this weekend! If you love WordPress, you should be there! There’s an amazing line up of speakers and awesome WordPress schwag! It’s going to be a lot of geeky fun! I hope to see you there. Be sure to say hi if you run into me. :)

For more information, be sure to check out the official WordCamp SF 2010 website.

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Google I/O Gives out Phones to Attendees

Santa Google is delivering gifts early this year! Instead of being surprised at Google I/O’s keynote, attendees got an email this morning with a gift attached to it. Depending on the attendee’s country code, they will either receive a Motorola Droid or Nexus One phone as a gift.

Android will play a big role in this year’s Google I/O conference, so what better way to get developers excited than to give them an Android OS phone a month in advance. They’ll be able to familiarize themselves with the Android SDK way before the heading to the conference.

Google I/O would like the attendees to be put their new phones to work at the conference. A conference app will be available for download before May 19th, over 40 companies will be demo-ing their apps in the developer sandbox, so there will be more apps for us to test out, and they will continue the tradition of the SCVNGR game where attendees hunt and find hidden QR codes in the conference area.

More answers and questions about the Google I/O gift can be found here. And if you’re attending Google I/O 2010 in San Francisco, I’ll see you there!

Photo by Albertech.net, May 2009, Google I/O 2009

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MacWorld 2010: Web Development Symposium

While attending MacWorld Expo 2010, I went to Nick Floro’s session – Market Symposium SA: Web Development: Tools, Trends and Technology. It was a great session on various Web 2.0 technologies. Topics covered were: Web 2.0, Designing Interfaces, Social Media, Video on the web, Simulations & Games, Project Management, Prototyping Techniques and other Tips and Tricks. Below are more information about the session as well as the slideshow.

Attend this day symposium and learn about the latest trends, solutions and what customers want today in web development. You will gain valuable knowledge on how to manage projects, developing new ideas, the latest hardware and software tools and what’s new in delivery for the web. Whether you’ll be creating marketing, education, presentations, e-learning, e- mail campaigns, asset and content management applications you won’t want to miss this session! Whether you are new to web development, a graphic artist wanting to learn more, a marketing manager, production coordinator or an instructor, this is the symposium to see the latest in web technology.

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MacWorld Expo 2010 Overview

MacWorld Expo 2010 was quite a fun and educational experience. Even without Apple being at the show, the Mac community is still very strong. What I really loved this year was being able to meet the actual iPhone app developers at the App Pavilion and seeing the projects that they’re working on. There were also a lot of learning opportunities at the conference as well. Below are some of my conference highlights:
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GameSalad – Create Games without Coding!

I attended MacWorld Expo 2010 recently and one of my favorite booths was GameSalad. They promised that I could make a game without any coding or programming at all. So yes, I was interested! I sat in for the beginner session to see how GameSalad works.

Photo by Albertech.net/@dragonal; Taken at MacWorld Expo 2010; I’m in the lower right!

GameSalad is the world’s most advanced game creation tool for non-programmers. With GameSalad, game makers of all levels can bring their ideas to life without programming a single line of code. Build games visually using a drag-and-drop interface along with a robust behavior system. Publish your games quickly and easy to the iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac Desktop, and the Web.

If you want to learn how to make games for the iPhone (or Mac), try out GameSalad. They had training sessions on the expo floor, which I thought was a lot of fun. Sessions ranged from beginner to advanced, and didn’t require any programming knowledge at all.. just a bit of creativity.

Basically, you can import your graphics (let’s called these actors) into the GameSalad software. Then you can place your actors onto the canvas (like the background) and add in other pieces in layers. Add behaviors to these ‘actors’ and you got yourself a game!

For the beginner session, we made a pinball game. We added the game’s background, along with the flippers, pegs, and pinballs. The flippers behaviors were control by the Left and Right Arrows. When clicked, the flippers would move up in an angle. If the ball touched a peg, points would be added up in a scoreboard.

The creation you create with GameSalad is all yours. This also means if you are creating an iPhone version of the game, an Apple Developer’s license is also require since you are publishing it under your account.

If you’re a graphic designer with an eye for games, definitely consider GameSalad. The software starts at $99 a year. I was able to create a simple pinball game in under 30 minutes… just imagine what you can do with just a little more time.

For more information, see GameSalad.com and follow them on Twitter.

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MacWorld Expo 2010: Abvio Fitness iPhone Apps

I thought Abvio’s Runmeter, Cyclemeter, and Walkmeter iPhone apps deserved Beatweek’s Best of Show Award at MacWorld Expo 2010 for their innovative way of motivating individuals to exercise. I simply loved the features they integrated in the 2.0 versions.

Are you a fitness enthusiast? If you enjoy running, cycling, or going for a walk, try out Abvio’s new line of fitness apps — Runmeter, Cyclemeter, and Walkmeter. These exercise apps use the iPhone’s GPS to track and visualize exercise activities as well as help improve athletic performance and health. Each of these apps are similar to one another except for the fact that they come pre-customized to suit the needs of its user — the walker, runner, or cyclist.

Some of the great features of Runmeter, Cyclemeter, and Walkmeter are:

• An iPhone-centric approach, no Web site accounts, passwords, or ads required.
• Ghost racing against previous runs, walks, and rides along a route.
• On-device calendar of all runs, rides, and walks.
• On-device graphs of pace and elevation.
• On-device manual entry of runs, walks, and rides.
• Exceptional battery conservation.

Some of the new features that were demonstrated to me at MacWorld were pretty innovative! The features in the 2.0 versions include:

• The first apps to support use of the iPhone’s earphone remote to start and stop the stopwatch.
• The first apps on the iPhone to speak Twitter replies using text-to-speech technology.
• The first GPS apps to include a Twitter client for reading and composing tweets.
• The first GPS apps to share runs, walks, and rides using Google Maps, with links as simple as http://j.mp/5ouyIC
• The first GPS apps to use fuzzy logic to filter GPS locations for more accurate GPS location reporting.
• The only apps among our competition to allow full export of all your data.

If you would like more information about Runmeter, Cyclemeter, and Walkmeter, see their official website at Abvio.com

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Notes from iPhone/iPod Touch Development Seminar

I attended the Software Development for iPhone and iPod Touch Seminar yesterday, presented by Steve Hayman.

He briefly talked about development for the iPad (which is very similar to iPhone / iPod Touch development), as well as how to create web apps and native apps during the presentation. These are my notes from the session.
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MacWorld 2010 Schedule

I’m attending MacWorld Expo 2010 in two weeks and I’m super excited about it! I’m mostly interested in iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad app development (both web and native) as well as meeting other app developers. It’s going to be super geeky fun! They’re also having a Special iPad Event, so I’ll get to test out Apple’s new creation! I hope to see you there! Register for MacWorld Expo if you haven’t already.

Daynah’s MacWorld 2010 Schedule

Here is my tentative schedule for the week. The bold items are events I’ll definitely go to and the rest are the ones I’ll try to make to.

Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010

• 9:00 AM – 10:00AM – Late night with David Pogue
• 10:00AM – 6:00PM – MacWorld Expo Exhibit Hall
  • 12:15 PM – 12:35 PM – Abvio
  • 4:30 PM – 4:45 PM – Navigon
• 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Q&A: Kevin Smith
• 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM – Feature Presentations: The Photoshop 20th Anniversary
• 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM – Appency Media Dinner
• 8:00 PM – 12:00 AM – Cirque du Mac 7.0

Friday, Feb. 12, 2010

• 9:00AM – 10:00AM – Feature Presentations: Revolution from the Rest of Us with Guy Kawasaki
• 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM – SA: Web Development: Tools, Trends and Technology
• 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM – US955: Youth and Educational Tools
• 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM – US954: Stereo 3D Animation with Adobe Photoshop & AfterEffects CS4
• 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Macworld Live! with Leo Laporte
• 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM – Feature Presentations: The Gruber 10: Apple’s Top Issues
• 6:30PM – TWiT Meet Up at the Marriott Marquis on 4th Street

Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010

• 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM – IT863: Making Your Sites iPhone Friendly
• 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM – Feature Presentations: Macworld presents: BT!
• 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM – US982: Demystifying iPhone (& iPad) App Development: A Non-Technical Overview for Decision-Makers and Idea People
• 11:45 AM – 1:00 PM – MacWorld Expo Exhibit Hall
• 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM – IT873: Custom iPhone Development
• 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM – Feature Presentations: Macworld 2010 Special iPad Event

Related Post

• MacWorld Expo 2009

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CES 2010: AlgebraPrep iPhone Apps

Learning math has never been easier! Pearson and Modality have teamed up to create the AlgebraPrep iPhone/iPod Touch app series that provide algebra help anytime with practice tests along with video solutions. Now you can have your own 24/7 Algebra Tutor, anytime, anywhere!

Elayn Martin-Gay, award-winning instructor, firmly believes that every student can succeed in mathematics, and this is reinforced in her new AlgebraPrep Apps.

What I really love most about these apps is the way they teach you by example how equations and problems are solved. You have the option of taking a practice or mini test. In a practice test, you get multiple chances to pick the correct answer. If you answer correctly, you can move on to the next question. If you answer incorrectly, the app will give you a hint on what you need to do. After you finish a practice test, you’re ready for the mini test which are designed to be taken in 10 minutes or less.

These apps are simple yet sophisicated for students in middle and high school. I’d highly recommend them for students learning math.

AlgebraPrep Apps are available for the following topics:

• Factoring
• Exponents
• Real Numbers
• Rationals
• Equations
• Roots/Radicals
• Graphing
• Systems
• Quadratic Equations
• Practice Mid-Term
• Practice Final Exam

All apps are $2.99, except for the Practice Final Exam, which is $6.99. Find AlgebraPrep in the iTunes App Store.

For more information, see Pearson AlgebraPrep official website.

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CES 2010: AR.Drone Project

One of the more unique things to see at CES 2010 was definitely the AR.Drone. If you ever dreamed of being a pilot fighting aliens and monsters, then your dream has become a reality — augmented reality that is.

The Parrot AR.Drone Project is a quadricopter that you can fly using wifi and your iphone or iPod Touch. Imagine being able to see exactly what the pilot see on the quadricopter! And with augmented reality technology, monsters and aliens can be overlayed in reality. You can control your AR.Drone by just tilting your iPhone/iPod Touch.

The AR.Drone platform is open source, which is very exciting to software developers! I’m sure we will be seeing many new augmented reality iPhone/iPod Touch games appearing in the near future.

The release date and price of the AR.Drone is still unknown, but the future of gaming looks very bright.

For more information about the AR.Drone Project, see their official website.

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CES 2010 Overview

I had such a fabulous time at the Consumer Electronics Show 2010 (CES) this year. It was a huge conference and I know I didn’t get to see everything. I spent most of my time in the 3 major halls, hoping to cover all the latest in technology for you! Here’s an overview of some things I really enjoyed at the show. Posts about each one in greater detail to come!

• EnTourage Edge a ebook reader/tablet hybrid
• Lenevo Ideapad Hybrid – new laptop and tablet in one!
• Nokia Booklet 3g is Nokia’s new netbook
• Cocoon Innovations has some nice and stylish bags for all your gadgets. These bags also come with GRID-IT! organization system that I really like. New bags are not on the website yet.
• Case Mate – launched a new line called “I make My Case” where you can design your own case from famous artist’s artwork.
• (*)Speck launched some lines of iPhone/iPod Touch cases — Fitted ArstProjekt, Fitted, and Satin Skin.
• Gelaskins has some beautiful artwork for your devices.
• Tru Protection – has some very nice anti-glare screen protectors for various mobile devices.
• ZipCar is a similar to a rent-a-car service, but no attendants are needed. You just pick up the car at your reserved time and go. They now have an iPhone app where you can reserve the cars.
• AlgebraPrep is a series of new iPhone/iPod Touch apps to help students prepare for Algebra math classes.
• Parrot AR.Drone is a wifi helicopter with 2 cameras on it. You can play it with augmented reality games on your iPhone / iPod Touch!
• OnStar iPhone App – launched last at CES that lets you control your Chevy volt with your iPhone.
• Lego Universe is a new massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) coming out that uses Lego people!
• NVIDIA 3D Vision allows gaming in 3d. Supercool. More..

This is my list of fun stuff at CES 2010, what were your favorite gadgets?

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CES 2010: OnStar Experience iPhone App

If you’re a proud owner of a GM Chevrolet Volt, you’ll be happy to know that an amazing iPhone app has recently been released at CES 2010 show! OnStar launched an iPhone app that will make taking care of your Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle a snap!

OnStar Experience allows a seamless connection to you and your Chevrolet VOLT vehicle data. You can even perform commands remotely to your car by simply clicking on buttons in the app. Never again do you have to worry if you’re car is out of charge, or is unlocked, etc. It’s all right in the app!

Some of the features that OnStar Experience provides are:

• Vehicle State of Charge
• Vehicle Electric Range
• Vehicle MPG
• Vehicle Charging Settings and Control
• Lock / Unlock Doors
• Honk Horn and Flash Lights

It’s just amazing how much you can control your car in just the palm of your hands! Check out OnStar Experience today. Note, if you do not have a Chevy Volt, you can still interact with the app in demo-mode.

Video Demo at CES 2010

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CES 2010: Zipcar iPhone App

Renting a car just got much easier. Zipcar.com introduces their iPhone app that allows Zipcar members to reserve cars in various cities in the U.S. and London.

Simply load the Zipcar iPhone app and sign in with your Zipcar account. Search the map and find a Zipcar location. Once you select the location, choose the type of car you want and reserve it. Select the date, time, and amount of time you would like to reserve it for, and that’s it, your car is booked!

The iPhone app makes the process of reserving a Zipcar so seamless and easy. Other extra features in the iPhone app includes unlocking and locking the car, activating the horn, as well as manage your reservations.

The Zipcar iPhone app is a great app for a very innovative car service!

This article was originally posted on iProng Magazine.

Video Demo at CES 2010

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CES 2010: Intel’s Interactive Cubes

Intel had one of the most impressive booths at CES 2010! It’s an interactive display where each of those cubes represent a piece of CES 2010 content from various social networks. Tapping on the cubes will bring up more information on the tweet or flickr photo. It’s an amazing way to display real-time content from all over the world. Definitely a must-visit booth if you have not been there.

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CES 2010: AR Drone iPhone Video Game

I’m definitely putting this AR Drone iPhone video game on my list of must-see-at-CES-2010!

This is just amazing! In the game, you can fly a real UFO-like object in the air while running after imaginary monsters or fighter planes on their iphones. Wow!

This awesome beauty was created by Parrot, a French company that specialize in Bluetooth hands free system, digital photo frames, and wireless speakers. They now need to add iPhone games to their list!

For more information about this, see Telegraph.co.uk

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CES 2010 Coverage

I’m all packed and ready to head off to Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2010! I know it’s going to be awesome. You should be there!

I already have my eyes set on a few things, but I’m sure I’ll find plenty more to show you. Bill Palmer and I will be posting about iPhone / iPod Touch apps and accessories on iProng.com! You can also follow me at PHP-Princess.net for all things digital & geeky, my Twitter for short CES snippets, and Dolphinia.net for random things about Vegas.

I hope to see you on the show floor or at Robert Scoble’s “It Won’t Stay in Vegas” party! Be safe, and I’ll see you in Vegas!

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