Google releases Project Ara MDK, giving us even more details on what to expect

Project Ara’s first developer conference is slated for April 15 through the 16th, less than a week away now. In preparation for the event, Google officially unveiled the first release of its MDK (modular development kit) last night, giving us a few new details on what to expect from the modular phone project.

As we already knew, Project Ara’s core component is the endoskeleton (endo), the device’s frame which consists of multiple different plugs for connecting various kinds of modules. Of course part of the magic of Ara is that you don’t have to settle when it comes to the components found on your device, and the same goes for the form factor, as Ara comes in three different sizes: mini, medium and large. Each of these different size categories will also offer different layout possibilities for 3rd party components.

Ara comes in three different sizes: mini, medium and large

At least initially, Project Ara’s MDK is only officially supporting and giving specifications for mini and medium devices, though it says the larger form factor will be added in a “future release”.

So what else can we learn from the MDK guidelines? While the majority of the guide is clearly aimed at a developer audience, there are some important takeaways here for those simply wondering what to expect from the platform.

Cameras, processors and screens — oh my!

The new Ara MDK goes into a lot of specifics about the guidelines behind individual components, giving us a better idea of what Ara can and can’t do. On the device’s rear, the sky is pretty much the limits — within reason. On the front, the main space-taker is the display, but there’s also an option to add a camera or even a physical keyboard.

How awesome would it be if RIM Blackberry built a physical keyboard module? But I digress.

So what kind of guidelines are we taking about here? While Google makes it clear that components can only adhere to certain dimensions for cameras, processor packages, displays and other core components, the MDK also opens the door to modules that think outside the box. As an example, the MDK mentions components like a pulse oximeter module for measuring blood oxygen saturation.

In other words, Project Ara will allow for true customization beyond just the basics like camera, RAM, processor and storage.

Magnetic force on the back, ball-springs on the front

Google has already touched on this subject a bit in the past, but the MDK gives additional clarification to how the modules will stay in place. On the rear of the endo, Ara will utilize electro-permanent magnets (EPM) that will have two selectable states: an attach state and a release state.

It’s important to note that switching from these states requires electrical power — but holding them in place doesn’t. Translation: your phone will need to be powered up in order to remove or add a component, which should help keep things in place.

On the front of the handset, Project Ara will rely on both EPM and a ball-spring plunger to ensure your screen and other components don’t fly off.

Design Language

Google is currently the only creator of Project Ara-compatible endos, but 3rd party developers will have the ability to create a wide variety of different modules. This might make you wonder how the design language will work, and whether your phone will end up looking like a mismatched mess — sort of like most of my Lego projects growing up.

The goal of the module aesthetic is to create a smooth, fat, pebble form

The good news is that Google seems to be thinking every step of Ara’s development through as carefully as possible, and design language is no exception. In the MDK, it is stated that the “goal of the module aesthetic is to create a smooth, fat, pebble form.”

The MDK says there are three key reasons for this pebble design:

1. A softer form without sharp lines and edges is simple, iconic, and visually easy to understand.
2. The shape enables modules to easily slide into a module slot.
3. The form of the module is one that is friendly to hold and enjoyable to handle.

As for the material, color and finish of these components? Google’s MDK makes it clear that while they will be open to some flexibility here, there will be a specific set of CMF guidelines “provided in a future release”. Bottom-line, Google is working to define a design language that will keep your phones from looking terribly mismatched — at least that’s the goal.

Project Ara and Android

While it was pretty much a given that Project Ara would run on Google’s mobile OS, the MDK mentions that Ara phones will run Android and that just about any and all Android apps should be fully compatible with such devices.

The MDK doesn’t get into specifics about how Android will handle the constant change of components or the wide array of drivers potentially needed, but rest assured that Google is behind the scenes working on how to put it all together.

How Project Ara customization will work

Probably one of the most interesting parts of the MDK is about how consumers will purchase and customize their Project Ara phones. The MDK mentions that Google’s plan is to create an online marketplace, which could eventually even end up as part of the Play store. Here you’d be able to buy different modules and receive advice on installing and configuring them.

Google’s plan is to create an online marketplace for Project Ara

From the sounds of it, this could mean that all Project Ara 3rd party modules will actually be sold through a Google approved site. While this is speculation on our part, it could also mean that Google might offer self-installation of modules when you order your first phone.

As for when we’ll actually see the first Ara devices? The goal is early 2015, which isn’t all that far away. That said, don’t expect tons of modules or options right out the gate, but the idea of Project Ara is starting to look less like fiction and more like a doable reality.

For those interested in diving even deeper into the guidelines and specifications involved with Project Ara, you can get a hold of the MDK for yourself by heading on over to Google’s official Ara homepage.

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Dropbox releases new social gallery app called Carousel

Kris Carlon 2014-04-10T10:00:00Z5 hours ago

Kris Carlon

Putting down roots in Berlin after six years of traveling is a major step for Kris Carlon, who has spent more time living out of a tent lately than sitting at a desk. Kris comes to the AndroidPIT Editorial Team via a lengthy period spent writing on art and culture in Australia and other places he has lived. He joined the Android community while resurfacing in civilization back in 2010 and has never looked back, using technology to replace his actual presence in other people's lives ever since.

The industrious folk over at Dropbox are quite busy at the moment. They just released an update for Dropbox a couple of days ago and now today they have released two entirely new apps. Mailbox is a company that Dropbox bought after the warm reception of their email app when it launched last year on iOS. Today marks its entry to the Android platform. Carousel is all Dropbox's own though, and adds a nice social twist to your gallery app.

Carousel is an all-new social gallery app from Dropbox. / © Dropbox

Carousel groups your photos and videos in a way you'd already be familiar with based on location and date, but there's a strong emphasis on the social angle of the app, so it's kind of a mix between a instant messenger and gallery app. Everything, and I mean everything, is stored with your Dropbox account, so the idea is that all of the recorded moments of your life are always accessible and sharable with those in your life (and the Carousel app). Carousel will group your photos as well as those sent to you.

Carousel is a gallery app with an instant messaging angle. / © Dropbox

It's a sweet idea with a sweet promo video. As with most new communities though it needs members to make it viable. Being a Dropbox product, rapid adoption is obviously something Dropbox are hoping to overcome with their existing membership base. Added to the dozens of great gallery apps and dozens of great photo-sharing communities though, it feels like it's missing that x-factor it would need to make it a must-install app. Only time will tell if it takes off, but at least every moment along the way will be documented forever.

Link to Video

What photo-sharing communities are you already a part of? What do you look for in a new sharing community?

Via: Android Police Source: Carousel

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Google Releases First Developer Resources For Project Ara, Its Modular Smartphone

Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group has released a Module Developers Kit (MDK) for Project Ara, its forthcoming modular smartphone, providing reference implementations for various design features.

The ATAP describes Ara as follows:

The Ara platform consists of an on-device packet-switched data network based on the MIPI UniPro protocol stack, a flexible power bus, and an elegant industrial design that mechanically unites the modules with an endoskeleton.

The MDK goes on to note that the success of the modular smartphone concept is dependent on the development of a rich ecosystem of modular blocks that users can pick and choose from:

Ara’s success is predicated on a rich, vibrant, and diverse ecosystem of modules from a myriad of developers. Users would be able to select modules from an online marketplace using a confgurator that facilitates user choice and curates the confguration process to ensure that the selection of modules provides the expected system-level functionality.

The MDK also details how Google is considering a discrete set of configurations for parcelling off different sized endos — aka the metal endoskeletons into which the various modular blocks are ultimately slotted.

While the front of these endos supports relatively few options for user configuration (as seen below), owing to the real-estate requirements of the screen, the rear of the different-sized devices allows for multiple modules to be combined in multiple ways.

But Google is evidently still determining which of the possible rear endo design configurations it will make available. “While Google may or may not make every possible endo variant available, developers should be mindful that modules should support every variant,” the MDK notes.

The 81-page MDK discusses the “pebble-like form expressed by the Ara module design language”, and goes into specific detail of how modules should be designed — requiring they have a rectilinear footprint, a 1.5mm corner curvature, and that their base must be a single piece of machined 6061 aluminum to ensure a snug fit.

The document also touches on modules that might extend beyond the “standard envelope” in order to support specific additional functionality, such as a thermal imager module with a protruding lens, or the Pulse Oximeter Module, pictured below, for measuring blood oxygen saturation:

Regarding the electro-permanent magnets (EPM) which will be used to keep rear Ara modules in place, the document notes that the EPM has “two selectable states: the attach state and release state, corresponding to high and low levels of magnetic force”, with electrical power required only to switch between the states, not sustained to maintain either one.

Front modules, which don’t have so much endo to lean on, will use EPM and a ball-spring plunger assembly to ensure they remain in place.

On the apps front, the MDK notes that “in general” Android apps for Ara are not significantly different so “consequently, Ara devices are anticipated to be compatible with most standard apps”.

But it does add that “developers are encouraged to pay attention to application stability and graceful behavior in light of dynamically varying availability of hardware resources (as with hot-plug, for instance)”.

The Project Ara MDK can be downloaded via this link.

Seevl Releases API To Let You Add Music Recommendations And Artist Data To Your App

Companies like Echonest, recently acquired by Spotify, and Gracenote have long since offered music meta-data that others can incorporate into their apps. Consumer-facing services, such as Last.fm, also offer an API, and late last year Pandora competitor Senzari added MusicGraph to the mix.

Today another music startup is throwing its hat into the music meta-data ring. Dublin-based Seevl has released an API for developers to let them easily add music recommendations and artist data to their apps. The new offering gives app makers access to some of the underlying technology that currently powers the Seevl consumer-facing app, which is a cross-service music discovery offering that gives music recommendations and lets you build ‘mix tapes’, amongst a plethora of music-related features.

The Seevl API is powered by the startup’s own music meta-data graph, which itself is built on top of Freebase, Wikipedia and MusicBrainz, and uses Seevl’s in-house semantic technologies and recommendation and search algorithms — both founders, Alexandre Passant and Julie Letierce, previously worked at the renowned Semantic Web R&D lab DERI.

I asked Passant, CEO/CTO of Seevl, who the new API is aimed at? “Broadly speaking, anyone looking for music and artist-related meta-data,” he says. “The main target being music-related startups/businesses (from streaming to e-commerce) looking for a turn-key solution to enable search, discovery, recommendations, and personalization on their platform, or wanting raw data to build their own system on top of our API.”

This could be anything from a company wanting to add a simple “related-artists” feature, which, using Seevl, could be deployed with a few lines of Javascript, says Passant, “while a company looking for an ad-hoc personalisation stack may use our artist-data methods and add a machine-learning layer on top of it.”

Or, as another example, an app could display fact-sheets about every artist, genre and record label that goes beyond the traditional plain biography that music apps generally provide, thus increasing engagement.

“One feature that we provide (and that we haven’t seen in any competitor) is the ability to explain the relations between two artists. That is particularly useful for bringing context to recommendations (if you like X you should like Y *because* …) or to build graphical interfaces for music discovery,” adds Passant.

And whilst the API doesn’t currently afford the ability to offer personalised music recommendations on its own, Passant says Seevl has built such functionality into its core product and is willing to help, should a developer wish to go down that route. “It’s not natively provided by the API, but that’s something we can help on the integration side, as we’ve done it for seevl.fm,” he explains.

The Seevl API is free to use for non-commercial hacks/personal use, but for commercial use is also one way the startup plans to generate revenue. Developers, developers, developers…

CitusDB Releases An Open-Source PostgreSQL Tool That Promises Better Database Performance

CitusDB, a database analytics startup that is hoping to take on big boys like Oracle, today announced the release of CSTORE, a columnar store extension for PostgreSQL. The open-source tool, which the company says is the first for PostgreSQL, is available for a free download starting today.

“Columnar stores bring notable benefits for analytic workloads where data is loaded in batches,” said the company in a blog post. That means that companies using this tool could get much better database performance. How much better? CitusDB claims a 2x increase in query times and a data read reduction time of 10x. What’s more, company CEO Umur Cubukcu said in an email that faster analytics queries through advanced optimizations and ~3x compression could drive down storage costs.

“The column store is available on both single node (all standard PostgreSQL users) and scale-out PostgreSQL (CitusDB) for petabyte scale analytics,” Cubukcu explained. The latter is designed to work with the core CitusDB product, but users can download the new tool and use it as they see fit.

Cubukcu says overall this tool offers a couple of advantages. First, users can work with row-based and column-based tables together in the same database based on their usage patterns, he explained to me. And second: ”This builds on Citus Data’s approach of merging the reliable enterprise features of PostgreSQL with the scalability of Hadoop; offering big data analytics customers worldwide a simple and powerful analytics database.”

In fact, CitusDB announced version 3.0 of its core product at the end of February.

The company emerged in 2011 from Y Combinator and released version 1.0 of the product in June 2012. Alex Williams described the company’s February 2013 release for TechCrunch this way: “CitusDB is based on Google Dremel, a real-time analytics database that has surpassed Hadoop’s analysis capabilities. The difference is in its parallel-computing capabilities and SQL-like functionality. Do a query across petabytes of data over thousands of servers and the results come back in real-time.”

CitusDB has received $1.65 million in funding to date from investors, including Data Collective, Bullpen Capital, SV Angel, Trinity Ventures and leading angels. Customers cross verticals including ad technology, e-commerce, retail, security and mobile analytics.

The new tool is available on GitHub starting today and they are hoping the community will help build on this and add new features to it over time.

Image by Flickr user tec_estromberg under a CC BY 2.0 license

Intel Releases $99 “Minnowboard Max,” An Open-Source Single-Board Computer

Not to be outflanked by rivals, Intel has released the $99 Minnowboard Max, a tiny single-board computer that runs Linux and Android. It is completely open source – you can check out the firmware and software here – and runs a 1.91GHz Atom E3845 processor.

The board’s schematics are also available for download and the Intel graphics chipset has open-source drivers so hackers can have their way with the board. While it doesn’t compete directly with the Raspberry Pi – the Pi is more an educational tool and already has a robust ecosystem – it is a way for DIYers to mess around in x86 architected systems as well as save a bit of cash. The system uses break-out boards called Lures to expand functionality.

Intel is interested in this space mostly because it has been out of it for so long. Raspberry Pi runs a Broadcomm system-on-chip with a 700Mhz ARM processor and is probably one of the most popular SBCs available. The Minnowboard brings Intel’s low-power Atom processor back into the hands of hackers and makes Intel relevant in that space again – at least that’s the goal.

The new board is available from the manufacturer, Circuit.co.

via LinuxGizmos

Square Releases Spanish Version Of POS App To Support Latino Businesses

Square is releasing its point of sale app, Register, in Spanish, in an effort to onboard more Latino businesses. The company says Square Register, dashboard reports and analytics, online market, and mobile products are now localized in Spanish across the U.S.

Square is also going on a national tour to connect with Latino sellers and their communities in Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Latino-owned businesses comprise 22.4% of Florida businesses, 20.7% of Texas businesses and 16.5% of California businesses, according to the company.

While an IPO is reportedly on hold, onboarding more businesses appears to be one of Square’s major goals right now.

The payments company has been actively exploring ways to bring on businesses, both large and small, onto the platform. We heard Square has been debuting more custom pricing deals for medium- to large-sized businesses with more payments volume, and ramping up sales hiring. Square has also started offering cash advances to merchants.

Appealing to Latino businesses is a smart tactic–and outreach strategy will be key in whether the company can bring a meaningful amount of this segment of merchants online.

Vulfpeck Releases An Album Of Absolute Silence On Spotify To Make Money

Funk band Vulfpeck is showing everyone what growth hacking is all about — exploiting weaknesses to promote your work. The band recently released a new album on Spotify called Sleepify. It consists of 10 songs comprised entirely of silence. Each song is 31 or 32 seconds long. Not coincidentally, Spotify pays royalties when someone listens to a song for more than 30 seconds.

In a video, the band explains that it wants to try something new for its next tour. In order to raise a bit of money, Vulfpeck is counting on its fans to stream its songs on Spotify. But playing an album on repeat is just not that efficient.

Vulfpeck asks its fans to stream the newly released album on repeat while they sleep. It’s a way to generate a few dollars in royalties every night and a great way to show one of Spotify’s loopholes.

Whether a song lasts 3 minutes or 12 minutes, the band gets the same royalty payment from Spotify. According to Spotify itself, labels and publishers can expect between $0.006 and $0.0084 per stream. Then, it depends on the deal between a band and its label.

You can see on Spotify that Sleepify is distributed by Vulf Records. Vulfpeck is probably behind this label. This way, the band gets all the royalty payouts. For seven hours of sleep, you can stream 840 times 30-second tracks. With an average payout of $0.0072 per stream, the band can expect around $6.05 per fan per night. Nothing to be ashamed of.

If the band is successful enough, Vulfpeck says it will go on a tour without charging admission. Spotify provides analytics as well, letting Vulfpeck pick its tour dates depending on where Sleepify is popular.

And what if it doesn’t work? It’s still a great promotional stunt for the band. Let’s just hope that Vulfpeck is the exception, not the rule. Otherwise, Spotify will have a hard time generating profits.

Via The Guardian