Google’s Showroom Barge Will Look Like A Dimensional Portal, Play Host To Thousands Daily

Google has admitted that at least one of its mystery barges (there are currently four registered, apparently) will host “interactive space[s] where people can learn about new technology.” Now, we’re privy to a glimpse at what that might look like, thanks to documents obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle. As you can see, the structure, which is made from recycled shipping containers and features vast sail-like structures, is about as forward-thinking as the Google Glass devices it will likely house (among others). The plans for the structure claim that it’s designed to host up to 1,000 visitors a day, with stays lasting around a month at various locations around San Francisco. Locations proposed in the documents for it to visit include Fort Mason, Angel Island, Redwood City, and Richmond, as well as eventual destinations down the road including San Diego and other stopovers along the U.S. West Coast. You can just make out how the shipping containers will be repainted and stacked to form that central structure, which is said to measure 50 feet in height, and 250 feet in length. The sails are meant to “remind visitors that they are on a seaworthy vessel,” according to the design firm in the documents obtained by the Chronicle, rather than to channel dimensional energies to create a bridge between worlds, which was my first guess as to their purpose. Those sails would be lowered in bad weather, too, presumably to prevent gusts of wind pulling the barge and its cargo of would-be Explorers out to sea. This is a very preliminary plan, according to a San Francisco Port spokesperson speaking to the Chronicle, so don’t expect to be able to set sail with Google on a journey of discovery tomorrow. There are lots and lots of forms to fill out and red tape to cut through before anyone can step foot in one of these and put a pair of Google Glass on their face. But if the finished project looks anything like this, then Google will have moved very quickly from having almost no brick-and-mortar customer-facing presence, to having one of the most ostentatious storefront-style experiences in human history.

Android Is Gaming's Future, And The One OS To Rule Them All, Says Nvidia CEO

Nvidia has some side bets on Surface and Windows RT, but Android is the really exciting OS of the future, according to CEO and co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang on an investor call today to discuss the company's latest financial results. Huang pointed to the Shield as its means of furthering the growing Android gaming ecosystem, but games are truly only one part of the picture for Android's bright future, he believes. “Shield is our initiative to cultivate the gaming marketplace for Android,” Huang said, as quoted by ZDNet. “We believe that Android is going to be a very important platform for gaming in the future, and to do so we have to create devices that enable great gaming to happen on Android.” The Nvidia Shield, released earlier this year, is essentially a small Android tablet welded to a gamepad controller, creating effectively a portable Android-powered gaming console that can go toe-to-toe with the likes of Nintendo and Sony's dedicated mobile gaming hardware. A recent software update for the Shield also improves its ability to output games content to big screens, including TVs, making it also a suitable microconsole for living room systems. Huang's statement is perhaps the clearest articulation of Shield's intended purpose yet; the console is designed to provide a focal point for free-floating Android game developer ambitions, offering up a target to build for. This helps the overall gaming ecosystem, but also helps Nvidia, by prompting more developers to build experiences tailored for Tegra, its mobile system-on-a-chip, thus encouraging more Android device OEMs to look its way when building out specifications for their latest hardware. Android's potential goes beyond gaming into virtually every corner of connected living, however, says Huang. Tegra's presence in automotive systems and set-top boxes, data centers, all-in-one PCs and more make it the perfect platform for the future, Huang noted, calling Google's mobile OS “the most disruptive operating system that we've seen in a few decades.” In many ways, the rise of Android is literally like a gold rush – prospectors are setting up shop and staking claims, and suppliers like Nvidia are congregating around the hub to benefit from the bump in the overall supply ecosystem created by the new demand. With initiatives like the Shield and the Tegra Note reference tablet (which is now being sold by British retailer Advent as the Advent Vega), Nvidia is engaging the market even further by placing seeds that it believes will slowly grow to become congregation points around which the rest of the Android ecosystem centers their own efforts, developers and device makers alike. It's as if they found a seam of gold ore, to stretch the metaphor, and then then called out to the miner community to let them know exactly where the gold is at. It's a long-term strategy, and one that works in tandem with short-term ones like introducing a new LTE chip to help boost Tegra sales immediately. There's a lot of competition, however, and Qualcomm is running away with the market, so the question remains whether or not these seeds Nvidia is planting will have time to come to fruition.

Microsoft Shows You The Entire Xbox One Experience With Video Tour Ahead Of Nov. 22 Launch

Microsoft has posted an extensive, 12-minute video walkthrough of what it's like to use the Xbox One, including showing off its Live TV, Skype, game DVR and biometric sign-in features, among others. It's almost like you're using it yourself, except it's actually Xbox CMO Yusuf Mehdi and Xbox Corporate VP Marc Whitten providing you with the vicarious experience. Bing and Skype both get cameos (the Skype tracking at around 6:20 is pretty cool), and you can see just how easy it is to switch between things like box scores, playing an Xbox game, chatting with friends and watching streaming content from Hulu Plus and Netflix. The easy switching alone looks like a decent reason to upgrade from previous generation devices, which almost always required quitting one thing entirely to start up another, rather than making it easy to pop between activities. I still haven't been swayed enough to lay down cash for a launch day console, of either the Xbox or the PlayStation variety, but I have to say, the more I see, the more I'm impressed.

Wearable Tech For A Practical Problem: Spanish Startup Builds Alert System For Diaper Changing

The current crop of sensor-driven wearables are mostly aimed at quantified selfers who want to geek out over activity or fitness data. Not (generally) because they have a pressing need to, more because they like playing with data. But of course wearable sensors have bags of potential to be very practical. And here's one utilitarian use of wearable sensor tech that's aiming to fix a real-world problem. Barcelona-based startup SiempreSecos (aka AlwaysDry in English) has created a range of silicone urine sensors for use in babies' nappies, or for older people suffering incontinence disorders. The basic problem is that it's inconvenient and/or invasive to have to keep checking whether a diaper needs changing. The reusable silicone moisture sensor, which sits against the skin inside the diaper, is paired with a wearable bracelet or other type of warning device/system such as an alarm clock to alert the carer that a diaper needs changing, or that a child is about to wet the bed. How does the tech work? “We are using radio frequency (868 MHz) with our own communication protocol which allows bidirectional operation with very low energy,” says the startup. ”We use a non-replaceable battery in the sensor that lasts a year and a li-pol battery rechargeable through microUSB on the bracelet. The alarm-clock plugs into a socket.” Care homes are one big target market for SiempreSecos, with the system providing professional caregivers with a more discreet way of ascertaining when a dementia patient, for instance, who is also incontinent needs their adult diaper changing. This version of the system sends alerts to a PC allowing for multiple patients to be monitored from one terminal. The startup has also devised versions for parents wanting to use the device to monitor when a baby needs changing, or for bed wetting children, or for a carer of an elderly relative - that version uses a wearable bracelet that includes a moisture level indicator and vibrates when the diaper requires changing. Prices start at €35 for a basic model designed to be worn by kids at risk of bed wetting, rising to €520 for 10 of SiempreSecos' Ignis Professional models, designed for use in care homes. The startup has taken to crowdfunding site Indiegogo to raise funds to get its wearables to market, having invested some €40,000 developing their idea over the past year, as well as raising a €25,000 loan. They're looking for another €20,000 in crowdfunding for manufacturing and distribution, although it's a flexible funding campaign so they'll get any funding they're able to raise, even if they don't hit the target.

Building Robotics Lands $1.14M Seed Round From CCV, Google Ventures And Other Angel Investors

Building Robotics, a startup that makes intelligent software systems for office buildings, has raised $1.14 million in a seed round led by Claremont Creek Ventures (CCV), Google Ventures, Formation 8, Navitas Capital, Red Swan Ventures and other angel investors. The Oakland, Calif.-based company says it will use the funds to add expertise in building management, development, back-end operators and user experience design. The first product by Building Robotics is Comfy, a software system that is meant to “meaningfully reconnect people to the heating and cooling in the work environment” by making offices more comfortable while also saving energy. Office workers can control the software, which is designed to be compatible with most existing HVAC and management systems, with mobile and Web apps. Comfy provides instant warm or cool air to people while its machine-learning algorithm analyzes their usage patterns and feedback to reduce energy use. Software like Comfy can not only reduce electricity bills and the average of 100 million tons of carbon dioxide that are emitted by U.S. power plants every year, but it may also potentially diffuse air conditioner wars–one of the most brutal elements of office politics–by pinpointing individual users and allowing them to control the temperature of their workspace. Comfy is based on an open-source platform developed by Building Robotics co-founders Andrew Krioukov and Stephen Dawson-Haggerty while they were Ph.D. researchers in computer science at U.C. Berkeley's LoCal Group. Building Robotics join other startups that have received investor attention by using tech to make buildings more energy-efficient and comfortable. Perhaps the most high-profile example is home hardware maker Nest Labs, which has raised a total of $80 million in funding so far. Another example is Bidgely, which has raised a total of $8 million from Khosla Ventures to make software that allows consumers to monitor and manage their household energy use. But even though most of us spend a significant part of our lives at work, intelligent software systems are difficult to scale up for commercial buildings. Building Robotics is seeking to gain traction through pilot deployments at several large tech companies in the Bay Area, as well as a federal building through the General Services Administration's Green Proving Ground (GPG) program. The GPG seeks to evaluate innovative sustainable building technologies by installing them in some of the 300 million square feet of real estate managed by the GSA for the U.S. government. “Building Robotics' business strategy fits perfectly within Claremont Creek Ventures' investment thesis. CCV invests in companies that are merging intelligent, comprehensive product design with innovative technology to give the user an empowering, productive experience. Comfy does exactly that,” said Nat Goldhaber, managing director of CCV, in a statement.

iHeartRadio Tops 40 Million Registered Users

iHeartRadio, Clear Channel's digital radio service, has today announced that it has topped 40 million registered users and 260 million downloads since relaunching in September 2011. Though the milestone is significant, it's worth noting that these are registrations and not monthly or daily active users. According to the company, this growth rate is second only to Instagram among top digital services like Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc. However, iHeartRadio registrations include web sign-ups as well as mobile signups, which Instagram didn't have as an option when nearing the 40 million mark. Yet, Clear Channel's head of digital Brian Lakamp reminds us that these registrations do not include “millions of users” who listen to live streaming radio stations which are available without registration. Only Custom stations, created by an individual user, require registration. A huge part of iHeartRadio's growth comes down to reach. The service is available across a plethora of platforms, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, web, tablets, automotive, smart TVs and various gaming consoles. This accounts for more than 260 million downloads since 2011, nearly doubling the number of downloads since July. Another factor in iHeartRadio's growth is the company's ability, no doubt backed by behemoth Clear Channel, to adapt to consumer behavior. When users were flocking to auto-curated playlist generators like Pandora, 8tracks and Songza, iHeart created it's own Concierge-like feature that delivers playlists based on mood or activity. More recently, iHeart tackled the talk radio sector with the launch of iHeartRadio Talk. The Talk radio product features channels for big media brands like CNN, TMZ, the Huffington Post and many more and has just recently come out of beta, though anyone can build their own brand by creating audiosodes and posting them to iHeartRadio Talk. Of course, Lakamp reiterates that the music part of the product is still at the core of iHeart, though the company is certainly pleased with the results they're seeing out of Talk.

An App “Middle Class” Continues To Grow: Independently Owned Apps With A Million-Plus Users Up 121% Over Past 18 Months

It may be getting harder for mobile developers to break into the top charts in the various app stores, but there is a healthy and growing “middle class” app economy, according to new data released by analytics firm Flurry this morning. The company reports seeing 357% growth over the past 18 months from independently owned apps that have a worldwide audience of over 20 million monthly actives, and 121% growth from those with an audience of over 1 million. The data was collected from apps running on Flurry's platform from Q1 2012 to Q3 2013. That platform has a broad reach – there are now over 400,000 apps across over 1.2 billion mobile devices which use Flurry's app analytics. While the growth percentages here are impressive, it's worth noting that in the case of the independent-owned apps with the 20 million active users, the actual number of apps has only grown from 7 in Q1 2012 to 32 in Q3 2013. In a world where the iTunes App Store now has a million mobile apps to choose from, that's still a small piece of the pie. But the number of mobile app developers hitting 1 million is much larger, going from just under 400 to 875 in the same time period. “These numbers are simply unprecedented, especially because most of these app developers have risen organically, and not as a result of consolidation or through mergers and acquisitions,” writes Flurry CEO Simon Khalaf on the company blog. He also notes that the app economy's overall health is doing well, and is continuing to grow, citing the increasing number of new mobile apps arriving on the app stores since January 2012. Because Flurry's customers tend to install the company's analytics software in their apps during testing periods ahead of their public launch, Flurry has insight into what the app ecosystem will look like in the near future. Today, the company says that over the past 18 months, application starts (as these new apps' appearances are being called) have nearly doubled. The data seems to counter a number of theories and various reports that the app stores are becoming overcrowded, and that while the app stores are filled more apps than users could ever want, few of these apps are being used. In fact, Flurry itself reported something similar earlier this year, when it found that Facebook app usage on iOS and Android devices accounted for a whooping 18% of time spent, ahead of games, web browsing, productivity apps, news apps, utility apps, and entertainment apps, among other things. In addition, another earlier report from comScore, which Flurry also cites today, found that Facebook and Instagram combined accounted for 26% of all time spent on mobile. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg later confirmed comScore's metrics, saying on a recent earnings call that Facebook accounts for more mobile minutes in the U.S. than YouTube, Pandora, Yahoo, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, AOL, Snapchat and LinkedIn combined. The takeaway, so far, from reports like these has been that there's not much room for other mobile apps when so much of users' time is spent with Facebook, and a few other major app properties. Khalaf says now that's not so, adding “there appears to be plenty of whitespace for others.” To be fair, a good bit of the growth Flurry is touting today is due to mobile app adoption in emerging markets, something the company alludes to today by citing the adoption of gaming, utility and messaging apps like LINE, Kakao, Snapchat and WhatsApp around the world. In particular, the company found earlier this summer that China alone accounted for 24% of all the connected devices worldwide, including both smartphones and tablets. So while's Flurry is making a good point that there's still plenty of room for growth in the mobile app stores, by taking a high-level view of the data like it has done today, it may be glossing over the very real struggles developers in mature markets have to overcome to even get their app seen, and then keep it from being abandoned.