Thoughts on systems, engineering, AI, technology and life.
Every year I like to take a snapshot of Android platforms adoption for historical purposes. Below is the Android platform comparison 2015 vs. 2014. (Search my blog for previous ones). Keeping track of platform adoption is important as it directly impacts what developers should be focusing on vs. what should be deprecating or end-of-life. (Data … Read more
(Image Source: Mario Tomás Serrafero) I find this interesting: the recent move by MSFT to get into and “steal” the Android space. Today, thanks to new leadership at MSFT (Nadella), it seems the company is entering a new phase — with new vision and no-or less ego than before. And with this, MSFT is directly … Read more
This is personalization well done. It is the little things… Thank you, Google.
Android App Ops is no more… Two weeks after I wrote Android App Ops is a Step Forward, Google has disabled/removed the permission manager. After the Android 4.4.2 update, invoking the App Ops app results in a RuntimeException. The R.I.P. permission manager, a very important capability for end-users, WAS a step forward; we are going … Read more
Over time, I have seen the behavior of Google Ads on my weblog change behavior. Today, when I visit websites, including my own blog, I no longer see content-relevant Ads. Digging around I found information on how ads are targeted to your site: Contextual targeting, based on keywords Placement targeting, based on your site URL … Read more
[Google invited me to give this talk, but expanded, in Kansas City on Aug 23rd. Stay tuned for more info] Next Fri and Sat July 12 – 13 in Austin is the Texas’ GDG TX DevFest. There will be multiple session tracks on Android, Web/JavaScript, and other tech, with guest speakers from Austin, Houston, Dallas … Read more
Below is a snapshot of the Android platform distribution, as of September 2012. As you can see, the majority of the devices out there, close to 60%, are still 2.3 (Gingerbread). This is followed by ICS with close to 21%. Froyo 2.2 is 14%. I hope that by March (but more likely, summertime or later) … Read more
Vizio Co-Star is NO-GO. Part of creating a product is providing proper customer support throughout its life-cycle. A product life-cycle begins with product envisioning, followed by definition, followed by create/build, followed by going to market (which on itself consists of different aspects including customer support). Vizio has failed to deliver my product. And has failed … Read more
While the major Google I/O fun is happening in San Francisco on June 27-29, some of us will stay behind and run/participate at the Extended version of Google I/O — in my case, Google I/O Extended Austin. You can sign up for Google I/O Extended Austin — for registration and information visit https://sites.google.com/site/austinioextended/. We expect … Read more
The Oracle vs. Google case on Java is such a precedence case that any ruling on APIs vs. copyright might open a can of worms. The outcome of this ruling literally will affect any software company and developers designing APIs (and protecting those as Intellectual Property). (I personally believe programming languages and its APIs should … Read more