Google I/O 2015 live blog
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3rd & 7 37yd
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James Martin 5/28/2015 5:57:09 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 5:57:25 PM"Having access to good information can changes peoples' lives everywhere for the better."
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James Martin 5/28/2015 5:57:27 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 5:57:41 PMHowever, having access to the internet isn't the end. Connectivity may be too expensive, or poor quality.
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James Martin 5/28/2015 5:57:51 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 5:57:56 PM"It can sometimes take minutes to load a medium-sized webpage, or a map."
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Richard Nieva 5/28/2015 5:57:58 PMWe're talking internet connectivity now. Could we be talking about Project Loon now?
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 5:58:06 PMSo, they're working to optimize their pages for these situations.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 5:58:39 PMGoogle has created a "light" search result page that's 10x smaller, without image previews and the like.
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James Martin 5/28/2015 5:58:57 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 5:59:05 PMStarting in Indonesia, Google is going to optimize pages. They'll load 4x faster and use 80% less data.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 5:59:12 PMSo, a caching service? Image downgrading? Interesting.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 5:59:28 PMThese pages also reduce memory usage in the browser, which helps for lower-power devices.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 5:59:36 PMShe said these tweaks might come "Across the board."
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James Martin 5/28/2015 5:59:40 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:00:04 PMIn India, there's a Network Quality Estimator being added to Chrome, which will adapt the webpage automatically based on connection quality.
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James Martin 5/28/2015 6:00:06 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:00:21 PMIt automatically replaced some images on the homepage for the Times of India, for example, but kept the important navigation graphics.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:00:30 PMAlso, you can easily save images for offline access.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:00:44 PMYouTube, now.
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James Martin 5/28/2015 6:00:49 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:01:19 PMFitzpatrick is talking about YouTube offline, which has launched in a few nations, including Indonesia, which lets you take videos offline for up to 48 hours.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:01:26 PMI'd love to see that come to the US... I think a lot of people would.
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Richard Nieva 5/28/2015 6:01:27 PMGetting users from developing countries is important to Google's business. The more reach they have, the more people use their services, and the more data they have on users.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:01:29 PMNow, Maps.
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James Martin 5/28/2015 6:01:33 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:01:43 PM"We hear wonderful stories about how maps help people in their daily lives."
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:02:17 PMFitzpatrick says that helping users build and maintain maps results in better maps, better business listings, and better economies.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:02:40 PMTransit now supports Mexico City and Sao Paolo, and rail schedules throughout India are supported as well.
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Richard Nieva 5/28/2015 6:02:47 PM"Being on the map made it akin to a proof of existence for these businesses," she says.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:02:50 PMNow, offline Maps.
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James Martin 5/28/2015 6:03:03 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:03:12 PMWe're getting a demo of Maps in airplane mode, and the map has been downloaded locally.
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Scott Stein 5/28/2015 6:03:20 PMOffline maps!! this will help when I visit my relatives in rural England, where I don't use roaming. Will be seriously helpful for travel.
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James Martin 5/28/2015 6:03:22 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:03:33 PMWe're searching for PoIs, and even reviews and information like open hours are included!
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Richard Nieva 5/28/2015 6:03:40 PMOffline maps still show reviews
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Scott Stein 5/28/2015 6:03:47 PMOffline maps my second-favorite announcement from today.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:03:51 PMHowever, we haven't seen how to download that map, yet. The current mechanism is quite clunky.
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Richard Nieva 5/28/2015 6:03:55 PMand turn by turn directions
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James Martin 5/28/2015 6:03:59 PM
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:04:05 PMEven turn-by-turn directions work completely offline, with voice.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:04:24 PM"Now I can search and navigate in the real world, online or offline."
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:04:48 PMThat's starting "later this year" -- nothing more specific than that.
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Tim Stevens 5/28/2015 6:05:04 PM"We're most excited by the entrepreneurship, the leadership, the creativity that we see from developers in these markets," Fitzpatrick says.