Embracing The Cloud
public String CloudThoughts{ get; set;}

The Google I/O Developer Conference this past week (May 19-20) was a highly anticipated event for both Google web and mobile Developers alike.

With the exception of Chrome OS, all of the technologies and products on my watch list unveiled new and exciting features that re-affirmed my belief that Google is indeed one of the leading cloud platforms to be embraced by all cloud Developers.

The marriage between the Android mobile OS and Google services is simply outstanding. The new Web Store works seamlessly with mobile devices and actions taken on either the desktop or mobile are immediately reflected on the other device.

Google handed out 2 mobile phones to attendees, a Motorola Droid and a HTC EVO 4G, and I was amazed at the ease and speed of syncing both devices with my existing Google Premier Apps account.

The dilemma I faced was whether to write mobile apps natively for Android apps or use HTML5. Geolocation, games, and apps requiring haptic response will most definitely be better served running natively on Android. General web sites and marketing centric apps written in HTML5 will enjoy the benefits of running cross platform (iPhone, Blackberry, Android) but will lack high end graphics and GPS support (although SVG and Geo Javascript extensions could address both of these in HTML5).

Developing for Google in previous years has been something of a hobby for many Developers, since there were few monetization opportunities outside AdWords and AdSense. Google unveiled several new monetization platforms for both desktop and mobile developers that will make Android very attractive to existing iPhone developers (plus Google doesn't discriminate apps uploaded to their Marketplace).

With 100K Android phone activations per day it's becoming very easy to do the quick math and trust that Google Android is a viable and profitable distribution vehicle.

A considerable amount of time was spent on Google Business during the day 1 keynote. The Google/VMWare partnership mirrored closely what was announced for VMForce just a couple weeks ago, although I think Salesforce did a much better job of helping Developers understand what was being offered via SpringSource. Google is serious about the business market and wants Java apps written on their platform.

I think the most underrated business feature is Google Apps Script. This is a free extension to Google Premier Apps that enables complex workflows between spreadsheets, web forms, email, and calendars. I would highly advise SMBs to use Apps Script for their business needs while larger Enterprises would probably benefit more from the SpringSource business platform.

All demonstration hiccups aside, the Google TV announcement was interesting from a consumer perspective. It was quite amazing to see Google's CEO on stage with the other CEO's associated with the launch (Sony, Best Buy, Intel, Logitech, and Adobe). That was some serious firepower and, if anything, really reaffirmed that Google is pursuing a stratified and open platform in contrast to Apple's closed platform.

On a technical note, I enjoyed spending some time with the Chrome development team during their open "Office Hours". The conversation with them inspired me to download the V8 Javascript engine and brush up on my C++ skills in order to contribute some JSON parsing enhancements I requested.

Most of what I was hoping for in HTML5 support was either previewed at the conference or is scheduled for delivery this year. The V8 engine is in the Android 2.2 Froyo release and we can expect 2010 to be a milestone year for evolving browser technology.

The unedited YouTube video below is a 10 minute walkthrough of the conference floor with both Hardware and Software vendors showing their wares (check out the Salesforce booth around minute 3).