Making it even easier for attendees to find and interact with sessions

On the eve of Google I/O 2013 kicking off in San Francisco, Google has just updated the official I/O 2013 app with a few tweaks to make following the conference a little easier. There's now a session feedback form for attendees to let Google know how a session went after the fact, as well as improved Maps functionality to let you navigate the expanses of the Moscone Center and find those sessions. The update also upped the resolution of speaker photos, and added DashClock widget support -- presumably to let you keep tabs on upcoming events.

We'll be awake bright and early tomorrow morning to cover the three hour long marathon of a keynote starting at 9am PT, so be sure to set a reminder from that Google I/O app so you don't miss a minute. We'll see you there.

Update to Jelly Bean for the Android Runtime is still on track and scheduled to land in June

Back in February at BlackBerry Jam Europe we first heard talk of BlackBerry updating their Android Runtime environment from 2.3.3 Gingerbread, to 4.1 Jelly Bean. All has been quiet on that front since then, but today during the BlackBerry Jam keynote at BlackBerry Live, developers were presented with an updated roadmap that confirms the update is still planned, and is running on schedule. Only, it won't be Android 4.1 anymore that the Runtime will be based around, BlackBerry is going straight to 4.2.2. 

Until Google introduces a new version of Android -- quite possibly tomorrow during the Google I/O Keynote -- 4.2.2 is the latest build, and BlackBerry should be commended for that. With the update due to hit in June, there's a strong possibility that BlackBerry 10 devices will have access to 4.2.2 before a number of Android devices. OK, so it's not exactly the same, but impressive nevertheless. 

Android developers looking to move their apps to BlackBerry by way of re-packaging will benefit hugely from this. Apps designed around Gingerbread feel horribly outdated by current standards, and updating the Runtime to 4.2.2 will open the door to many more developers, with many more apps, and ultimately the BlackBerry 10 users should see a much improved experience. For more from BlackBerry Live, be sure to head over to CrackBerry for all the coverage you can handle. 

Source: BlackBerry via CrackBerry

View, present and interact with meetings all from your mobile device

Adobe is making a few useful updates to its Adobe Connect apps today that will improve the experience for those joining meetings from mobile devices. First up, users on phones and tablets can now both deploy and join webinars and meetings being conducted in the Adobe Presenter format, with additional features therein. Presentations can now be interactive for people viewing on a mobile device, letting them tap on questions and answers to give their input. Video conferencing has also been improved to let the users view both their own video feed as well as the person talking, on top of viewing paused feeds of everyone else in the meeting.

Small improvements to the experience such as presentation backgrounds and new graphics are also small but useful changes that make Adobe Connect users on mobile feel like they're getting a complete experience. While you may not be using Adobe Connect Mobile on a daily basis, those in the education and enterprise markets will want to give this a look.

More: Adobe

Receive notifications, mention friends and search more easily in latest Pinterest update

Social sharing service Pinterest has updated its mobile app with a few new features this afternoon. The new Pinterest version 1.5 lets you send a pin to a friend, mention friends in comments (like many social networks) and receive push notifications when someone likes, comments on repins your items -- a feature added to the web-based Pinterest a few weeks back. In-app searching has also been improved with search term suggestion.

You can grab the latest version of Pinterest from the Google Play link above. Alternatively, hit the Play Store app to get updated if you've already installed an earlier version.

Pinterest has also been updated to version 2.4 on iOS devices.

Today at BlackBerry Live 2013, the quintessential BlackBerry Messenger was announced as coming to Android this summer! It's going to be totally free, which is a welcome surprise. 

CEO Thorsten Heins announced his company's goal to make BBM the standard in cross-platform messaging and that they'll be bringing their long-standing device-exclusive service to iOS and Android. In the long run, they intend to include advanced features like groups, screen sharing, and the recently-announced Channels to the other platforms. Keep an eye out for this one in Google Play over the next couple of months, and expect it to displace a lot of the current messaging platforms out there. 

Any of you guys know folks that still use BBM? Any ex-BlackBerry-owners that miss BBM?

The better part of the CrackBerry crew are at BlackBerry Live 2013 this week, and there was a bit of news for Android fans amid the general session. BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.1 was announced, which includes support for Android devices. That means your IT guy can roll out apps and lock down BlackBerry devices throughout the company just as easily as it can with any Android devices. 

Direct links to the Play Store make music buying easier

TuneIn Radio has just released an update to its streaming radio service that lets users quickly find and purchase the music they're listening to in Google Play. The app has simply added a Google Play icon to the action bar between the share and search buttons, and tapping it brings you to a pre-populated search page in Google Play where you can purchase the track being played. Presumably the button doesn't show up when it can't find a match for the music (it doensn't show up on talk radio, for example), but in our few tests it always returned results.

The update is available for both free and paid versions of TuneIn, and is certainly one to update right away if you find yourself trying to remember and search for music to buy later. You can grab the free version from the Play Store link at the top of this post, and the $4.99 paid version right here as well.

Approve, deny and request information on guests right from the app

In an attempt to bring its Android app up to parity with the features of the iOS version, Airbnb has added a few new features that should make the experience of setting up travel arrangements a bit easier. The main focus is on the hosting side of the service, where you're setting up a residence to have others come and stay at. The new update now lets hosts pre-approve, deny or request information about the guests without going to the web, which is a huge improvement. You can also now completely manage your calendar from the app, making it easier for guests to find availability dates for residences.

Airbnb also says it has made a "truck full of bug fixes", including a fix for push notifications. Along with the new features and a nice visual refresh, the app has really come together to feel like a more complete experience. If you're an Airbnb user this update will be a worthwhile one to get.

New 15GB shared storage replaces old 10GB for Gmail and 5GB for photos on Google+ and 5GB for Drive

The Google goodies are already coming our way, before we even get to Google I/O. Announced today, no longer will your Gmail storage sit at 10GB for free, or 5GB on Google+ photos and Google Drive. Google has introduced a new, 15GB free allowance which covers all three products. 

This is great news in particular for anyone who uses little of their allowance on Gmail -- like myself -- but is much heavier on photos and Drive usage. As the storage is shared across all three services, you get to use as much of it as you like, wherever you like. 

In addition to changing how your storage works, Google is also changing how the Google Drive storage page helps you understand how you're using your storage allowance. Hovering over the pie chart will show you a breakdown of how much you're using across each of the three services. And, because of the changes, heavy Gmail users are no longer limited to a 25GB upgrade only. Any Google Drive storage you buy will become available there too. 

Source: Google Drive Blog