Welcome to DeveloperEconomics’ weekly news roundup. In this edition Google announces new hardware and “Actions on Google” platform, Apple and Deloitte team-up for enterprise solutions and HTC’s Viveport VR app store goes live globally. Read on for the full news rundown.

Google announces new hardware and “Actions on Google” platform

Google has launched two new premium smartphones using the Pixel brand, a Daydream VR headset, a new WiFi router, and a 4k Chromecast. They have also announced dates and pricing for the previously announced Google Home speaker. On top of this, December will see the availability of a new ‘Actions on Google’ platform for developers to add to Google’s new Assistant in Allo, Google Home and exclusively on Pixel phones.

Google combines services under ‘Cloud’ brand

Google has created a new umbrella brand for its cloud services. Google for Work – Google’s Cloud Platform – and Google Apps for Work – which itself is being rebranded as GSuite – all now fall under the newly created Google Cloud brand. Google said its decision to rebrand underscores its seriousness about enterprise services.

Android Wear 2.0 delayed until 2017

The release of Android Wear 2.0 will be delayed until 2017, Google has announced. The release, originally scheduled for this autumn, was pushed back to allow Google to collect more feedback and fine tune the software. Google has instead released the third developer preview of the OS, which includes Google Play on Android Wear.

Genymobile announces cloud-based Android platform

Genymobile has announced a new cloud platform to help enterprises build and test Android applications. Genymotion Cloud features support for Jenkins and Bamboo, along with support for testing frameworks such as Robotium, Appium, Expresso and Calabash. The platform also features virtual device sharing, live demos and app sharing for cross-company collaboration.

HTC’s Viveport VR store goes global

HTC has launched its official store for the Vive VR headset. Viveport is launching in 30 countries, with around 60 titles covering categories such as education, design, art, social, video, music , sports and health. The store is currently highlighting content from the likes of Everest VR, The Blu, Google Spotlight Stores and Stonehenge VR.

Occipital launches $500 VR dev kit for smartphones

Start-up Occipital has released a dev kit that offers room-scale motion tracking for iOS and Android phones. The $500 kit uses Occipital’s Structure sensor, which has already been used on smartphones to create 3D meshes of environments. The kit includes a Structure Sensor, custom faceplate, phone case and 120-degree wide vision lens.

Codenvy partners with Bitnami for “one click” cloud stacks

Codenvy and Bitnami have teamed-up to offer “one-click” programming stacks for common frameworks. The stacks integrate the Che cloud IDE and workplace server with Bitnami stacks, allowing devs to intantly access Dockerized workspaces, removing the need to set-up and configure IDEs and frameworks before writing code. Frameworks supported include Express, Swift, Play and Rails.

Waratek enhances Java app security with RASP

Waratek has released a new version of its AppSecurity platform for Java apps. The release lets developers modernise the security capabilities of older Java apps with a RASP plug-in that the eliminates the need to replace existing Java Runtime Environments. Waratek adds that its virtualisation-based architecture avoids the performance penalties associated with other RASP products.

Oracle loses appeal against Google in Java battle

Oracle has lost its appeal against Google, in the long-running legal battle over whether Android infringes on Java copyrights. This latest appeal concerns whether Google failed to disclose its intent to develop tools to run Android on the desktop using the Android App Runtime for Chrome. A District Court Judge denied the motion, saying it had “no consequence with the defined scope of our trials.”

Apple and Deloitte announce iOS partnership

Apple has teamed-up with Deloitte to help companies get to grips with the enterprise features of iOS. The partnership involves a “first-of-its-kind” Apple practice with over 5,000 strategic advisors, who are focused on helping business take advantage of the iOS ecosystem. The deal will also see Deloitte offer native app development services for ERP, CRM and HR departments.

Skymind raises $3m for Java deep-learning library

Skymind, which offers an open-source deep-learning library for Java, has raised $3 million from investors such as Tencent, SV Angel and Mandra Capital. The start-up aims to build a library that lets Java developers work on AI deep learning. Skymind says its libraries have been downloaded 22 thousand times just in the last month.

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