Google Assistant no longer available for commercial use? - google-assistant-sdk

Is Google Assistant seriously no longer available for commercial use? Previously, you were able to but you had to get permission from them. Then at this page and even on their support page I run into this text:
Warning: You can't launch commercial devices that integrate with the Google Assistant SDK. It's available for experimental and non-commercial uses only.
So am I understanding correctly that Google is no longer allowing 3rd party hardware developers to add Google Assistant to their product? If this is indeed true, anyone know why?

Not quite. They're just saying that the Assistant SDK is no longer the route to go to embed the Assistant in your own commercial hardware. Given there are third party platforms that have the Assistant, I assume that they have a different platform that you need to partner with Google to use.
I can only speculate about why this is necessary, however my guesses are some combination of the following:
The Assistant SDK does not provide a way to update itself on devices when necessary, which they would expect on a consumer device.
The Assistant SDK doesn't support all the features that the Assistant now supports. In particular, it doesn't support streaming audio, which is the most popular feature for the Assistant.
Likely at the core of both of these, many of the features of the Assistant are implemented on the client side, while the Assistant SDK implements nearly everything (except wake word) on the server side.

Related

Does anybody know is google assistant sdk available for commercial use?

Does anybody know that google assistant SDK is available for commercial use or not?
If available how can I buy its License?
Per the Google Assistant SDK Terms of Service, you may not commercialize your Project without written permission from Google:
Google provides the Assistant API only for developmental use on your
Project devices. You may not:
a. commercialize your Project without written permission from Google;
b. incorporate or use the Assistant API with any standalone software
applications that are not necessary for operation of your Project
device; or
c. circumvent the limits Google places on the number of
queries your Project may issue, Users it may support, or any other
limit Google may put in place.

Apple Watch and Tizen shared library

We would like to bring some functionalities of an home banking mobile application to smart watches; we are evaluating Samsung Gear(Tizen) and Apple watch.
Do you know if it is possible to share a core library between the two platforms (Tizen, watchOS)?
It would contain just a generic wrapper to the rest API, some error handling and obviously nothing platform specific like the UI.
Something like a shared c/c++ library targeted for each specific platform.
Adding to RzR's comment, there are some tricky things in this approach. Tizen is moving in the direction of supporting Xamarin.Forms which should have some chance of doing what you want (see https://developer.tizen.org/development/tizen-.net-preview). I don't, however, know if that support is planned for the Tizen Wearable profile. A generic (platform-specific) shared library in general turns out to be frowned on by both Apple Store and Tizen Store policies, so that's going to have a harder time working out. A Tizen web app, on the other hand, should have an easy time working with REST, that's the idea of those... but whether they can access any Samsung Gear-specific features (as opposed to generic Tizen Wearable features) if you need those is a question that would require some research.
I am not apple wizard, but If I remember correctly iOS is only using static libraries (libfoo.a), but Tizen can use native shared ones and this can be bundled into TPK. Iotivity project is supporting both, you'll find some hints about bundling shared lib into package:
https://wiki.iotivity.org/tizen

iOS any way to debug apple app

For iOS, is there any way to debug an apple app? Just to see what it does behind the scenes? I want to debug the apple music app.
I am asking this because I want to know how is apple able to use the "heart" button lock screen control in iOS 9. I can't seem to find any documentation on this. I understand this is reverse engineering and this may not be allowed.
Reverse engineering is a violation of the iOS SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT.
(d) You may not, and you agree not to or enable others to, copy (except as expressly permitted by this
License), decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, attempt to derive the source code of, decrypt,
modify, or create derivative works of the iOS Software or any services provided by the iOS Software or
any part thereof (except as and only to the extent any foregoing restriction is prohibited by applicable
law or by licensing terms governing use of open-source components that may be included with the iOS
Software).
That being said; you can find in this talk by Conrad Kramer, informations on tools for iOS reverse engineering like Charles, cycrypt, IDA and dumdecrypted .
Note that many of those tools are only available for jailbroken devices.
Happy hacking :)

Here maps free evaluation iOS mobile SDK for 90 days, no link available on the web to download

As part of our mobile app development we need to work on offline maps. Recently we have registered for HERE maps iOS free evaluation sdk(90 days), however we are not able to download HERE maps sdk and explained samples since there is no download link available on website(https://developer.here.com/native-apis). We have sent several mails to support team but nobody responded to my mails.
Someone help us to proceed further like how to get this sdk, so that we can integrate this free evaluation HERE sdk in our apps. If we are happy with this maps we are ready to purchase business license also.
Note: Google Maps(no offline), Skobbler maps are giving sdks and sample programs but not Here Maps.
The native HERE Maps SDK which includes offline map support can now be evaluated by anyone, no business license required. You just need to create a HERE account and request an evaluation copy.
Go to developer.here.com > Mobile SDKs > Sign up for a 90-day free trial
https://developer.here.com/native-apis
I contacted HERE a few days ago. They said that the SDK is available only for business contracts, not for free contracts. And it's not possible to get the sdk for evaluation. We need first a business contract...
Click on the below link to download Here maps mobile SDKs for android and iOS:
https://developer.here.com/plans/mobile-sdk
Currently there are two types of mobile SDKs are available
1.Starter Evaluation(90-day free trial) : Some feature will not be available here.
For ex a).We cannot download maps with this.
b).Hybrid mode will not work here etc.
Hybrid version will work both online and offline modes whereas online version will only work in online mode. You can download the maps with Here mobile SDK and then you can navigate to the places without internet. In hybrid version app will switch to offline automatically whenever net is not available.
2.Premium Evaluation(90-day free trial) : We can download maps.

Is iOS CarPlay API Public? How to Integrate CarPlay?

Is the CarPlay API publicly available?
Where can we find a programming guide or the reference to these classes if it is?
Or will it integrate seamlessly with other APIs like Audio from AVFoundation?
Notes
This question is broad and may be flagged as so but please do not as though there is almost no information on the subject and a lot of people could find it useful at this stage
I live in Switzerland and want to go to Geneva to try out a demo
app that I would write on a Ferrari lol.
Update Oct, 2019:
A couple of years later, Apple opened up their designer guidelines and developer docs on CarPlay. As mentioned in some other comments as well, getting access to developer tools can be done on your mac as well.
Technically, depending on the type of app you want to be compatible with CarPlay, it requires different API's and frameworks. For example:
The CarPlay framework is for use by navigation apps only. If you want to add CarPlay support to your audio app, use MPPlayableContentManager. For messaging apps, use SiriKit’s Messaging-related intents to support reading and sending messages in CarPlay through Siri. For VoIP calling apps, use CallKit with SiriKit’s VoIP Calling-related intents to make and answer audio calls on a CarPlay system.
Legally, however, still the MFi Program requires application and approval by Apple for you to get the appropriate permissions, signing profile etc. in order to deploy it on an actual device. Let alone release it to market. OR... you can try applying for access manually and explain your case.
Lastly, there is also some documentation on how to enable tools and simulator to work with CarPlay. For example, a small excerpt:
CarPlay is supported by default when you run Simulator. However, you should configure the Simulator with extra options when developing a CarPlay navigation app. To enable extra options, enter the following command in Terminal before launching Simulator: defaults write com.apple.iphonesimulator CarPlayExtraOptions -bool YES.
But besides the documentation I can seriously recommend to read what the people at Flitsmeister blogged about on how to enable tooling on your local machine. Also, their road to finally getting approved was apparently tedious and far from smooth (I'm not affiliated with Flitsmeister), even though their use case is based on having lots of users (±1.5mln). Mentioning this to emphasise: CarPlay is apparently still not for the every day developer, just yet.
This question dates of early 2014. Let me update this with a mid 2016 answer:
TL;DR - No, it is not publicly available.
In order to get the tools, documentation, technical specs and even the license itself to develop for (amonst others) Carplay, you need to be enrolled with Apple's MFi Program.
Apple's MFi Program ("Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad") is a licensing program for developers of hardware and software. This is a specific license targeted at manufacturers, mostly of "mass production" units, that has additional benefits over the regular developer accounts for companies. These benefits include hardware components, tools, docs, techsupport and of course the license that you are allowed to develop specifically for these devices and technologies, like Carplay.
The MFi Enrollment FAQ is a decent read that makes everything pretty clear. But before you get your hopes up, do note that -again- it is only available for manufacturers. Like the FAQ states:
Q: Am I eligible to apply for the MFi Manufacturing License if my company does not own a manufacturing facility?
A: No. The MFi Manufacturing License is intended solely for companies that own one or more manufacturing facilities.
There are some exceptions. For example if you're a contractor, or an engineering design firm, that develops MFi accessories for a client (who is a manufacturer).
But basically put, it is not for the average developer and admission is quite strict. This means, in a nutshell, that Apple Carplay is not available to developer for by the, say, 95% of us.
The MusicCarDisplayUI.framework framework is a private framework as of iOS 7.1. Taking a look at the runtime headers of the framework, one can guess why; it's just not ready yet for wide use. Whether Apple will make it public in the future is one's guess.
In the meantime, make sure to open a feature request or directly contact Apple here.
Update: If you wish to have a CarPlay-enabled app, contact Apple using this form.
Just worked on carplay project.
You can find the api documents on apple's developer website.
Like MPPlayableContentManager and MPContentItem.
However only after registered on apple's website for carplay, will apple send you the "Carplay Programming Guide" telling you how to activate the car simulator and what classes to use and how to do things etc.
Take a look at MediaPlayer Framework. There are a bunch of classes in there designed for CarPlay only. For example, MPPlayableContentManager, MPContentItem, etc. Obviously, you won't be able to deploy it via the AppStore without Apple's approval.
Partially since iOS 12.0 : https://developer.apple.com/documentation/carplay
The CarPlay framework is for use by navigation apps only. If you want to add CarPlay support to your audio app, use MPPlayableContentManager. For messaging apps, use SiriKit’s Messaging-related intents to support reading and sending messages in CarPlay through Siri. For VoIP calling apps, use CallKit with SiriKit’s VoIP Calling-related intents to make and answer audio calls on a CarPlay system.

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