Google developer conference starts this week

Google's second annual I/O Developer Conference kicks of in San Francisco this week, with eight tracks covering everything from Ajax to mobile, and a Sandbox area where new applications will be demonstrated.

The conference, which takes place in San Francisco's Moscone Centre, will feature breakout sessions where developers can learn about new apps development techniques, informal 'Fireside Chat' Q&A sessions, and opportunities to engage with product experts, said Google.

The new Google Developer Sandbox area features will allow developers to demonstrate their creations and answer any questions.

"The Sandbox will feature a wide range of developers who have built applications based on tehnologies and products featured at Google I/O," said a Google blog posting on the event.

"Representing large and small companies, individual developers and a diverse group of apps, these developers will be on hand at the Sandbox to demo their apps, answer questions, exchange ideas and meet you in person. Members of the Google engineering teams will also be on hand."

Companies currently lined up to appear include big names such as Adobe, Citrix, MySpace and JBoss, alongside smaller players such as Pentaho, a commercial open source business intelligance vendor which uses the Google Web Toolkit, and SpareChange, a social networking payments platform and early adopter of OpenSocial the App Engine and Android.

The eight tracks at the conference are: Ajax and Data APIs; Client; Google Web Toolkit; App Engine; Enterprise; Mobile; Social; Tech Talk.

The last major developer event Google held was its Developer Day in London last September, at which the firm previewed the new Android operating system and G1 device.