Google was obviously trying to earn some goodwill at its I/O developer's conference when it said it would give out free Chromebook Pixel devices to all attendees. But to developers both onsite and watching from the sidelines, the announcement of a new IDE was even better.

There will probably be a lot of chatter about Babel. Those in the hands-on labs might get a taste of Key Lime Pie. A new Nexus device seems almost inevitable. But for the hoard of developers descending on San Francisco for Google I/O 2013, the focus will surely be on one thing: Making the most of the Android app opportunity.

When developers start creating their apps and games I wonder if they picture how they will be used. Don't just consider what features or functions will prove popular, but keep in mind what people will actually be doing with their bodies--how they will be sitting if they're sitting, whether they'll have use of one hand or two, whether they will hold a phone comfortably in their lap or with their arm stretched out.

If you're not making at least $500 per app each month, Vision Mobile says you're below the "app poverty line," a zone that includes 67 percent of all developers, according to the firm's Developer Economics report.

When a startup gets acquired by a much larger vendor, it's usually cause for celebration, at least internally. However the purchase of mobile back-end platform provider Parse by Facebook led to a less-than-friendly response by a number of its customers on social media.