Google’s annual I/O developer conference returns this year as it kicks off from 17 May and goes on for another 2 days. As usual, the event will be held at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California.
The event will likely see Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressing audience with a the keynote speech, along with a developer keynote later on, which should give an insight into what Google is planning for the coming year. Of course, there won’t be any hardware product launches, but mostly we will see announcements around software development, machine learning, VR (Virtual Reality) and of course, the next version of Android.
Here is a quick summary of what you can expect to be announced at this year’s I/O.
Android O
The most obvious and probably the most exciting announcement will be the next iteration of Android. We already know that it will be called Android O, but what exactly does it stand for? Oreo, maybe? Google has already rolled out developer previews for Android O, and we might finally get to see the OS in action and get an idea as to the features that will make the final cut.
We’ve already know some of the features that debuted on Android O preview, including updates to notifications, battery life improvements, picture in picture mode and more. You can check out all the new features over here.
Google Assistant and Home
The new voice assistant AI was launched last year exclusively to Pixel devices. But today, it is slowly growing to more Android phones. We are expecting some new announcement around the Google Assistant and the biggest one that we have heard is that it will make its debut on the iPhone. Of course, it will run as an app, but jumping on to the iOS platform is going to give Google a lot of hits. Apart from iOS, there is a high possibility that greater Android device support will be announced.
Then there is the Google Home speaker which is still limited to certain markets. Hopefully, Google will expand the availability of its smart speaker, considering that Amazon’s Echo products are gaining a lot attention and that recently, Microsoft announced that it will be putting Cortana on speakers too. Apple is also expected to debut a Siri speaker this year.
Expect new updates to the Assistant itself as Google needs to set a benchmark, specially when Samsung and HTC have launched their AI assistants.
VR
Google’s Daydream project was announced last year, and it should see some expansion this year as well. Apart from the Pixel there are just a few handsets that support the platform, which means Google could take some drastic measures. There has also been a report that Google is working on a standalone headset like the Oculus and HTC Vive, which doesn’t require it to be hooked onto a smartphone.
Allo and Duo
We saw two new communications apps from Google last year and while they hit it off really well, they seem to have seen a decline. Both Duo and Allo are expected to get minor updates. We recently found a tear-down of Allo v11 and found some of the upcoming features including integration with Duo where users can make calls right from the app. Apart from that we could also see what Google is going to do with Hangouts.
There will be a lot more on the conference and we will be updating you with all the latest announcements. Stay tuned.
Be sure to check back in with us at 10.30 pm, which is when we will begin a live blog covering Google I/O and the subsequent announcements.
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