So if you don't have the time to watch the inspiring 2 hour video from Google's CEO Sundar Pichai, here is the Ultimate Cheat Sheet on the key take outs from the developer conference.
Key Note by Google CEO Sundar Pichai
Google Home, an Amazon Echo rival, was announced on 18 May 2016 at Google's I/O 2016 keynote event. It's a speaker which lets you have a conversation with the Google Assistant - another new feature announced at the launch. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said "all credit to Amazon for creating interest in this space." The demonstration is in a family setting. You can ask Google to turn on music in one room or multiple. Google will help with your homework. Google Home will even make and change restaurant reservations. PC Advisor expects the cost of the product to rival Amazon Echo.
Google Allo is the answer to the likes of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and iMessage. Allo is a new text messaging app that isn’t a Hangouts replacement but its own standalone app coming to iOS and Android soon. The key difference is that Allo comes with some machine learning built in, courtesy of Google Assistant, the company’s virtual assistant. As explained by Engineering Director Erik Kay on stage at Google I/O 2016, Allo is a ‘smart’ messaging app that learns over time to make conversations both easier and more productive.
Smart Replies is a great functionality within the app and Google claims that Assistant will learn over time and provide you with personalised answers that you can use. It’ll work when asked things like if you want to go out for dinner, but will also suggest responses to photos through image recognition technology, Google are able to understand the context and suggest a response.
Google Duo is the attempt at providing a human video chat experience, the main new feature is the Knock Knock functionality where you can see the caller before you actually pick up. There's obviously still plenty about Duo we don't know, and won't know until it is finally available later this summer. What we've seen so far promises a lot, and it's on Google to deliver. Assuming that happens, Duo has the potential to be a huge deal when it comes to showing people that video chat isn't clunky and mechanical anymore. It's possible that Duo can start the process of encouraging people to use video chat as though it were a normal thing, and not just for special occasions and meetings. If you haven't already, you can pre-register for access to Duo right now.
With the Android N update, which is the latest OS for Android devices and yet to be fully named. We see Android Virtual Reality Mode which is a series of optimisation to improve VR functionality. Google announced Android 2.0 which has standalone apps, you can also display more information onto your watch for example and tailor the display to your specific needs. Android will also offer instant Apps, so you can use apps without having to wait for installation. You will be taken straight to the content within the App. Another great highlight is Split-screen and picture-in-picture modes are coming to Android! You can search on your phone but also split the screen and complete another related task on the bottom have of the device. Picture in picture mode is limited to Android TV, allowing you to watch a live channel in one corner while you do something else in the Android interface. The new multi-window feature, which allows you to run two apps side by side, each getting half the screen, should be a major upgrade for Android tablets especially. It's handy on phones too, but Android tablets have long been in need of features that capitalize on their greater screen real estate.
Google Day Dream is Android's powered Virtual Reality platform. Daydream — which encompasses both hardware and software — is a more advanced successor to Cardboard, the disposable headset standard that Google released two years ago. It's a mobile VR system powered by the next wave of Android N devices, built to a company-approved standard. Where Google Cardboard worked with almost any smartphone, Daydream will only work on new phones with specific components like special sensors and screens. A Daydream home screen will let people access apps and content while using the headset; an early look shows a whimsical forest landscape with the slightly low-poly look that Google has used in Cardboard apps. Inside this environment, Google has created special VR versions of YouTube, Street View, the Google Play Store, Play Movies, and Google Photos. It's also recruited a number of outside media companies to bring apps to Daydream, including streaming platforms like Netflix and gaming companies like Ubisoft and Electronic Arts.
Google has announced eight hardware partners that will make Daydream-ready phones, including Samsung, HTC, LG, Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, Asus, and Alcatel. Read more here at The Verge
Project Ara is Google's Modular phone, this means building a phone from different components, allowing users to personalise and chose features based on needs and cost, this has been confirmed for release. Now when we say personalise we really mean it, one of the examples featured a glucose sensor!
Project Jacquard is about connected clothing that can become a handy phone control. At I/O a collaboration with Levis was unveiled, whereby the staple denim jacket became a handy phone control for an on-the-go hipster cyclist.
A lot of the release dates will be in Winter so we will be eagerly awaiting.
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