The party started early for Google users and developers. The tech giant wrapped up its I/O keynote on the 17th of May, 2017. The CEO of world’s largest search engine –Sundar Pichai, was the bearer of great news for the users and developers of the platforms offered by this behemoth.
Mr. Pichai led his executives in the long awaited conference and made some astonishing announcements, leaving the viewers surprised and amazed. However, there was a twist in the conference this time or it would be correct to say that the annual conference was itself a box full of surprises.
The event started with a beautiful animated clip which displayed Google’s vision of taking a simple concept and transforming it into a state-of-the-art technology. This clip also depicted the hard work and some additional efforts the IT giant puts in achieving what it has been working on.
Just as the clip ended, Mr. Sundar Pichai made his way to the center stage and was welcomed with sensational energy and enthusiasm. Right after the greeting the CEO opened his bag of presents from Google.
Let’s have a look at the astonishing announcements made by Google;
- Android enters 2 billion monthly active devices club: Being smartphone users, we all are aware of the popularity of Google’s operating system for smartphones and tablets. Android has a humungous fan base and is still growing. The popularity of Android can be measured by the fact that this OS has 2 billion monthly active users around the globe. At the Google I/O 2017, Mr. Pichai made this announcement while showing his gratitude to the users and developers responsible for making Android what it is today.
- Google Assistant takes artificial intelligence to a whole new level: Imagine having an assistant with you all the time, always available to help, assist and guide you through some of the tough decisions. What if such an assistant is present in your smartphone and can act as an actual person? Well, at this year’s Google I/O, Mr. Pichai announced the availability of Google Assistant based on what it sees around it. Yes, you’ve heard it right. Now all you need to do is point the camera of the device towards the thing which you want to know and let the assistant help you. But, how is Google able to pull this trick off successfully? Apart from the fact that it is Google, the team has come up with the revolutionary Google Lens. This tech is powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, and can actually help you to make some tough decisions, like, what you should eat for dinner, which is the best place for pancakes in town and most importantly, how easily you can connect to your friend’s Wi-Fi without letting him know! All you need to do is just point the camera towards the SSID and password and let Google Assistant do all the hard work for you.
- Google Assistant on iPhone: Ever since the smartphone came into existence, we all know about the rivalry going on between the two heavyweights of the IT world -Google and Apple. They both are tough competitors in the race for developing the best smartphone in the world. Now, when the result of this war would be declared is uncertain, however, Google Assistant has now landed on the flagship phone of Apple, the iPhone. Wait, is that true? Yes, it is. Now iPhone users will also be able to use Google Assistant on their smartphones.
- Google Home just stole the show: We all tend to new things, may it be any recipe, any craft or anything creative we want to do. We look-up for someone who can guide us in getting that thing done with precision. Well, thanks to Google Home, all you need to do is just ask. The conference displayed the exciting new features of Google Home which include “hands-free calling, Bluetooth connectivity and services like HBO and HULU” (Can’t wait to lay my hands on one of them). Google also has Google Assistant integrated with it, which makes this technology all the more useful and so much fun.
- Photography with Google, now that’s a whole new era: Google made it clear that the standard photo app of the company is getting some exciting features in it. With their Suggested Sharing, they allow the users to share the picture directly to the person whose picture is being clicked. Along with that, Google Lens will remove any obstruction form the clicked picture and create a clear and beautiful memory for you. Another add-on Google Photo is the Shared Libraries. This feature allows you to share numerous pictures with the people who are close to you right at the moment when it been clicked.
It’s not over yet. Google had plenty to offer and they were as exciting as the above announcements.
- Standalone VR head-set is ready to enter the market: We all have dreamt of living in virtual reality at least once in our life. Google I/O witnessed the introduction of Google’s Standalone VR headsets. As the name suggests, these head-sets do not require any external device to connect and play any video. With Google’s all new “WorldSense” technology, you will be able to play any video directly from the cloud itself. Of course, Google Assistant will be present all the time to assist you. However, they did not confirm when it will be launched in the market. We just saw “COMING SOON”.
Apart from these awesome user-oriented features, Google also announced a few benefits for developers.
- One of them was the availability of the Google Assistant SDK. With this, developers can integrate Google Assistant in any of their apps.
- Google also showed the glimpses of Android’s next upgrade known as Android O. However, it’s still in its final days of development so no final date of the launch was announced by any team member of Google.
With this, Mr. Pichai finally thanked the audience who attended the I/O and showed them his gratitude.
Witnessing the announcements made by Google, it seems that they are starting to deliver on their promise of transforming the world through technology.
