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Google IO 2018: Biggest announcements
What is Google I/O? It’s an annual developer conference where Google announces new hardware, software, and various updates for its existing apps and services.
Google IO 2018 highlights are below and it’s been a heck of a show so far. A lot of exciting things are happening to Android, Google Assistant, and many other of Google’s initiatives.
Google IO 2018 highlights are below and it’s been a heck of a show so far. A lot of exciting things are happening to Android, Google Assistant, and many other of Google’s initiatives.
But this week's Google IO event has had so many more announcements. It's not just about Android this time around. Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Gmail have new features you'll want to know about.
TL;DR...post in brief
Watch the key moments of the Google I/O 2018 keynote
1. Google Duplex has Assistant handle your calls
Google Assistant is becoming smarter – and creepier – with a natural-sounding voice that can make phone call appointments and reservations for you. It's gotten to the point that it can handle a back-and-forth Q&A when it calls a business. You know, the phone calls you hate making when online reservations aren't possible.
It's called Google Duplex, and the company demonstrated this with two recordings of phone calls at Google IO, which it said were real calls to businesses. It was difficult to tell, though – both the Assistant (the caller) and the business employee (a human) sounded real. Only one was a real person, much to the shock of the audience.
The first call was to book a haircut. Assistant was tasked with making an appointment for a haircut within a two-hour window on a specific date. When the business asked about what type of haircut service was needed before times could be given, the Assistant responded, "a woman's haircut". Right on point. When presented with an alternate time, it was able to confirm the appointment.
2. Waymon's self-driving Jaguar I-Pace looks like a real car
Alphabet's Waymo self-driving Jaguar I-Pace car doesn't look like other autonomous cars, and that's really important for the future of driverless cars. This is the type of car the mass market will want to buy.
It's one of more than 20,000 self-driving Jaguar that Waymo plans to put on roads over the next few years. Okay, it wasn't powered on and we couldn't even open the doors, but we did get to peer inside of this $69,500 / £63,495 luxury compact SUV. It's striking and a top Google IO highlight for us.
3. Gmail gets better with Smart Compose
Gmail has undergone more change in 2018 than it has in its 14 years of existence, and it's about to become even better with a new AI feature.
Smart Compose is going to help you create and finish sentences in emails thanks to machine learning. It reminds us of predictive word suggestions when typing on a phone, but for whole chunks of sentences. And because Google has so much of your data, it's bound to be a lot smarter than autocorrect.
4. Google Maps just solved your biggest problem
Google Maps is the best app ever created, hands-down. It plots our fastest route to work when we're leaving home in the morning, and it helps us navigate previously unknown places when we're visiting a foreign country or taking an unknown road. It's pretty amazing when you think about how well it works. But it's not infallible.
That's why Google is out to solve the biggest Google Maps annoyance – not knowing where that darn blue dot is headed.
Here's the bad news: Google didn't say when this feature will come to Google Maps, even though it looked near-complete in the Google IO demo. There was no release date attached to this promising technology.
5. Android P public beta is rolling out now
As expected, Android P played a big role in Google’s I/O 2018 keynote. On stage, Google talked a lot about what to expect from Android P, with a big focus on machine learning and our digital wellbeing
Google believes that the average user spends a bit too much time on their phone, and it’s becoming harder to put them down. To help with this, there’s a new Android dashboard that shows you information about how much you’ve been using your phone. There’s also a new app timer system, a Shush feature for easily turning on “Do Not Disturb” and more.
Moving onto machine learning, Android P will utilize AI in a number of interesting ways.
First, there’s Adaptive Battery. This is Google’s latest attempt to improve battery life through optimization. The new feature was developed in partnership with Deep Mind and is designed to draw power to applications Android P knows you are actively using while pushing background processes to low-power cores.
Adaptive Brightness watches your manual habits for adjusting brightness based on various environments and subsequently learns from it. The idea is you’ll have to change things manually a whole lot less.
Another feature designed to keep battery consumption to a minimum is App Standby Buckets, which classifies apps based on how often you use them. Apps you never use get limited access to system resources, as they should.
The last big AI change has to do with Android’s launcher. The newly redesigned launcher is built around a gesture-based navigation system. Swiping up from the bottom of the screen takes you to recent apps, which is now a carousel. What does this have to do with AI? At the top of the carousel, you’ll find suggestions based on your usage habits. Google calls this App Actions, and the system learns your habits to figure out what to place here.
While these were the things Google focused most on, that’s far from all that’s new in Android P. Other improvements include improved volume and screenshot controls, and there’s likely plenty of other secrets in Android P that we’ll discover as we get more hands-on time with it.
Android P is still a few months away from final release, but for those that want to try out the new Android Developer DP2, you’ll want to check out the new Android Beta. The Beta will let you update to the latest version of Android P on your Pixel phone. Don’t have a Pixel? For the first time, Google has opened things up to the following third-party devices: Sony Xperia XZ2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, Nokia 7 Plus, Oppo R15 Pro, Vivo X21, OnePlus 6 (available at launch), and Essential PH‑1.
Google is working with component makers as well to ensure a smooth rollout of Android P. Qualcomm has announced that several of its chips have already been optimized for Android P.
If you can’t get your hands on the Android P beta, here’s the next best thing: You can now use Android P beta’s Pixel Launcher if your device runs Android Oreo.
6. Google Smart Displays launch in July
We got to go hands-on with the Google Assistant-powered Smart Displays, like the Lenovo Smart Display at CES 2018. Now we're going to see them go on sale.
July is when you should look out for the first Google Smart Displays, according to the Google IO announcement. LG, Sony, and JBL have smart displays in the works, too.
These screen-touting smart speakers are Google's answer to the Amazon Echo Show, and they play YouTube videos – something Amazon's Alexa-powered display can't do.
7. Assistant is a very Google Now-like interface
The death of the Google Now launcher appears to have been short-lived. We're about to see Google Assistant take on a new visual experience when you swipe up on the main Assistant menu.
It reminds us a lot of Google Now, with reminders, notes, and directions based on your day and recent interactions with Google Assistant. It's like Google Now reborn, and it'll come to Android around July or August, and iOS later this year.
8. New voices for Assistant – including celebs
Six new voices are coming to Google Assistant to nail the global appeal of the virtual assistant, complete with accents and, yes, even celebrities.
Musician John Legend is lending his voice to Google Assistant, so you'll hear him through phones, speakers, and all Google Assistant-voiced products soon. Google says Legend and the five other new voices will be coming later this year.
9. Google Lens on more phones
Google Lens will come to an Android phone near you very soon via its default camera app, so not just a Google-branded Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphone.
Google's object recognition software using the camera lens is said to be rolling out to more smartphones. The LG G7 ThinQ, for example, contains an AI button shortcut that leads to Google Assistant with one press and Google Lens with two presses.
Right now, Google Lens works on other Android phones through the Google Photos app, but the company is expected to bring its smart software to the forefront at IO.
10. Google News gets a big revamp
Google News made news (very meta) at the Google IO 2018 keynote. It's getting a Flip board or Apple News-like design and new features that make it easier to access information, broken down into what Google calls briefings and newscasts. It's also adding subscriptions to news sources you like.
Google says it'll use machine learning to surface credible publications, and this is all in an effort to present you with more high-quality, reliable information. This smarter version of Google News is rolling out now on Android, iOS, and the web, with everyone getting the update.
11. Android Jetpack:
New updates on fragments and UI. Build more interactive and efficient design apps.
12. Introducing AIY (AI Yourself):
open source AI kits for everyone to learn create and develop artificially intelligent machines and applications.
However, during August, a rumour broke that Apple was set to delay the launch of the iPad 3, due to a shortage of retina displays from its suppliers LG and Samsung - more on the display shortly.
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