Top 5 Google I/O 2018 Predictions You Should Know
Every year Google holds a developer conference in which it reveals and discusses the major news relating to the software and hardware updates of Google. Google I/O is one the biggest events in technology that happens every year. Like each year, Google I/O 2018 event is going to be held in Mountain View, California from May 8 to May 10.
This event goes on for almost 2-3 days, and Google invites developers from all over the world to attend the event and get first-hand information on all the latest updates. People come up with different news and speculation every year about the new updates. There are expectations to be met. So today, we are going to list the top 5 things that are expected from this Google I/O conference.
1) Google Assistant
The Google Assistant has been slowly and gradually getting new features and expanding. Now Google is planning to add up to 17 languages to Google Assistant and make it available in more than 30 countries. They are also working on a multi-lingual function that lets you switch between languages. This is great for those who speak several languages at home. But for now, it will only be made available in English, French, and German.
Google also might make it easy to use and also improve specific commands available to you. You might see new features regarding the interaction with Google home devices.
2) Android P
A while ago, Google has released a developer preview for Android P. We now know that Google has stopped allowing new devices to run on Android 7.0 Nougat. This means that every new device that releases will comes with Android 8.0 Oreo. There have been many predictions regarding the name of the system: Pineapple, Pie, Pistachio Ice Cream etc. But we can’t be really sure if Google is actually announcing it at the I/O event.
But we can still expect a second part of the developer preview and a more detailed look at the new features of the system. People felt there were not many significant changes in the new system when the developer preview was released.
3) AR & VR
At the I/O event in 2016, Google announced the Daydream View platform. Also, last year it announced new phone partners and design for Daydream compatible headset that doesn’t require a phone, thanks to positional tracking. The ideas didn’t really work well. Google Glass is one another thing that didn’t work great for the company. So Google might bring back all its attention to AR. This is a major possibility considering there are a wide variety of applications on thee PlayStore now. Also, many devices have also received orders to make the necessary changes.
4) Wear OS
Updates about Wear OS at the I/O event this year is a major possibility. It is also listed as a session for the event this year, under the name of “What’s new in Wear OS”. Google recently changed its name from Android Wear to Wear OS, possibly thinking that might attract iOS users. People have assumed that to be Google’s strategy, which might not work. But now it would be really interesting to know exactly what updates Google is coming up with when it comes to Wear OS.
Android Wear was not completely successful and didn’t really impress people with its features at the time of the release. But hopefully, Google will use I/O as the ultimate event where it unveils Wear 3.0 with new and better enhancements. Also revealing a new flagship watch or two wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.
5) Google Home
Google Home, Google’s smart speaker loaded with Google Assistant, was given a few updates at last year’s I/O event. It was given a bunch of new features like push-notifications, hands-free calling, SoundCloud, Spotify etc. Recently Google has launched two more home speakers namely Home Max and Home Mini. We are expecting that Google will address these new devices at the event this year and also announce some new features for them.
That’s about it
Above mentioned are some of the top speculated announcements that are expected from Google this year. There still has been no official list of announcements, but this is what we can gather from all the news making rounds in the market. Some of these announcements might sound repetitive or not sound too interesting, but we got to wait for the event to happen and see for ourselves what exactly Google has in store for the developers. Google may also have plenty of small announcements to make this year. The event is expected to start at 11.30 am PST and you can watch it live on YouTube. Google will live stream the opening keynote on YouTube.
Dhruvil is a Writer & Marketeer for Nimblechapps, joined in December 2014, based out of Sydney, Australia. He has worked briefly as a Branding and Digital Marketing Manager before moving to Australia. At Nimblechapps, he worked on Social Media Marketing, Branding, Email Marketing and Blogging. Dhruvil studies Business at University of Western Sydney, and also handles Operations for the company in Australia.