If it isn't on Google , it doesn't exist. -Jimmy Wales

Google I/O is Google’s annual developer conference held in California. This is the same platform where Android was showcased for the first time back in 2008. I/O stands for Input/Output but here it stands for “Innovation in the Open”. This year Google showcased an army of brilliant products and updates. “Machine Learning” was the Google Lingo of the event. Here’s a list of the important ones:

1. Google Lens

The most impressive announcement made by Google was the Google Lens , an App which uses the combination of Optical Code Reading , Augmented Reality and Machine Learning to identify objects using the mobile camera and provide information about them. Google did acquire Quest Visual Inc. on May 2014 , the company that developed Word Lens and AR translation software.

Some of the examples of Google Lens shown by Sundar Pichai were :

Source : Google

Pointing at Restaurant front will show you the restaurant’s rating and information.

One can aim at a flower and know its species. Would like to try that on a dog?

The best one was saved for the last , pointing the Lens at WI-FI login credentials to log into a network automatically. Wow!!

2. Google Assistant

Source : Google

Google Assistant on the other hand moves to the next level. It will be integrated with the newly developed Google Lens tech. Wondering how that helps? Well, you can ask Google Assistant almost anything now. For instance, if you point the camera at a bands poster you can pull that particular bands information, music and even concert tickets.

Google is also adding transactions and payments to its assistant. Now you will be able to order and pay for literally anything using an assistant. They did show an example of ordering food. It’s going to make lazy people even lazier.

Also, one can get visual responses by Assistant on Television. You can also use voice commands to play your favorite shows available on different channels like CBS, HBO etc. Siri has the same feature on Apple TV.

Source : Google

Assistant is not only limited to that, you can ask the name of any song just by saying “play that song that goes like...” and sing an excerpt of the lyrics.

That’s not it, Google Assistant will also be available on iPhone soon. Weird isn’t it? Siri and Google Assistant on the same phone? Is this hinting to an Android and iOS hybrid platform soon? . Google is also letting out the assistants SDK for other Apps to make better use of it.

3. Google Home

Source : Google

Google Home has a few cool features now:

One of them being, hands free calling using the Assistant to Landlines and Mobiles across US and Canada for free.

The one that caught my attention was “Proactive Notifications” , the Assistant on Google Home can now give you reminders, traffic alerts, flight schedules etc. In the demo shown by Rishi Chandra in iO17 the Google Home device was telling him about the traffic conditions of the route he usually follows as well as when he needs to leave to reach the desired destination on time. I think Google home might get confused in India due to extreme traffic conditions.

Another feature is the ability to make your home smarter , they have partnered with around 70+ smart home brands like Honeywell, Logitech etc. supporting the Assistant feature on Google Home.

Google home is now getting a Bluetooth feature as well, one can now play music using any Android or iOS device.

4. Google Photos

Google claims that they have nearly 500 million monthly users as well as nearly 1.2 billion photo and video uploads daily. Huge numbers I must say.

They are enhancing Google Photos which will soon give you sharing suggestions using machine learning (the buzzword again) based on who is in the photos. All the sharing activities will be available in the sharing tab which is yet to roll out.

Two more cool features were: Shared Library and Photo Books. With shared libraries one can automate the type of photos he or she wants to share with other people. Not only that , one can either give rights to view the complete library or some particular photos in a library. These photos can also be used to make collages, movies and other creations using Google Photos.

Photo Books on the other hand is a photo organizing tool, which automatically organizes the photos based on the people, places or the things that matter. Not only that, it also removes duplicates and keeps only high quality images. This reduces the efforts for making a holiday or a wedding album. Photo books are currently available in the U.S. on web, and on Android and iOS starting at $9.99 for a 20 page softcover book and $19.99 for a hardcover book.

Checkout this video snippet from the event.

Source : Kon Startup

5. Android O

As most of us already know , Android ‘O’ is the next Android OS and it has some kickass improvements. People are speculating that ‘O’ stands for ‘Oreo’ .The only thing that bothers me is that, these features were already in the market either in some app or some Android based OS (MiUi , Oxygen OS etc.) .

Android O claims to improve the ‘Vitals’ , like phone security and battery life. Battery life is a pain point for most of the smartphones but Google is adding several optimizations for developers to help prevent batteries from draining. Their main aim is to create an OS which can help a phone last a complete day.

This doesn’t end here, they have made certain improvements to the UI as well. To make multitasking easier, they have added the picture on picture feature. For instance , you can plan for a movie while on video call.

Another feature is the Smart text selection feature which uses machine learning to identify entities like address. One can easily select it using double tap and then perform other operations.

6. Standalone VR

Source : Google

Daydream is a VR device which is the easiest to use as well as comfortable. Daydream will soon launch a standalone VR device which will be independent of PCs and Mobile phones. They want to create device which will be like plug and play.

These standalone devices will have a new technology called the World Sense technology which will track the users’ position in space without the help of any external sensors. HTC Vive and Lenovo are planning to launch Daydream Standalone VR devices this year.

These devices will use Tango as a part of their core tech to understand real life position, this will also enable a user to place a digital object in real life. Tango is also a part of the Visual Positioning Service, which will help easily determine the device its indoor location.

An instance quoted on Google’s blog is that the VPS tech coupled with audio interfaces could help visually impaired people navigate through the world easily. That’s brilliant!!

Conclusion:

All in all the latest products and updates by Google make a strong statement about their vision: ‘Innovation coupled with Simplicity’. Can’t wait for next year.