{"id":68527,"date":"2014-06-24T20:49:06","date_gmt":"2014-06-24T18:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/?p=68527"},"modified":"2025-07-02T00:37:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:37:44","slug":"what-to-expect-at-google-io-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/what-to-expect-at-google-io-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"What to expect at Google I\/O 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google’s annual developer conference, Google I\/O<\/a>, will take place tomorrow in San Francisco at 9:00 AM PDT<\/strong>. The conference will show off Google’s upcoming products<\/strong> and the tools developers need to create apps for its ecosystem.<\/p>\n

This year’s Google I\/O should be exciting with Google’s announcement of Android Wear<\/a>, the company’s smartwatch platform.<\/p>\n

Google will have a ton of announcements tomorrow but here are the most important ones to look out for.<\/p>\n

Android Wear<\/h3>\n

\"Android<\/p>\n

Google announced Android Wear, it’s smartwatch platform, back in March of this year. Motorola<\/strong> and LG<\/strong> confirmed they will be making Android smartwatches and it’s likely Google will show them off during Google I\/O.<\/p>\n

Android Wear is a completely different take on wearable technology than Google Glass<\/a>, which hasn’t really taken off. While Glass raised privacy concerns, Wear is more innocuous. Wear will serve up notifications<\/strong> and allow you to interact with them without reaching into your pocket or purse for your phone.<\/p>\n

\"android-wear-header-002\"<\/p>\n

Google Now<\/a> will be an integral part of Wear, letting you use voice to perform actions<\/strong>. We’ve seen some screenshots of what the Wear interface will be like but we haven’t seen them being used in a live demo. Expect to see a lot about Android Wear tomorrow.<\/p>\n

New version of Android?<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A new version of Android is definitely coming but it remains to be seen whether it’ll be a dramatic update or something more subtle. Google has worked hard to separate its apps<\/strong> from the operating system, allowing more users to get the latest features without waiting for a system update<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

With the introduction of Google Play Services<\/a>, Google can now push updates<\/strong> to phones without waiting for mobile carriers to roll out operating system updates. With this ability, Google can offer major updates and new features without having to release a new version of Android<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

However, there are rumors that Google is working on a complete redesign<\/strong> of Android called “Project Quantum.” “We need to stop thinking of ‘mobile’ as a distinct category,” said Matias Duarte, head of Android UX during an interview<\/a> at the Accel Design Conference.<\/p>\n

\"Gmail<\/p>\n

We’ve already seen leaked images<\/a> of a new version of Gmail for Android and on the web that provides a unified experience<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Expect Google to focus on a unified design across all its platforms.<\/p>\n

Google Play Fitness<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

With Android Wear on the way, you’d better bet Google is going to be integrating fitness<\/strong> into its wearables. However, Google doesn’t have a fitness hub like Apple’s Health<\/a> app. That’s where Google Play Fitness<\/strong> comes in.<\/p>\n

The app will allow developers to interface with, creating a hub for fitness data<\/strong>. You can bet Google Play Fitness will support third-party wearables like the Fitbit<\/a> and Nike FuelBand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more on wearable apps, check out our comparison<\/a> of popular health and fitness apps.<\/p>\n

Android TV<\/h3>\n

\"AndroidImage credit: The Verge<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Google had a smash-hit with its $35 Chromecast<\/a> media streaming stick so why is it creating Android TV<\/strong>? While Chromecast is great for using quickly beaming content<\/strong> to your TV, it doesn’t have an interface for controlling media on the TV. Android TV will offer a more complete experience<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Android TV will be similar to Apple TV and other set-top boxes, integrating apps<\/strong> and games<\/strong>. This platform will also allow Google to sell you more content via its Google Play Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Google gave TV a shot with Google TV<\/a>, but the product flopped because it was too complicated, expensive, and failed to attract developers. Android TV will be Google’s second chance<\/strong> at taking over your living room.<\/p>\n

Android in the car<\/h3>\n

\"Android<\/p>\n

Google announced the Open Automotive Alliance<\/a> earlier this year, which brought on partners like Audi, GM, Honda, and Hyundai. Android in the car will take on Apple’s CarPlay<\/a> for controlling your car’s features. While Apple already showed off<\/a> how CarPlay will work, we haven’t seen anything from Google yet.<\/p>\n

Expect to see Google demo how Android will work in your car to control everything from your air conditioning to music.<\/p>\n

Home automation<\/h3>\n

\"Nest<\/p>\n

Google announced its Android@Home<\/strong> home automation group back in 2011 but we haven’t heard of it since. With its purchase of Nest<\/a> and Dropcam<\/a>, Google may finally be ready to take home automation<\/strong> seriously.<\/p>\n

Nest allows users to control and monitor their home’s heating and cooling, while Dropcam offers a subscription based video security<\/strong> service. Google will likely announce a development platform for third-party developers to create hardware for.<\/p>\n

Google Glass<\/h3>\n

\"Google<\/p>\n

Google Glass launched in February 2013 and hasn’t changed much since then. You can now get prescription<\/a> and designer frames<\/a> but the hardware itself has only seen one reiteration in over two years. (UPDATE<\/strong>: Google announced a refreshed version<\/a> of Glass today, making it the second hardware revision in two years.)<\/p>\n

Google made Glass available for everyone<\/a> in the US to buy, but $1,500 is tough to swallow for an experimental product<\/strong>. Now with Android Wear on the horizon, is there a need for Glass? Both products share a lot of overlapping features but I’m almost certain Android wear will be many times less expensive.<\/p>\n

We’ll see how Google differentiates the two products.<\/p>\n

Crazy experiments and more<\/h3>\n

\"Google<\/p>\n

Google isn’t afraid to experiment and we’ll \u00a0likely see some new and crazy things from the company at I\/O. Google’s self-driving cars<\/strong> have been in development for many years so we should be seeing a consumer version soon. Maybe not at Google I\/O but soon.<\/p>\n

Google also purchased the robotics<\/strong> company, Boston Dynamics, but we have no idea what it’s going to do with it. I don’t expect Google to announce any crazy robots tomorrow but we should be seeing more more wacky experiments from Google in the near future.<\/p>\n

Google loves to surprise us (see Google I\/O 2012’s sky divers<\/a>) and the company may have some tricks up its sleeve for tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Google I\/O 2014 begins tomorrow, June 25th at 9AM PDT<\/strong>. Follow us on Twitter @Softonic_EN<\/a> for live updates from the event.<\/p>\n

Follow Lewis on Twitter @lewisleong<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Google’s annual developer conference, Google I\/O, will take place tomorrow in San Francisco at 9:00 AM PDT. The conference will show off Google’s upcoming products and the tools developers need to create apps for its ecosystem. This year’s Google I\/O should be exciting with Google’s announcement of Android Wear, the company’s smartwatch platform. Google will … Continue reading “What to expect at Google I\/O 2014”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":68539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[],"tags":[2340],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-68527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-app-subdomain-redirectiongoogle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":330580,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68527\/revisions\/330580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68527"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=68527"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=68527"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=68527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}