On Tuesday 7 May in San Francisco, California, Google I / O began, the series of conferences that Google organizes every year to present its news to developers, that is, those who are involved in creating applications and services. Google I / O started with a long opening event, which lasted almost two hours, in which new cheaper Pixel smartphones, the next version of the Android operating system and some news on the Google Assistant were presented.
1. Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL
As was widely anticipated by technology sites in recent weeks, Google has created Pixel 3a and 3a XL, two new smartphones designed for those who do not want to spend for the more expensive Pixel 3 and is willing to compromise. The Pixel 3a is also sold immediately in Italy at a price of 399 euros, and can be purchased directly from the Google Store. It has a 5.6-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2220 x 1080 pixels, and a 64GB memory. The rear camera is 12 megapixel, while the front one is 8 megapixel: according to the reviews released so far, the Pixel 3a takes great photos, comparable to those of the more expensive Pixel 3.
The camera is the strong point of the new Pixel 3a and 3a XL, thanks to the artificial intelligence and image adjustment systems, perfected over the years by Google. The new smartphones are a little less powerful than their more expensive versions, already on the market for a few months, but still offer good computing power. Being designed directly by Google, they will receive special treatment for Android updates and the addition of new features over the next few years.
2. Android Q
Google has previewed some features of Android Q, the next version of its smartphone operating system, which has now reached a good maturity to compete almost on par with iOS , the operating system that runs iPhones. The new version does not present great aesthetic innovations and is mainly focused on privacy and simplification of some features.
Each service managed by Google – such as Chrome, YouTube, Maps – in Android Q has a new tab that shows the user's personal information, with commands to disable the collection of some data or delete those already stored. This and other news on data control are part of the initiatives that Google is carrying out to make the way it treats its users' information more transparent and understandable. Google has often been criticized for exploiting its subscribers' data for advertising purposes, without offering many possibilities for its users to opt out.
A new mode has been added to Android Q, called Focus, designed to disable some apps during the day, so as to receive fewer notifications and spend more time on something other than your smartphone. A dark theme has also been introduced to have white texts on a black background, considered more restful for the eyes and above all useful to save some battery, if your smartphone has an OLED screen (unlike LCDs, OLEDs only illuminate the parts of the screen that must not show black).
3. Incognito
Chrome was one of the first browsers to give you the possibility to browse online incognito, that is, without the browser saving your browsing data on your computer or in your accounts. Google has decided to extend the same functionality to several of its other services. You can then use Google Maps incognito, without any information about your movements being saved in the application history, and the same will also happen in the YouTube app, without the latter collecting data on the videos viewed.
Google also presented a new option to automatically delete your data in the various histories of its apps, deciding for example that they be deleted periodically every 3-18 months.
4. Google Assistant
In a few years the Google Assistant has become central in the user experience of hundreds of millions of users, who use Android smartphones and Google services on their computers and through assistants for the House. Google has announced that it has made significant progress that effectively disconnects much of the Google Assistant business from the Internet. Until now, in fact, it was not possible to use part of its functions without a connection, because the system required large memory and computing capacities, which therefore had to be entrusted to Google's servers: depending on the available connection, response times could be long and there was a certain delay in reactions.
Now Google has managed to greatly reduce the size of the Google Assistant, which can therefore be installed on smartphones and other devices, without the need to constantly connect to the Internet to perform basic functions such as opening and managing apps. In a very effective demonstration, Google showed how it is possible to interact in a much more natural way with the Assistant, without pauses and waiting times, or the need to repeat “OK Google” every time.
5. Nest Hub Max
Google's home products change brand and take on that of Nest, the company acquired by Google a few years ago and best known for its smart thermostats. The choice is linked to the need to make the offer of the various devices to be kept at home more homogeneous, and probably from the desire to distance them a little from the Google brand, which does not have a great reputation on the subject of privacy and for some it could therefore be a bit intrusive, if connected to something that is always kept active in your home.
Google presented Nest Hub Max, a new device with a screen to always have the Google Assistant available, manage the devices connected to WiFi at home, and see photos, videos, recipes and other content via the display. Aesthetically, the new Hub Max is reminiscent of the smaller Nest Hub, already on sale for some time (and soon also in Italy). In addition to having a larger screen, the new model has a video camera for making video calls and for its use as a security camera, when you are away from home and want to see that everything is in order: the system detects suspicious movements and sends a notification to its owner's smartphone.
The camera gives the possibility to activate a facial recognition system, making it possible for the various members of the family to use Nest Hub Max, who will be able to access various personalized contents and their correspondence. If you are listening to music through Hub Max and you want to stop it, just raise a hand towards the camera (even from a distance), avoiding having to shout “OK Google” to be heard by the device. A switch on the back of Hub Max gives the ability to disable the camera, disconnecting it from the electricity, for those with privacy concerns. However, the device always has an LED near the lens, which lights up when the camera is activated.
6. Instant Subtitles
In recent years, Google has made enormous progress when it comes to voice recognition by its artificial intelligences. Thanks to these advances, he has created “Live Caption”, a new system that allows you to automatically subtitle any video that is displayed on your Android smartphone, from any source including messaging apps. Subtitles are shown on the screen with an instant transcript that is made even if the smartphone is offline.
“Live Caption” can come in handy when you want to see a video but don't want to disturb someone, but most of all it's an important resource for the millions of hearing impaired people. Regarding accessibility, Google is also working to improve its artificial intelligence systems, making speech recognition possible even for people with speech impediments, stuttering or speech difficulties following severe disabling illnesses.
Again with regard to accessibility, Google has developed a version of “Live Caption” also for phone calls. A person who has difficulty hearing or speaking can choose to manage the phone call verbatim: the caller receives a message spoken by a speech synthesizer, which alerts him of the circumstance, then the recognition system takes care of transcribing what he says; the recipient can answer by typing the phrases, which are then read to the caller via the speech synthesizer.
7. Duplex for the Web
Last year there was a lot of discussion about the presentation of Duplex, an artificial intelligence system designed to make phone calls instead of users, for example to help them book a restaurant . Google received some criticism because the system did not make explicit that it was automatic and not a real person, leading the company to revise some of its operation. Since then, the experimentation has continued on various fronts and this year Google has presented a version of Duplex for the web.
The idea is to have an automatic filling system for online bookings. For example, if you have booked a trip somewhere, Duplex offers to book the rental of a car, goes to the agency's website and takes care of filling in all the fields, including dates and destinations. The user can then check the information that has been entered and confirm the order. The system, still experimental, works on any site and does not require companies to adapt them in any way.
8. Google Lens
The Android camera and the Google app (also for iOS) have long offered the possibility of using Lens, an image recognition system to search online : you point the camera at something and Google proposes a search on the subject. The system has become more and more accurate and now it is enriched with some new features.
Pointing it towards a menu in a restaurant, for example, gives real-time reviews of the dishes left by other customers and indicates which dishes are most in demand. In some magazines that have entered into agreements with Google, you can frame a page to activate the display of videos and other special content. The instant translation system for texts framed by the camera has also been improved.
