This week’s Google developer conference, commonly referred to as I/O, got us all excited about some interesting new developments, featuring some incredible advancements in Artificial Intelligence (so you can save your own intelligence for other shindigs). Here are some of the highlights from one of tech’s most anticipated showcasing events.
Gmail’s gotten a whole lot smarter
That’s right, Gmail’s getting a facelift incorporating some nifty Artificial Intelligence that will use machine learning to prompt phrase suggestions for you, making it faster, easier, and more intuitive to draft emails. Tab’s the word, hit it and you’ll autocomplete your way through that correspondence all before you can say ‘Dear…’
Suggested actions
Say you’ve got a whole bunch of pictures taken at a friend’s wedding, which you want to share with certain people (because everybody needs to feed their Instagram…feeds?). Well with this delightful new feature, google can immediately recognise your chum in the picture and suggest sharing with them, which you can then do at the click of a button!
And it doesn’t end there, you know how sometimes you’ve got a picture and you’d like to, well, make it a little better? Fear not, our friend and ally Mrs A.I. has the tricks right up her sleeve and can instantly edit your photos to give them the much needed ‘oomph!’ for the ultimate Kodak moment.
As if that’s not trippy enough, imagine having a black and white photo that leaves you wondering how it would look in colour. Well wonder no more, A.I. will throw on splashes of blues, greens, and magentas (and all the other colours in the spectrum) to bring your best memories to life.
The next gen TPU 3.0. chip
Power is the name of the game with this all new chip that’s having data centres use liquid coolers to tame the sizzle. And you know what that means, right? Yep, six new voices for Google Assistant, because unlike Mark Zuckerberg and his array of greys neatly racked up in his closet, we need a little variety when talking to our cellular buddy-ups. Mind you, they’re sounding a lot more human too!
Super Duplex
Okay, you know how annoying it is saying ‘hey Google’ every time you need some help? Come on, show a little more respect. After all, you don’t go around saying, ‘hey pal’ every time you need to ask someone something, right? And how infuriating is it when there is a complete lack of continuity in your conversation with the assistant? I mean really, does it have to be a Q and A, traffic flowing just the one way?
Well, gone are those days, because with Google Duplex you won’t even need to book your own hair appointments anymore. Yes, that’s right, Google Assistant does this for you, understanding the nuances of every conversation, and even sending you a confirmation notice afterwards! (Even with a little ‘Mmm’ while deliberating, as Google CEO Sundar Pichai demonstrated during the event). Mind = Blown!
Google Assistant will soon be able to call restaurants and make a reservation for you https://t.co/pwzrqTeUMZ #io18 pic.twitter.com/wqffUZYZZS
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) May 9, 2018
Pichai claims that they’ve been developing this tech over several years, and the developments are still ongoing, but by the time they’re through with it, Google Duplex will be able to schedule appointments, book holidays, and much more all without your involvement.
Android P
Three core fundamentals make up this release: Intelligence, simplicity, and digital wellbeing. Should add a forth in indulgence, but let’s wait a few months and see. One impressive feature here is the ‘Adaptive Battery,’ which monitors the interaction between person and phone and adjusts the battery use accordingly to allocate more battery life to the apps you care most about.
Similarly, ‘Adaptive Brightness’ analyses how bright you like to have your screen, and then adjusts this for you automatically in the most efficient way.
But here’s what’s really impressive. Android P will not only predict what app you’re likely to use next, but what specific action you’re likely to take, right down to plugging your headphones in. Not sure if that’s creepy or cool, but it’s definitely something we can’t ignore!
And these are the goals with digital wellbeing, which isn’t all that different from other kinds of wellbeing in that the developers want to understand your habits, focus on what matters, switch off and wind down, and find your balance with the family.
The new Android Dashboard will display a number of statistics, such as how many and which apps you accessed on any given day, the time spent on each app, how many times you locked and unlocked the phone, and much more all to help you achieve digital wellbeing.
Oh and they’re taking Do Not Disturb to a whole new level, actually calling it ‘Shush’ which will not only mute calls and messages, but also prevent things like pop up visuals when you’re having your down time. Simply turn your phone over, and you won’t receive any notifications, allowing you to be wholly present in the moment.
Mind you, you can keep a list of people that can get through to you no matter what, even with DND or Shush active, so better think twice about who you’re going to have on there!
Also, tell google when you’d like to hit the sack, and it’ll help you wind down, dimming the screen and moving over to grayscale to make this better for you. Android P Beta is available not only on the Google Pixel, but on seven other flagship devices as well, including Nokia, Vivo, and Sony!
Still no clue on what ‘P’ Stands for…
Google I/O Day 1 main keynote is today. There’s a lot to be pumped about, but I just… I just want to know what the P stands for.
Peppermint?
Popsicle?
Pound cake?
Pancake?
Pie?
Pastry?
Parfait?
Peanut?
Pineapple?
Pastille?— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) May 8, 2018
Maps
For NGOs or anybody working in remote areas, places without formal addresses, or fast-changing cities, this is one upgrade that will get you excited. We can now automatically add new addresses, businesses, and buildings that are extracted from the ‘Street’ View mode directly to the map, making it easier to find locations.
With the ‘For You’ tab, you’ll now have access to a lot more information about the places you most care about. So if you’ve just moved to a new city, for example, this will be useful to see what attractions are around suited to your needs, maybe that ten pin you were missing in your old neighbourhood?
Smart text selection
Remember back in the day, when you saw something on a billboard and thought, ‘Wow! I’d love to commit that to memory!’ and by the time you’ve got your pen and paper out, the moment’s gone? Okay, if that happened just the one time, then that’s one time too many! Well with this awesome feature, you’ll now be able to, literally, copy and paste from the real world directly onto your phone. Blurring the lines of digital and reality? Sure looks like it!
Style lens
So you’ve just been to visit a friend at her mansion, somewhere in the South of France, and you’ve seen this beautiful lamp and are wondering, ‘hmm…is there anything else like it?’ Sure the more common question would be, where did she get it from, but we all pick our battles.
Anyhow, bust out the phone, flick your lens on it, and Google will give you a whole list of suggestions that match the item of interest. Happy shopping!
And hey, all this lens stuff is really on the go and will be integrated directly into the camera app, meaning you’ll have information quite literally at your fingertips. No more typing questions into a search bar?
No more toxic cab drivers?
You’ve had a long day at work, and the last thing you want is to sit in a cab with a driver that’s blaring loud music, constantly hocking phlegm up into his throat, or giving you some truly questionable ‘advice.’ Well, it looks like a new era is on the horizon, with Waymo’s fleet of fully self-driving cars, launching in Phoenix later this year.
Oh and for those of you concerned about driverless cars, it turns out that within the next few months, the error rate will be reduced by a 100x (not to be mistaken for per cent apparently, but still good enough I guess.)
A.I. Setting the trend
So it looks like it’s good news all round with some exciting apps and features coming to device users around the globe, most of which seems to be tailored to achieving digital wellbeing. Since we’re all digital now, might as well leave the encyclopaedias boxed up in the attic and let Google take us to new heights.
Watch the 2018 I/O Keynote highlights in a few minutes:
Follow along with the rest of the I/O on twitter:
Picture Credit: Google
