Top 10 Big Announcements from Google I/O 2022 Conference

Google I/O conference is a big scale media event meant to showcase their upcoming products and feature updates.

Google I/O conference is a big scale media event meant to showcase their upcoming products and feature updates. I/O which stands for input/output or more typically "Innovation in the Open", was started in the year 2008, with major announcements in the android phone segment. Day one's keynote address is the one which most people look forward to where Google's executives including Google's CEO address the audience. This year it was held at Shoreline Amphitheatre from 11 May to 12 May 2022 and was live-streamed on YouTube. Check out the top 10 announcements made at this year's Google I/O conference.

1. Pixel Watch: Though its first look was leaked long ago, tech enthusiasts were waiting for its specs to be revealed by the company at this Google event. As expected, Google unveiled how the Pixel watch is going to look and work. Google announced it would be launched later this year alongside Pixel 7, with Wear OS 3 and Fitbit integration, for it to keep track of the health parameters. Google hasn't revealed yet, what chip it will be powered by nor its price.

2. Pixel 6A: As expected, Google announced its Pixel 6a phone at the I/O meet. A downgraded version of last year's Pixel 6, and also cheaper, it comes with the same horizontal camera bar across the back and the same Tensor chip. It is a new midrange phone with downgrades in screen specs (90 Hz to 60 Hz & 6.4 inches to 6.1 inches), sounds like a solid gadget like its predecessor Pixel 6.

3. Pixel Buds Pro: Powered by custom algorithms, Pixel Buds Pro comes with a custom 6-core audio processor, which cancels out ambient noise. It is Google's first TWS solution to have active noise cancellation. Pixel Buds Pro can adapt to the shape of the ear with a feature called silent seal, to maximize the noise cancellation. They come with up to 11 hours of playback time and will be available in four shades: Coral, lemongrass, fog, and charcoal.

4. Pixel Tablet: Google announced its first Android tablet at the event, though it is believed it will not be out in the market till 2023. It is powered by Google Tensor, Google wants to design it as a device that can blend into people's lives, particularly when they are on the go, and calls it, "The most helpful tablet in the world." Not many details were revealed at the event. But experts believe that it can give a tough competition to Apple's iPad.

5. Android 13: Google's new mobile OS brings a host of personalization features and aesthetics of interface which include customizing the appearance of the display, and icons with pre-made color variants. Apart from these personalization features, some interesting features include the area of language customization, allowing multilingual users to use different languages depending on the situation. For instance, users can use one language on banking apps, while enjoying conversation in another language on social media apps.

6. Better Google Meets: Google meet got an important update with an artificial intelligence enhanced feature, with which Google meets are going to get better. This feature helps in improving the way you look better to the viewers. Poor lighting conditions ruin google meets quite often. Inspired by Project Starline, it uses image processing technology to add brightness to the images obviating the need to use an external source of light.

7. Monk Scale: MST (Monk Skin Tone) scale, introduced by Google in the meet, is a 10-shade scale that can be used to represent a greater number of skin tones to be incorporated into Google products. People with darker skin tones feel underrepresented in the marketing industry. With Monk Scale with more skin tones on the list, it will give ample opportunity for marketers to target their products, precisely.

8. More languages added in Google Translate: 24 new languages have been added to Google translate, including indigenous languages from the Americas, like Guarani, and Aymara, added for the first time, bringing the total number of languages to 133. The 24 languages are added using Zero-shot Machine Translation, a machine learning-based technology, which learns to translate into another language without ever seeing an example.

9. Immersive view in maps:  Google announced the maps can be accessed in 3D, facilitating a closer look at the surroundings. This feature, however, goes beyond showing just the buildings. The Street view data and aerial captures can show everything around the location in detail. Moreover, it allows choosing an eco-friendly and fuel-efficient route while driving. It is also possible to integrate an Immersive view from Google Maps into the apps for a rich AR experience.

10. Improved Google Assistant conversations: Google Assistant got a shot in the arm with new features like "look and talk" for the Google Nest Hub Max smart home device. It removes the need to start every conversation with 'hey google', making it listen to you the moment you make eye contact, pretty much like a living person. Google said the personal assistant will be good at ignoring slip-ups and identifying pauses to make the queries disruption-free.

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