Android is getting its largest visible replace in years, and somewhat than unveiling it for the primary time at its huge annual developer convention, Google introduced Materials Three Expressive at a pre-show occasion broadcast on YouTube the week earlier than. If a significant design language shift for the world’s hottest cellular OS doesn’t qualify as a headliner at I/O, then what does? You guessed it: AI.
We count on Google to speak all about Gemini throughout I/O, which kicks off on Tuesday, and the way it’s bettering it and bringing it to merchandise in areas that buyers will see much more.
For those who’ve paid consideration to the previous couple of I/O keynotes, this received’t be a shock. Android was barely talked about in 2023, and CEO Sundar Pichai stated AI so many times that we lost count. Final 12 months’s keynote was extra of the identical, besides that Pichai saved us some bother and counted mentions of AI for us. All of this displays the very apparent, inescapable shift that Google and each different tech firm have made not too long ago to pump out AI options at a breakneck tempo.
However in a manner, much less information concerning the latest Android OS at I/O is definitely a superb factor.
Google has made a giant effort lately to deliver new options to extra telephones — even when they aren’t working the newest OS. Corporations like Samsung and Motorola roll out new OS variations on their very own schedules, so including new options by means of Google Play and app updates means they’ll attain individuals sooner. One key criticism of Android in earlier years was sluggish function rollouts that usually fully failed to achieve many customers. Google additionally adopted a brand new schedule this 12 months for Android 16, transferring to a significant launch in Q2 and a minor launch in This fall, which ought to assist extra units reap the benefits of new options.
If this 12 months’s I/O actually is an AI present, then there’s a danger it’s going to really feel like one we’ve seen earlier than.
The previous two years of software program and {hardware} from seemingly each client tech firm have been continuous AI pep rallies. We’ve seen lots of previews of options which can be supposedly simply across the nook. Then, when it’s time to truly ship them… nicely, ask Apple how that’s going.
To Google’s credit score, it has actually shipped numerous AI options. The corporate has lots of surfaces for it, too — from the XR platform we’re anticipating to listen to extra about (that’s the glasses it has teased a number of occasions), to Chrome, Gmail, and Meet. There’s lots of floor to cowl.
I get the sensation, although, that we’re reaching a tipping level, one the place guarantees of on a regular basis and energy that AI will save us are carrying somewhat skinny. But when nothing else, I respect that Google went out of its approach to give Android time to shine earlier than the large present — somewhat than relegating it to a handful of mentions between AI function updates.