Google’s announcements for the year including artificial intelligence, Dialogflow, and much more
Introduction
Google held their annual “Google I/O Developer Conference” at the beginning of May, and did not fall short in terms of controversial and exciting announcements from Google.
Executives and developers from Google highlighted major plans for Android (Android P) Google Assistant, Google Gmail, Google Duplex, Dialogflow, NLP (natural language processing) & Artificial Intelligence, Google Photos, Google Maps, and much more.
In this blog post, we will discuss some of the most exciting news from the Google I/O Developer Conference.
Highlights
Gmail Gets Smart Compose Feature
Google will be introducing a new feature to Gmail called “Smart Compose” which will leverage machine-learning artificial intelligence technologies to automatically complete and compose emails for you.
How it works is that the AI technology makes auto suggestions as you begin typing the email response.
Google Assistant Steps Up its Game
Expect some significant updates to Google Assistant throughout the 2018 year. There will be more voice options for the Google Assistant including R & B singer, John Legend as a voice for your Google Assistant.
Continue conversation update now means you do not need to say “Hey Google” for every prompted action with the Google Assistant, it only needs to be said once to begin and continue the conversation with assistant, making it more natural.
Arguable one of the most exciting announcements made by Google at the I/O conference this year, was introducing Google Duplex to Google Assistant.
This new feature will utilize Dialogflow and other NLP & artificial intelligence technologies so that the Google Assistant can now make calls on behalf of you!
The Duplex feature will enable the Google Assistant to make reservations and appointments by contacting businesses’ and having almost “too real” of a conversation with the business on your behalf!
Google Maps Utilizes Augmented Reality for Better Navigation
Another impressive announcement from Google was the implementation of augmented reality technologies on their Google Maps application. The implementation will allow users to access navigation tools/directions offered by Google Maps through the view of the user’s camera. This displays directions, Google Business Cards, and other features to Google Maps within the physical environment around the user.
Expect this update to have a major impact on the functionality of Google Maps, as Google Maps is the first major player to leverage augmented reality for navigation purposes!
Android P Gets a New Design
Google announced that Android P beta will be more accessible across Android devices. This is a major shift from previous trends as Android betas have been traditional reserved for Google exclusive phones.
Android P is also getting new features and a new design from Android Oreo:
New features include:
Adaptive battery – emphasizes battery saving.
Adaptive brightness- based on personal settings and current lighting environments.
App actions- App suggestions based on actions taken on phone.
App slices- This is an API that will allow developers to plug in parts of their code into the Android P operating system.
The new Android P design is riding the trend of removing virtual buttons from the standard navigation of the phone UI. The purpose of the design modifications is to emphasize a simpler UI and improve multitasking capabilities through emphasize gesture control.
With the Android P beta becoming more readily available, as well as changes to UI design to make interface simpler, expect a rise in the development of mobile applications on the new Android P platform.
Google Lens Updates
Google also made some cool announcements to the Google Lens technology. Google Lens is utilizing advancement artificial intelligence technologies to provide some impressive new features.
These new features include:
Copy text from camera: You can view text through your camera, select the text with your finger, and copy it directly to your clipboard.
Style match: Utilizing AI and object recognition technologies, users can point their cameras at clothing, furniture and other items and receive options of the object online (for purchasing) or being redirected to similarly styled objects!
Conclusion
The month of May has truly been exciting for major developer announcements, and Google lived up to their reputation and expectations to remain leaders within Android mobile app development, advancements in NLP, machine-learning, and Artificial Intelligence technologies, as well as Virtual and Augmented Reality!
We here at Master of Code Global look forward to seeing these groundbreaking announcements in action throughout the 2018 year!
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