Google CEO Sundar Pichai has just revealed that the 10th annual Google I/O developer conference will be held between May 18 and 20, 2016, at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View.
For those who don't know, the venue is a little special this time, as it's located in the company's hometown, which Pichai describes the location as the "neighborhood where it all started" via Twitter. He also made the announcement on Google+, giving away more specifics there.
I/O'16 coming to neighborhood where it all started 10 yrs ago: Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, May 18-20. More details soon. #io16
— sundarpichai (@sundarpichai) January 12, 2016
"We'll have 3 full days together to dive deep into developer content, code labs, and more. If you can't make it in person, you can still join us via I/O Live and through an I/O Extended event in your local community. Stay tuned to #io16 and +GoogleDevelopers in the coming weeks for more details," he says.
What To Expect
Android N
In last year's conference, Google introduced Android M, and it eventually became the highly anticipated Marshmallow. This time around, the company could officially take the wraps off Android N, which is already well under way with hints of Split Screen and Multiwindow support, according to the team behind Pixel C.
Other expected features include pressure sensitivity, a battery management tool and the Dark Theme, which was scrapped right before Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
As for the name of the major Android update, Pichai says that it could be determined through an online poll, suggesting that Android 7.0 could take after an Indian dessert such as "neyyappam" or "nankhatai."
Project Tango
At CES 2016, Google and Lenovo announced the first Project Tango smartphone, a device that can take the dimensions of a room and generate on-screen 3D objects. It's likely that the Mountain View company will dish out more details at the event.
Google Cars
Google is renowned for driverless cars, which have been proven to be impressively safe even in terrible weather. However, one of the company's self-driving automobiles was involved in an accident back in July 2015 for the first time.
With that said, Google could unveil new safety measures along with a new lineup of vehicles that are compatible with the system. On top of those, the company could announce third-party applications such as Waze to be integrated with Android Auto.
Android Wear
Updates for the smartwatch OS could be featured, including improved performance of gestures and voice controls. A couple of new devices would be nice to see too. Considering that Android Wear became compatible with iOS in 2015, there's a slim chance that Google will announce compatibility with Windows phones as well.
Chrome OS
There has been buzz about Chrome OS merging with Android, and if it's going to be announced at the conference, then it's arguably going to be the biggest news there. However, Google developers say that it's not true.
At any rate, the integration between the two has been shaping up into a tightly knitted system, so if the unification really turns out to be false, then more features and updates for the pair's communication could be disclosed instead.
Nexus 7
The first Nexus 7 was a big hit, and the second-generation model was too. The most recent rumors surrounding the hot tablet suggest that the third-generation will be manufactured by Huawei, which is reportedly slated for a May 2016 release with design cues from the Google Pixel C. If all goes well, Google could finally give an official word about the much-coveted slab.
Project Ara
Project Ara has been going on and off since 2013, and until now, there's still no solid release date. With such a long wait, a "humorous" piece of news about the modular phone breaking into pieces when dropped made rounds on the Internet. Of course, it has been put to a stop eventually. Moving forward, the team behind Project Ara assured fans that the device will roll out in 2016 somewhere in the United States.
Where are we headed next? We are looking at a few locations in the U.S. #ProjectAra #newlocationcomingsoon — Project Ara (@ProjectAra) August 17, 2015
Hopefully, Google will give out more specifics at the event.
Google Glass
Remember the awesome demo of Google Glass before? Well, Google could showcase a second-generation model of the wearable tech in the shape of a monocle.
Just like all the other Google I/O developer conferences, this one is also expected to be a huge event. With fingers crossed, Google could finally get its projects off the ground this 2016.
