Google's stage during its I/O 2017 conference was the hotbed of technological innovations, with the company showcasing a ton of its achievements.
Arguably, the biggest highlight of the event is in the field of artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality, but those aren't the only important takeaways, as Android and Photos stole part of the spotlight too.
Google Assistant Will Be Everywhere, Including Your iPhone
Assistant is making its way to practically everywhere in the foreseeable future along with new skills to boot, thanks to the voice assistant's software development kit or SDK. That basically means it's safe to expect to see the AI software in anything that's smart.
Speaking of "anything that's smart," it's also invading its competitor Siri's personal space, heading to the iPhone as a standalone app. However, it won't respond to the wake-up command "OK Google" or activate via the home button. Instead, users will have to manually open the app.
Starting today, we're bringing the #GoogleAssistant to iPhones. Whether at home or on the go, your Assistant is here to help. #io17 pic.twitter.com/a6T20HwnU9
— Google (@Google) May 17, 2017
Interestingly enough, previous reports called this development right before the I/O 2017 conference kicked off. What's more, Assistant is getting a new ability with Lens, allowing it to analyze objects and surroundings. For instance, pointing a smartphone's camera at a building will bring up more info about it.
With Google Lens, your smartphone camera won’t just see what you see, but will also understand what you see to help you take action. #io17 pic.twitter.com/viOmWFjqk1 — Google (@Google) May 17, 2017
Google Home Learns To Take Phone Calls And Support Bluetooth Music Streaming
Instead of unwrapping a new piece of Home hardware to compete with Amazon's growing speaker lineup, Google is making its device smarter, more or less turning it into a phone.
It'll use a private number for calls, but users can set their own mobile numbers. However, calls will be limited to residents in the United States or Canada.
Aside from that, it's also becoming a better speaker, supporting Bluetooth music streaming even with apps that aren't supported natively.
Google Daydream VR Expanding To More Phones And Standalone Headsets
From the look of things, Google aims to dominate the VR space, announcing that Daydream will reach the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus this summer and LG's next flagship. The Mountain View company's plans don't end there either, as it's set to launch standalone VR headsets in collaboration with HTC Vive and Lenovo.
New #Daydream standalone headsets from partners like @htcvive won't require a phone or PC. #io17 pic.twitter.com/7TpYPJGEdU — Google (@Google) May 17, 2017
Google Tango Gets Second Compatible Phone
Fairly hot on the heels of the first Tango phone, aka Lenovo's Phab 2 Pro, Asus ZenFone AR is coming out this summer.
That just goes to show that AR is starting to spread out in the wild.
Google Photos Jumps Ahead Of The Competition
Google is getting more serious with Photos, leaving users of iOS Photos little or no reason to stick around.
To be exact, there are now a lot of new ways to share photos and a free unlimited cloud storage too, not to mention that it's bringing physical photo albums back with the new feature Photo Books.
Android O Beta Goes Live, While Android Go Gives Budget Users Good News
While it's still unclear what Android O will be named after, Google is rolling out the beta version for certain devices. Just to be clear, anyone itching to take the anticipated Android version out for a spin can download it already.
More than that, the company also unveiled Android Go, which is sort of its second attempt at budget phones after Android One. The gist of it is that phones with 1 GB of RAM or lower will have apps optimized to their specs.
What do you think of Google's announcements during I/O 2017? Feel free to drop by our comments section below and let us know.
