Google IO 2018 highlights
A couple of weeks ago, Google held its annual developer conference. Called Google IO, the conference kicked off from May 8 to May 11 2018. A key component of this conference was the keynote speech by Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai.
In case you were wondering, the Keynote speech at Google IO is where all developments and advancements in Google products are revealed. Kicking off the keynote, Pichai spoke about something we take for granted, which is the burger emoji.
Did you know that until Android 8.1 Oreo, the burger emoji had the cheese at the bottom of the burger? Well, not anymore. The same was said of the Beer emoji which had the foam floating above.
So what else did Google unveil at Google IO 2018?
Image Credits: Laboratory Equipment
Better healthcare
With advancements in Google AI, healthcare is also gaining a boost from technology. As such, eye scans offered better insights to identify cardiovascular risk. Google AI can also be used to help doctors predict medical emergencies as well. With Google’s “Looking to Listen” feature, Google AI can actually differentiate between multiple voices.
A more accessible keyboard
Image Credits: Tech Crunch
Google Keyboard, or GBoard as it is more commonly referred to will have the ability to send messages in Morse code. As such, GBoard will have two areas for short and long signals
Composing emails got a whole lot smarter
Android Tidbits
With Gmail flaunting a new design, there are also a few under the hood changes as well. One such new feature is Smart Compose. This uses machine learning and AI to predict sentences for you. So you can literally have Gmail type out your emails for you.
More options for your photos
Pic courtesyGoogle
If you’re a faithful user of Google Photos, you’ll love to know that there are a host of new features in stock for the app. For example, with Suggested actions, the app will suggest tasks such as tagging your friend and sharing photos with them. Further, the app can also edit photos and adjust brightness. If you thought that was cool, Google photos can also recreate photos in black and white and even recognize a document and convert it to a PDF.
A new voice… or voices for Assistant
Pic courtesy Crowdfunding Headlines
Google Assistant, Google’s own version of a personal secretary for Android users will get a total of 6 brand new voices. Among these voices is popular artist John Legend’s voice. Now that is indeed a legendary voice. Further, swiping up on Assistant gives you a detailed list of information regarding your day and tasks ahead.
Navigation just got a whole lot easier
BGR
Ever wanted a cooler way to get around using Google Maps? Well, now you can. Available in the coming weeks, Google Maps will allow you to navigate to your destination using a mixture of AR (Augmented Reality) and Street View. Launch the app and Google Maps will literally point the way for you with virtual arrows on your device screen.
Say Hello to Google Duplex
Design News
Another breakthrough in Google AI, Google Duplex can actually place an appointment or call people in your contacts list to place orders. So you no longer have to worry about these phone calls. Google will do it for you. It brings together the company’s investments in natural language, deep learning and text-to-speech.
Seeing things in a completely different way
Digital Trends
When Google lens was first unveiled, it promised to revolutionise the way we see objects (literally). With the latest update, Google Lens has been integrated into Google Assistant. You can use Google Assistant in tandem with Google Lens to recognize words, objects and even scan copies of your receipts and keep them for later use.
The columnist is a senior tech writer at ReadMe – a leading tech news provider. For more information log onto www.readme.lk