This week was the Google I/O annual developer conference, where Google announces new products and major updates. There were two big themes: artificial intelligence (and Google Assistant) and machine learning everywhere, plus a new focus on “wellbeing”, with new tools to help users make sure that technology is not “detracting from life”. There are links to all the news and updates below, but for a general overview see the list of “100 things Google announced at I/O ‘18”.
- The Google Assistant is speaking “more naturally” , with six new voices (including John Legend), the ability to mimic the subtleties of human speech, and “Continue Conversations”, so you don’t need to say “Hey Google” every time. The culmination is Google Duplex, which will be tested starting this summer. Duplex allows the Google Assistant to make phone calls on your behalf to businesses to set appoints or check open hours. The announcement has created a fair amount of controversy, with people uncomfortable with the idea of talking with a bot that, um, tries to speak indistinguishably from a human. And some people think it could even violate states’ eavesdropping laws. Google will need to deal with these concerns before launching this to the public.
- Google Maps is getting more personal, with a redesigned Explore tab to help you find nearby restaurants and activities, a “match” score for restaurants and bars that suggests how much you are likely to enjoy the place, and a brand new “For you” tab where you can follow updates from specific neighborhoods or dining spots. Plus you will be able to easily use Maps to plan group outings. Don’t expect to see these option in the Maps app right now - they will only be available in the “coming months”.
- Google also teased new walking navigation with an AR companion to lead the way. It will launch “in the coming months”.
- Google Photos will now show you machine learning-powered “suggested actions” for editing or sharing as you are viewing photos. And there is a new auto-awesome creation where the subject of the photo is made to stand out by making the background black and white. And Google is working on one-tap automatic colorization of black and white images.
- In potentially more exciting news there is now a Google Photos partner program, that lets developers build access to Google Photos - search, uploading, plus users existing images, videos and albums - into their apps. You can watch the Google Photos I/O Session for demos of how Google Photos can be integrated into different apps.
- Google Lens lets you start with a photo to find information. It’s available in Google Photos and Google Assistant, and soon will be available in the Camera app on a number of supported devices. It now offers smart text selection, so you can copy text from the real world to your phone; “style match” so you can search for similar clothing or home furnishings, and works in real time, so all you need to do is point your camera.
- Google is using similar technology in the new Lookout app, which is designed to help visually impaired people to navigate the world around them. You wear your phone with the camera pointing outward and the app shares relevant information, like exit signs, nearby bathrooms, or people or objects nearby. And it doesn’t need an internet connection to function.
- The all new Google News is replacing Google Newsstand, using AI technology to analyze and organize news stories in real time. You can use the “Full Coverage” option for a deeper dive into a story with information from a range of trusted news sources. Plus there is a “For You” option where you can find stories about the topics and local news you care about.
- Google Research is now simply Google AI, since apparently all of Google’s research involves artificial intelligence. Some of the successful applications discussed at Google I/O include medical predictions from electronic health records, making it easier for self-driving cars to navigate in different environments, to Smart Compose in Gmail, where Google almost writes the message for you.
- Android P Beta is available, with machine learning driven “smarter” controls, including Adaptive Brightness, Adaptive Battery use, and App Actions, that predict what you want to do next. Navigation has been redesigned and there are new tools for your “digital wellbeing” including a Dashboard that shows app use time, a new Do Not Disturb mode, and Wind Down, which helps you transition to bedtime. If you have a supported device you can get Android Beta today.
- The flood of information online can be overwhelming and distract you from "real life". Google also wants to help improve your digital wellbeing (https://wellbeing.google). For example the YouTube mobile apps are getting new features that will remind you to take a break, show you how much time you’ve spent watching videos, and compile all your notifications into a single daily digest.
- And to end on a positive note, YouTube announce the 2018 Creators for Change global ambassadors. These 47 creators from around the world are receiving funding and other support from YouTube for projects that address hate speech, xenophobia or extremism, and to work towards positive social change.
Whew, that’s a lot of updates, right? That's not even the half of it! There are also tips and updates for webmasters, Google Plussers, business owners and more, so be sure to check out all the links below.
Image: #io18 with logos for Android P, Google AI, Assistant, Maps, Photos, YouTube, News, and Lens
Upcoming
- 12 May Google Drive for Mac/PC shut down,
- 12 May: Google Photos Desktop Backup tool shut down
- 14 May: Google Photos v1.24 and earlier no longer supported
- 15 May: Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout
- 16 May: Storify shutting down
- 18 May: Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout
- 23 May: AdSense on Air: Discover Doubleclick for Publishers
- 25 May: Enforcement of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) begins
Google I/O Overviews
(See the product topics below for detailed information about new features)- 100 things Google announced at I/O ‘18 (Google Blog)
- Google I/O ‘18 Keynote (Google Creators on YouTube)
- Video recaps of the top announcements (Google Developers)
- Google I/O ‘18 all session live streams (Google Developers)
- Digital Wellbeing
- Solving problems with AI for everyone (Google Blog)
- Building accessible products for everyone (Google Blog)
- The State of the Web at Google I/O 2018 (Chromium Blog)
- Google I/O 2018: What’s new in Android (Android Developers)
- Developers should check out the Google Developers blog and Android Developers blog for more updates
AI and Google Assistant
- Solving problems with AI for everyone (Google Blog)
- How TensorFlow is powering technology around the world (Google Blog)
- The future of the Google Assistant: Helping you get things done to give you time back (Google Blog)
- Introducing Google AI (Google AI blog)
- Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real-World Tasks Over the Phone (Google AI Blog)
- Google now says controversial AI voice calling system will identify itself to humans (The Verge)
- What can should we du-plex? (Allen Firstenberg with discussion)
- Teachable Moment: How Outrage Over Google’s AI “Duplex” Could Have Been Avoided (Lauren Weinstein)
- No one knows how Google Duplex will work with eavesdropping laws (Sarah Jeong @ The Verge)
- Deep Learning for Electronic Health Records (Google AI Blog)
- Waymo Google I/O Recap: Turning self-driving cars from science fiction into reality with the help of AI (Waymo Blog)
YouTube and Video Creation
- Too much YouTube? New Digital Wellbeing features can help, including combined notifications and scheduled breaks (YouTube)
- Google Takeout YouTube update: starting in October, original videos older than 6 months may replaced by a high quality compressed version (YouTube)
- Meet the 2018 Creators for Change Global Ambassadors (YouTube Blog)
- Understand the YouTube's policies on paid product placements and endorsements BEFORE you add a promotion to your video!
- Shimrit’s Take: YouTube Stories and Community (Creator Insider)
- YouTube is using a new deal with Vevo, the music labels’ video venture, to boost ad sales (Recode)
Go Live
- YouTube Streamers: Super Chat revenue will now be broken out per video in YouTube Analytics for new videos moving forward!!
- Facebook Live update: Persistent Stream Keys, Crossposting and Live Rewind (Facebook Media blog)
Google+
- Google+ Community Management tip: write clear guidelines (Google+)
Other social media
- Klout is shutting down May 25th (Lithium)
- Medium abruptly cancels the membership programs of its 21 remaining subscription publisher partners (Nieman Lab)
- Protecting The Instagram Community from Bullying Comments (Instagram Blog)
- Introducing the Emoji Slider (Instagram Blog)
- Facebook Removes 10 Instagram Algorithm-Gaming Groups With Hundreds Of Thousands Of Members (Buzzfeed)
- Facebook is making its biggest executive shuffle in company history (Recode)
- Snapchat Hosts Its First Ever Creator Summit, Solicits Feedback From Top Influencers (Tubefilter)
- Snapchat’s redesigned redesign starts rolling out (The Verge)
Google Photos and Mobile Photography
- Google Photos getting Suggested Actions and is playing with color (Google Blog)
- Introducing the Google Photos partner program (Google Developers)
- Bring the best of Google Photos into your app (Google Developers on YouTube)
- Google still doesn’t let you magically remove unwanted objects from photos like it promised at I/O 2017 (The Verge)
- Google's new Tour Creator lets you create a VR tour using Google Street view images or your own 360 photos (Google Blog)
- Google Lens will soon work in real time, helping you learn more about what you are seeing (Google Blog)
- Lookout: an app to help blind and visually impaired people learn about their surroundings (Google Blog)
- "Smart" camera Google Clips just got a bit smarter (Google Blog)
- Automatic Photography with Google Clips (Google AI Blog)
Google for businesses
- Google My Business now notifies customers when business owners respond to their reviews (Google My Business)
Bloggers and Webmasters
- SEO at Google I/O: build a website's presence in Google search (Google Webmasters)
- Which Google I/O sessions should SEOs and webmasters watch? (Google Webmasters)
- The Web: State of the Union (Google Developers)
- Google’s goal: helping webmasters and content creators (Webmaster Central blog)
- Wordpress.com: Find the Perfect Image with the Free Photo Library (Wordpress News)
AdSense and advertising
- Google I/O: Grow and Earn with AdWords and AdMob (Inside AdWords)
- Google bans ads for bail bonds services (Inside AdWords)
- AdWords is fully switching to the new experience (Inside AdWords)
Hangouts and Messaging
- Transform the way you work with Hangouts Chat bots (Google Developers)
- Dial into Hangouts Meet from four additional markets (G Suite Updates)
- Hard Questions: Why Does Facebook Enable End-to-End Encryption in WhatsApp and Messenger? (Facebook Newsroom)
- Archive of the Facebook F8 Session relating to bringing people together through video (Krishna De)
- Yahoo just released a group chat app called Squirrel (Android Police)
Made by Google, Android, Project Fi
- Google I/O 2018: What’s new in Android (Android Developers)
- Android P Beta is now available: "A smarter smartphone, with machine learning at the core" (Google Blog)
- What’s new in Android P Beta (Android Developers)
- Android TV speeding up setup process with Android P: Autofill passwords, app suggestions, and more (Android Police)
- AI-powered 'App Actions' in Android P will offer contextual suggestions for... pretty much everything (Android Police)
- Google Assistant gets more naturally conversational and visually assistive (Google Blog)
- Get more done with the Google Assistant on Wear OS by Google (Google Blog)
- What’s new in Android apps for Chrome OS (Android Developers)
- Chromebooks are ready for your next coding project with Linux support (Google Blog)
- The winners of the 2018 Google Play Awards are … (Google Blog)
- Alexa Can Now Become Your Default Voice Assistant on Android (Voicebot)
Productivity
- Important additional information about the legacy Google Drive desktop sync client shutdown on May 12 (G Suite Updates blog)
- Google Drive is getting a fresh new interface (G Suite Updates)
- Write emails faster with Smart Compose in Gmail (Google Blog)
- 6 ways Quizzes in Google Forms are getting smarter (Google Blog)
- Google I/O Update: Google Maps will help you find new things to do and discover new local businesses (Google Blog)
- New Google News: uses AI + human intelligence, replaces Google Play Newsstand and Google News & Weather app (Google Blog)
- Google's Attempt at Fixing Autoplay Videos Has Broken Countless Games (Waypoint)
- Chrome for Android Update (Chrome Releases)
- Stable Channel Update for Chrome OS (Chrome Releases)
Privacy and Security
- Google improves controls for privacy, ad preferences, and downloading your data (Google Blog)
- Google’s preparations for Europe’s new data protection law (Google Blog)
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