Google I/O 2013 Day 1 Highlights

Google I/O 2013 Day 1 Highlights

Google I/O is the place where the company announces cool things that are related to both consumers and developers.Google did not unveil the anticipated Android 4.3, or the Nexus 5 smartphone.

Growth of Android:

At I/O 2013, VP of Android and Chrome, Sundar Picha said that Google has 900 million Android devices activated worldwide. This is a pretty big number. Considering the population of the world a 7 billion approx., Google has a long way to go to Android world domination. Android users have also downloaded 48 billion apps from the Google Play store. That is a pretty impressive number considering the Apple app store recently hit the 50 billion-download mark.

Google Music:

Google All Access will put together all the songs that you already have in your cloud storage along with millions of other tracks available for streaming for a monthly subscription fee of $10 per month. By doing this, Google plans to give other competing online music subscription streaming sites like Spotify a run for its money.

All Access is available in the US from Wednesday with a 30-day free trial. If you are one who starts the free trial before 30 June, you can avail the service for $8 per month. The service is expected to roll out in 12 more countries where Google sells music online including U.K., France and Germany, Australia and New Zealand and more. There is no information on when the service will be available in India.

Google Music:

Google All Access will put together all the songs that you already have in your cloud storage along with millions of other tracks available for streaming for a monthly subscription fee of $10 per month. By doing this, Google plans to give other competing online music subscription streaming sites like Spotify a run for its money.

All Access is available in the US from Wednesday with a 30-day free trial. If you are one who starts the free trial before 30 June, you can avail the service for $8 per month. The service is expected to roll out in 12 more countries where Google sells music online including U.K., France and Germany, Australia and New Zealand and more. There is no information on when the service will be available in India.

Google+

Google is adding whopping 41 features to its social networking site, Google+. The new features launched on Wednesday and play on Google’s strength including computing power, algorithms and other innovations from the search giant.

There is a new photo-managing tool making an appearance in the service. All users need to do is upload a bunch of photos and Google will automatically reject the ones where people aren’t smiling or the image is blurry. Google will also give a higher priority to family member and close friends while shortlisting the images.

Search and Google Maps

Google has introduced new features to the maps app available on Android and iOS. If you search for restaurants, your search result will give you their names along with ratings. You can swipe through the restaurants horizontally to see the information. You will also be able to see Groupon Inc. and LivingSocial deals through your search results.

Google Earth images will now be available without the need to download the separate Google Earth app. Users will also get a view of earth from space without the use of the Earth app.

Tools for developers

Google has introduced a new tool that gives developers the ability to know if a user is walking, running or driving. This can make data relevancy and access easier.

Android in Schools

Google Play for education will launch this fall and will help get Android tablets into schools. For app distribution, all the tablets of an institute will be linked to a single account. This will make the purchasing and distribution of apps a lot simpler. Since a credit card is required to make purchases from the play store, it still remains to be seen how this service will be implemented.

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