In the early morning of today (May 12), Google held the 2022 I/O Developer Conference, using the form of online + offline, and threw out one surprise after another in nearly 3 hours. Google CEO Chop Chai Ge said at the beginning that this year's I/O conference will release and preview a series of very high-tech products and features, spanning Google's search, maps, Android software, Pixel hardware products, and AI research and other departments.
At the beginning of the conference, Chachai First shared Google's latest achievements in the field of AI - Google Maps, Google Translate, Google Search, Google Assistant intelligent voice assistant and other star applications have greatly improved in AI algorithms.
Among them, Google Maps has launched a new model - immersive maps, which support indoor 3D previews of attractions or stores, and provide very realistic 3D real-life modeling for some surface buildings, and users can also interact with each other.
Android 13 is here!
As early as April 26, Google pushed Android 13 Beta 1, the first public beta version of Android 13, supporting Pixel 4-Pixel 6 device OTA or a new upgrade, and opened a complete flashing package. At this conference, the Android 13 Beta 2 version also arrived as scheduled.
Source: Geek Park
Google introduced three important upgrades to the Android 13 Beta 2 version - taking the smartphone as the core of the scene, expanding the application boundaries of smart terminals, and achieving better collaboration between multiple devices.
Specifically, when it comes to privacy, Google says that on Android 13, users have more control over the personal information they share, as well as more detailed control over the files that apps can access. In addition to allowing access to Files & Media, users can control access to two new categories: photos and videos, and music and audio. Google has also introduced a new option: allowing users to choose the exact photos or videos that they want to grant the app access to, without having to share the entire media library.
At the same time, Android 13 can also automatically delete clipboard history in a shorter period of time to prevent apps from seeing old copied information. Google also plans to introduce a new unified security and privacy settings page in Android 13 that clearly shows the user's security status, while also providing recommendations that can enhance security.
In terms of personalization, since the introduction of the Material You design language, the Android system has become more and more customized and open, and Android 13 not only continues the color-changing design based on Material You, but also will launch pre-made style themes in Android 13, which will apply color schemes throughout the operating system, and Google also plans to expand these themes to applications outside the Google system.
In addition, in addition to color matching, language preferences can also be individually configured. Users will be able to select a different language for each application. The new features are useful for people who are multilingual and use different languages depending on the situation.
It is worth noting that Google also specifically mentioned the optimization of the Android system for large-screen devices, for example, for the display of images and text, there will be targeted adjustments to improve display efficiency, such as in Douyin, videos and comments will be displayed on the left and right sides, and users can see comments while watching videos.
Image source: Wisdom stuff
At the same time, with the release of the new beta version of Android 13, Xiaomi, OPPO, True Self and other manufacturers also announced the follow-up upgrade for the first time. Other models announced by Google include the Asus ZenFone 8, Sharp Aquos Sense6, Transsion Camon 19 Pro 5G, Vivo X80 Pro, ZTE Axon 40 Ultra, Nokia (model not announced), Lenovo P12 Pro tablet.
Hardware family bucket
In the past, Google's I/O conference was called a "developer carnival", but since its release of pixel 3a during the 2019 I/O conference, hardware has gradually grown into one of the protagonists of the conference. This year, Google has not hesitated to release five blockbuster hardware new products, including smartphones, smart watches, TWS headphones, tablets and a concept AR glasses.
Image source: Wisdom stuff
Among them, the new Google smartphone Pixel 6a is equipped with its own Tensor chip, the machine learning model runs 5 times faster than the Pixel 5a, and is also equipped with a 12 million pixel main camera and a wide-angle camera, pre-installed Android 13 mobile phone operating system. In terms of price, the Pixel 6a only has a hardware configuration combination of 6+128GB, and the price of $449 will open for pre-order on July 21 and officially go on sale on July 28.
Image source: Wisdom stuff
In addition, Google also made a preview of the Pixel 7 series mobile phone, Pixel 7 series has a total of 2 models, the back is equipped with an aluminum lens module frame, will also be equipped with the next generation of Google Tensor self-developed chip, naturally will also be equipped with the latest Android 13.
Image source: Wisdom stuff
Google also released its first smart watch, the Pixel Watch, today, which looks almost exactly the same as the photos previously exposed on the Internet, with a round screen and a large curvature at the edges of the screen. According to reports, Pixel Watch supports common smart watch functions such as payment, card swiping, health detection, information reminder, etc., and also opens up fitbit's health data.
Image source: Wisdom stuff
Google's first TWS headset Pixel Buds Pro that supports active noise reduction supports the "spatial audio" function, but the price is only $199 (about 1300 yuan), and many netizens have joked that its move is quite "calling" Apple's AirPods Pro. In addition, in response to the problem of sound leakage, Pixel Buds Pro's active noise reduction supports silent filtering technology, which will focus on the noise reduction and amplification of the user's speech in terms of call noise reduction to ensure clarity.
In addition to three very "playable" products, Google has also announced two new products in preparation, namely a new tablet computer to be released in 2023, and an AR glasses concept machine, which will support real-time translation in the future and directly present the translated text in front of the user's eyes.
Image source: Wisdom stuff
To sum up, Google's 2022 I/O Developer Conference has carried out "end water" in software and hardware, but
The update of Android 13 is still slightly inferior to its breakthrough in the hardware field, which also makes many people sigh that "this year's I/O developer conference is a bit "hard"", and perhaps we can also glimpse Google's "ambitions" for the future hardware market.