Google kicked off its annual I/O developer conference Wednesday. As usual, the company took the occasion to announce a bunch of new hardware products and software updates.
While the shiny new gadgets might have stolen the show—you can learn about the Pixel Watch, new Pixel phones, and other objects that were announced in our separate story—I/O is still primarily a software affair. To that end, Google used its keynote event to detail a dizzying array of new features for Android, Search, Maps, and Google’s voice assistant services.
Here are the biggest updates Google announced.
We got a few more details about the next version of Android, Google’s OS for mobile devices. When Android 13 arrives this fall, it will introduce some updates that make the OS more secure and more interoperable with other devices around you. Google Messaging will expand support for the RCS texting standard, bringing end-to-end encryption to group texts. Multilingual users will be able to set specific apps to use specific languages, so you can search in English and tweet in German. Support for quick-pairing with devices using the Matter smart home standard will be built in, and it will be easier to cast videos or photos to more televisions, displays, and other screens in your home with additional support for more manufacturers’ products.
We’ll have a deeper look at Android 13 when it gets closer to arriving later this year.
The company has revived its previously abandoned Google Wallet name and branding, and the refreshed app is going to become Android’s default digital currency container. Wallet will hang out on your device and hold all your credit cards, transit cards, vaccine verification, and even your park pass to Disney World. If you’re thinking, “Wait, that sounds exactly like Google Pay, a thing that already exists,” you’re correct. Wallet is basically the same as Google Pay, except that Google says its Wallet app will also soon support digital IDs, including drivers’ licenses. Google has a habit of frequently killing off its own services, so we’ll see how long both of these options stick around.
Google also laid out a variety of new additions to its software platforms aimed at protecting against cyberattacks. It is improving its two-factor authentication system and enabling it by default on Google accounts. Phishing protections are being carried over from Gmail to Google’s office suite (Docs, Sheets, and Slides). It will also flag when account settings can be changed to better protect privacy.
A new feature called Virtual Cards aims to keep your credit card info private while you’re shopping. When you autofill credit card information, Virtual Cards will generate a randomized card number and keep you from having to manually enter sensitive info on some potentially suspect storefront.
Last month, Google rolled out a feature called Multisearch. It lets you combine elements in a single search query, like using a photo and text at the same time. Soon, Multisearch will get a new tweak. Called Near Me, the feature lets you factor in your location while Multisearching, helping to sniff out local restaurants or shops based on photos and text. Multisearch Near Me will be available globally later this year, though it only works with English input for now.
An upcoming feature in Google Maps is something Google calls Immersive View. It’s a sort of tricked out Street View that lets you swipe to move around in a CGI-rendered 3D space. It can simulate whole cities, and even the insides of offices and restaurants. You won’t see a 100 percent accurate rendering, because much of it is based on user photos and then filled in with an algorithm. Google says the feature will work on any smartphone and is rolling out in “select cities” this year.
Google has made moves to make its voice assistant understand more nuances of conversation and react accordingly. A new feature called Look and Talk, which is available exclusively on the Nest Hub Max, aims to make talking with a voice assistant less like shouting at a slab of concrete. You won’t have to say “OK Google” anymore, because the system is designed to recognize when you’re directing a question at it. To do that, the Nest Hub Max uses its built-in camera to monitor how close you are to the device, which way your head is turned, and which way your gaze is directed. So it can detect whether you’re looking at the device and waiting for an answer.
The Assistant also allows for pauses in a query, in case you need a second to get your thoughts together. Just like talking with a person! The company did not say whether Google Assistant will ever be capable of love.
Google announced a few changes to how its search results work, including ones focused on making the results more inclusive. Google says it worked with Harvard sociologist Ellis Monk to develop the “Monk Scale,” a system that breaks down skin tones into a range of 10 shades. The goal is to train AI across the web to recognize and account for a variety of skin tones, including in facial detection and photo filters.
Google also says it is developing a standardized way to label specific elements in images like skin tone, hair color, and hair texture. It says it will release that feature in the coming months.
Google’s building a new TL;DR feature into its services, from Google Docs to Google Meet. Soon, your very long doc will come with a simple summary at the top, gathering what Google’s algorithms glean to be the key points. The setting also works in Google Meet, pulling out the highlights of a conversation that you may have missed before logging in to a meeting.
The company is also releasing an enhanced conversational AI program, called LaMDA 2. Based on the prompts Google fed to it during the preview, you could use it to describe scenes from the bottom of the ocean, or help you figure out what to plant in your garden. So really, the possibilities are endless.
This year, 24 new languages will be added to Google Translate. The new additions are mostly languages used around Asia, Africa, and South America, including Assamese, Bhojpuri, Lingala, Maithili, Oromo, Sanskrit, and Twi. Here’s a full list.