G+_Michael Hagberg Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 Google I/O 2016 Predictions & Preview It’s finally here. Google’s big annual keynote speech at I/O is Wednesday at the Shoreline Amphitheater. This is Google’s backyard. As Material host Yasmine Evje suggested, this could be a much more ample Google experience than San Francisco’s Moscone Center could ever provide. Autonomous vehicles anyone? First off, the venue: I’ve not been to the Shoreline. But I know Dallas’ Starplex Amphitheater very well. These keynotes have all sorts of slideshows and video. I can’t figure out how difficult it’ll be for attendees to see the show. Will they put black curtains up by the lawn area during the keynote to make the productions stand out better in the shade? The forecast for Wednesday in Mountain View is 85 for the high and sunny. It’s gonna be warm! I’ll be enjoying this year’s keynote on YouTube from the comfort of my air-conditioned office. I re-watched some of the 2015 I/O Keynote to refresh my memory. So much has happened since last year’s I/O. Sundar is now the head honcho of Google. Last year he was merely a Senior VP. The Alphabet shuffle. Android N Developer Preview. What’s in store for announcements? There’s been plenty of talk about VR, Project Tango, Chirp and Google Play coming to Chrome OS. My pal Randy Jensen suggested a neat possibility: so much talk about how the Play Store’s coming to Chromebooks. But what if the Chrome Web Store went to the Play Store? Everyone complains about the Chrome Web Store - its vulnerabilities, confusion between what’s an extension, what’s a web app, themes & games. What if Google moved the Chrome Web Store to a section in the Play Store? Not nearly as many complaints about the well-monitored Google Play Store for Android. This is a sleeper possibility. So much talk about how great it would be to have Android apps on the Chromebook. But how cool would it be to migrate all of the Chrome Web Store to the very familiar Google Play Store? Your Chromebook would have a link to the Play Store Chrome section. And yes, Android apps on Chromebooks would be nifty. And in the grander scheme Progressive Web Apps powered by Angular 2, React and name your framework would be better featured snugly in the Google Play Store. I know we shouldn’t expect new Nexus devices. We’re just getting comfortable with the 6P, 5X and the Pixel C. But the leaks about HTC producing two new devices the Sailfish and the Marlin along with the appointment of Rick Osterloh as Google’s new hardware unit czar make me think that we’ll see these new devices previewed this week. Another interesting possibility? Randy Jensen came up with this hypothesis out of the blue: as much as HTC has been struggling of late and as hard & daunting it must be to put together a hardware enterprise even with Google’s pedigree with the Pixel line and Nexus Q, how much easier would it be to outright purchase HTC and absorb it as Google’s hardware line? If we don’t see a surprise purchase of the floundering HTC, then I think it’s even more possible that we see the Sailfish and Marlin previewed. Rick Osterloh will be keen to get Google’s own Nexus devices to market sooner rather than later. And if Google has a deal with HTC to produce this year’s round of phones, then they’ll want to get them out to market ASAP. Just a suspicion. It's the most wonderful time of the year. My long shot predictions: Hangouts Video Messages (somewhat usurped by YouTube messaging rolling out to special users) Universal Podcast Search support (search: “Neil DeGrasse Tyson” and get podcast appearances) Video Podcast Support on YouTube or Google Play Music Project Loon version 1.0 released. Announced by Sergey parachuting in from Loon balloon to Shoreline lawn wearing a Project Jacquard jumpsuit. Google Photos updated with video editing capability? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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