As expected, Google kicked off this year's highly-anticipated Google I/O developer keynote in a big way Wednesday, June 27, announcing exciting plans and lots of goodies: Android Jelly Bean, a new tablet, a media streamer, Google+ updates, and details on the company's Project Glass. If you missed the keynote, here's a brief overview of the most exciting announcements:
More Android Activations
Earlier this month, on June 11, Android chief Andy Rubin tweeted that there were over 900,000 Android devices activated each day. Kicking off the keynote on Wednesday, Google now announced that its hardware partners have sold more than 400 million Android devices, and the number of daily Android activations has surpassed 1 million. This is a significant difference compared to last year, when the company said at Google I/O 2011 that 100 million Android-based devices had shipped up to that point.
Nexus 7 Tablet
As various rumors have previously indicated, the Nexus 7 is a Google-branded tablet built by ASUS. The 7-inch tablet sports a 1280 x 800-pixel display, a front camera, built-in NFC (Near-Field Communication), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It is powered by an Nvidia Tegra 3 chip, which boasts a quad-core processor and a 12-core graphics chip. When it comes to software, the Nexus 7 tablet will come with Jelly Bean, and a heavy focus on the Google Play Store. Similarly to Amazon's Kindle Fire, the Nexus 7 will display content from Google Play front and center, as soon as you turn it on. It supports a wide range of media types, from video to magazines, books, music, and much more, and it will sport the Android version of Google Chrome as its default browser. The Nexus 7 weighs 340 grams (roughly 0.75 pounds), and comes with a $199 price tag. It will ship in mid-July, and it is already available for pre-order here.
Streaming Media Player: Meet Nexus Q
According to Google, the Nexus Q is "the first social streaming media player." It works with Android smartphones and tablets, as well as Google Play, allowing users to stream music and videos to their HDTV, sound system, or speakers. Unlike the Apple TV and other such gadgets, however, the Nexus Q also allows users to create music and playlists in collaboration with friends via Android phones or tablets. The 16GB model costs $299 and is available via the Google Play Store at this link. Shipping starts in mid-July.
Google+ Updates
Google announced a new app for its Google+ social network. The app is for both Android and iOS, and will enable users to do everything they can do through the standard, desktop version of the Google+ site. The app is already available for Android devices, while the version for iOS will be available once Apple approves it. Another new feature is Google Events, which allows users to schedule and plan events via Google+.
Project Glass
Google co-founder Sergey Brin gave a lengthy demo of the much-talked-about Project Glass, Google's futuristic headgear computer. "The charter of Google X is to take bold risks and push the edges of technology beyond what they've been to where the future might be," said Brin during the Project Glass demo. "We want you to be less of a slave to your devices. It's been really liberating and I'm really excited to share it with all of you."
The Google Glass headgear comes with a camera, speaker, and microphone, as well as a touchpad on the side to allow users to interact with it. It also includes a compass, gyroscope, accelerometers, and multiple radios for data connections, and weighs less than "many sunglasses," according to Google. Google Glass is not yet available for the general public, but Google I/O attendees who are based in the U.S. can pre-order a prototype version for $1,500, and get it sometime early next year.
