The Google I/O developers conference is Google's biggest event of the year, and rumors about it have been running wild over the last few months.
Since the new year rolled around, we've heard everything from the Motorola X Phone to the Nexus 5 to Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie to all of these and then some being prepared for display. Well, the head of Chrome and Android at Google is here to put a damper on all this speculation.
Speaking to Wired, Sundar Pichai said that this year's Google I/O is going to be more low-key than past events. Essentially, his comments boiled down to this: Those expecting a Motorola X Phone or Android Key Lime Pie better check themselves at the door.
"It's going to be different," he said. "It's not a time when we have much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system. Both on Android and Chrome, we're going to focus this I/O on all of the kinds of things we're doing for developers, so that they can write better things. We will show how Google services are doing amazing things on top of these two platforms."
If Android Key Lime Pie is delayed, along with the Nexus 5 and Motorola X phone, then what should we expect to see at Google I/O? Luckily, even without big hardware or operating system announcements, there's still some exciting stuff in the works.
On the OS front, just because Key Lime Pie won't make an appearance doesn't mean there won't be anything noteworthy. Recent rumors indicate that Google will show off an incremental update to Android, meaning we're likely to see Jelly Bean 4.3.
Additionally, it's looking like we're going to see Android's Google Play store get the equivalent of Apple's Game Center, a video game-oriented service with chatting, matchmaking, leaderboards, and more. Google recently hired a chief game designer, and it looks like I/O will be a good time to see how the company expects to integrate gaming into its platform.
The hardware front, meanwhile, might not be packed with new announcements, but there could still be some excitement there, too. No Motorola X Phone or Nexus 5 would be disappointing, but we could still hear more about Google Glass. The glasses have been suffering something of a backlash the last few weeks, so this would be a great time for Google to either soften worries or unleash some intriguing new features.
Of course, Pichai could just be lowering our expectations so Google can amaze everyone with big reveal after big reveal. I guess we'll have to tune in on Wednesday to find out.
