Google I/O conference didn't have self-driving cars, but it wants artificial intelligence to take over everything you do

At 1:00 a.m. Beijing time on May 19 (10:00 a.m. local time on May 18 in the U.S.), Google presented us with a "Daydream" performance with artificial intelligence throughout the entire show in Mountain View, California, its headquarters. As mentioned before, this year's Google I/O Developer Conference was a personal show by the new Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Google's two co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin modestly did not appear on the stage.

Pichai's opening remarks said that 1 million Chinese people were watching the keynote speech live online, and the sun was shining brightly. Thinking about the exciting or boring products or platforms released by Google last night, most of the 1.3 billion Chinese people cannot experience them, I have to feel a little sad. But why not hold on to the nostalgia for Google and the fluke mentality that if Google suddenly returns to the Chinese market one day, watch what products Google released.

Google Assistant

The first product Pichai mentioned was Google Assistant, which can talk to you, connect with context, and even help you make decisions. It should be an advanced version of Google Now, which emphasizes natural semantics and conversational search, trying to play an increasingly important role in your life. Google hopes that it will not only be a voice assistant in Android phones, but also connect to smart watches, smart cars, computers, living rooms, etc.

As the following links proceed, you will understand why Google released the Google Assistant right away. It runs through the whole process and makes your life smarter and simpler. And the next product released is simply...

Google Home speaker

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A very cute product, Google Home is a speaker, or more precisely, a physical version of the Google Assistant voice assistant. It has a compact design and can be held in one hand. It has a built-in Wi-Fi speaker. At first, I thought it was a so-called smart lamp designed by some domestic manufacturers.

In the video demonstration, when you put it in the living room, the whole family can have a two-way voice conversation with it. There is a four-color LED light on its tilted top. It is like the central nervous system of a home device and can control other audio devices in the home to play music. You only need to read out the singer or song title. You can also control video playback through it. It can also be connected to alarm clocks, bedside lamps, thermostats, light bulb switches and other home devices. Google said that it hopes it will be able to connect to devices outside the home in the future.

Google Home has a built-in search function that can answer very difficult questions. Coming later this year.

Allo: A text messaging app with AI

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Allo is an AI messaging app, also based on the powerful Google Assistant. It can learn and understand users based on their usual input history, and predict your next possible conversation without you even having to reply. It is designed to save you typing, and it also supports zooming in and out of emoticons, and can also add animation effects to photos. The more frequently you use it, the stronger its machine learning ability will be, and the more the conversation will fit your lifestyle.

Allo can intelligently identify the content of pictures and give suggestions for replies. For example, if you send it a photo of pasta, it will proactively list some Italian restaurants for you and even book a seat for you. It provides end-to-end encryption to ensure the security of information. Once a user deletes a chat history, it cannot be restored.

It looks magical, right? This magical chat app will be officially available to us this summer. The good news is that it supports both Android and iOS platforms.

Duo: Video calling app

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It looks a bit like Apple's Facetime. A Google employee called his daughter during the demonstration. Before his daughter answered the call, the real-time images of the two daughters at home were displayed on the phone screen. The other party can also see your call and decide whether to answer or hang up. This magical and strange function has made some reporters claim to be scared because it can see your status in advance without your consent. What about those who deliberately don't answer the phone?

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Duo, like Allo, will be available on iOS and Android this summer. I think I'm going to be very resistant to this feature, don't ask me why. Here comes the point.

VR Platform: Daydream

Unlike previous reports, Google did not launch a standalone VR device at I/O. It only provided a VR headset reference design and a simple and compact controller that can sense your hand movements.

Google still continues its tradition of building platforms. It launched the Daydream platform, hoping that you can do some imaginative "daydreams" on this platform, but it is not interested in doing it itself.

Google believes that a truly good VR experience needs to meet three points: mobile, accessible, and available to everyone, namely smartphones, head-mounted devices, and apps.

Currently, the platform has partnered with media including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and USA Today to bring a new immersive reading experience, and even as reported, it allows you to put on a VR headset and be in a Middle Eastern war zone or a charming island. Google said that it will also connect to Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Major League Baseball in the future.

Google also announced that Samsung, HTC, ASUS, Huawei, LG, Xiaomi, ZTE and other manufacturers will support the Daydream platform, which will be available to consumers as early as this fall.

Whether Daydream will promote the establishment of a unified industry standard for VR remains to be seen, but judging from Google's ability to integrate various technologies, this is an opportunity for VR to explode, which is better than the current VR manufacturers talking on their own. For Chinese consumers, when it will enter China or when the Chinese version will be launched is crucial. Currently, Android Wear has entered the domestic market in the form of a vest with the efforts of several parties.

Android Wear 2.0: Finally, it can run independently

The Android Wear smartwatch operating system was launched two years ago. Today, it finally ushered in the Android Wear 2.0 version, which is the "biggest update yet". Its biggest revision is that even if your mobile phone is turned off or you forget to bring your mobile phone, you can still use the Android Wear smartwatch to play music and automatically identify your exercise status, etc., because Google has synced the mobile phone App to the cloud.

The Android Wear 2.0 preview is available for download starting today.

The introduction of Android Wear is probably the shortest part, and it is clear that Google is not that serious about Android Wear. After all, artificial intelligence is what it values ​​most.

Android Studio 2.2: Focus on speed, intelligence, and platforms

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A beautiful Google employee said that Android Studio 2.2 is more focused on speed, intelligence and platform. It is 10 times faster and the simulator is 3 times faster. In terms of intelligence, it has an APK analyzer (very useful for many people) and a new layout of the observer to reduce more errors. In terms of platform, it supports more, including C++, Java 8, etc.

Overall, Google hopes that Android Studio 2.2 will help developers "do more in less time."

This year's Android N mobile operating system was only briefly mentioned by Google. It has no name yet and is calling for names online. You may as well log in to www.android.com/n and give it a very Chinese name. The media previously predicted that holding the I/O conference at Google headquarters might be to better showcase Google's driverless cars, but Google did not talk about this topic.

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Although Google's self-driving car was not mentioned at the conference, it was secretly promoted outside the venue.

Throughout the two-hour opening speech, what impressed me most was still the Google Home speaker. Paired with the Google Assistant, it allows people who cannot take care of themselves to live proudly.