Google I/O 2019 Keynote: Google Pixel 3a and Android Q Revealed
Google I/O 2019 developer conference this year will take place from 7 May to 9 May in the United States.
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Google’s annual developer conference Google I/O on 7 May saw CEO Sundar Pichai and his team make annual product announcements for developers and consumers.
This is the event where the world is introduced to the new Android flavour every year, and this year it was Android Q (but no dessert name revealed). Google also unveiled its Pixel 3a series of smartphones at the event. Besides that there were other announcements like the Google Nest Hub Max and the company’s innovation with artificial intelligence.
You can watch the keynote live stream below or follow the live blog for the key events as they took place:
Key Announcements from Google I/O 2019 Keynote
- Slew of features on Google Assistant announced for Android phones
- Incognito mode on Maps
- Unsend feature for Gmail
- Next Hub Max speaker with screen
- Live Translate for calls and food menu
- Android Q and its features revealed
- Pixel 3a and 3a XL unveiled for 15 countries
- Google using AI to detect floods in India
- Android Q to get dark theme this year
- Google Maps in AR coming to select countries, but not India
Day 1 Kickstarts with Keynote
Google I/O 2019 keynote will begin shortly and CEO Sundar Pichai will take the stage to make a slew of announcements.
Expect Hardware Launches This Year
Google had teased an invite for 7 May highlighting a ‘Pixel’ could be announced at the I/O 2019. Could it be another Pixel phone, or has Google made a new Pixel laptop or even tablet, running on Android? We’ll know in a short while.
Pichai Tweets!
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has just tweeted from the venue saying ‘It’s almost time’ and right you are, sir. As you can see here, the people have started settling in, and we’re less than half an hour away from the keynote now.
Pichai is Here
Google CEO is on stage, and he’s making sure that the keynote doesn’t last for more than 2 hours, with an all important football match between Liverpool and Barcelona slated to take place later tonight (which he doesn’t want to miss).
Using AR to Help Folks at I/O 2019
Pichai just announced a unique product for people who’re there at the Google I/O 2019 who can use an AR-centric feature to find their way around the venue, and other scheduled events.
Unsend Mails!
If there’s one thing you would have asked to feature on Gmail, it’s “unsend”. And now users don’t need to worry about sending incomplete mails. Just simply click on unsend and your error will be taken back, giving you the chance to redeem yourself.
AR Photos Comes to Search
“Camera in our hands is turning into a powerful search tool. Today the camera plays a more important role in Google Search. For example, when you search for Muscle Flexion, you can view 3D models in the search results. Now you can also place that in your own space using AR,” says Aparna Chennapragada, Vice President, Google Lens and AR.
Use AR For Reading Food Menus
With Google Lens, now you can point the camera at a restaurant menu and it will highlight popular dishes. Tap on the screen and the dish will come alive. It can also also look at the bill and calculate the tips or split the bill automatically.
Translate in Real Time With Camera
Google is letting users make use of the camera to translate text in real time. And not only will this work on regular Android devices, it will be supported on Android Go as well.
The camera icon near the search bar even on entry-level devices can read signs aloud, translate them into different languages and search for additional information. It can do this in real-time.
That’s not all, the feature will work on more than dozen languages, she adds.
Advanced Google Duplex on Web
Google Duplex gets more advanced. For example, if you are looking at rental car bookings as well as movie bookings it can help. It will fill in the details automatically, booking the car, and select the type of car for you.
This required no action on part of the business to implement. This is an early preview of Duplex on the Web.
“All this will be integrated with Google Assistant. It will transform the future of the next generation Assistant,” says Pichai.
Continued Conversation With Google Assistant
Google Assistant can multi-task. It can open and navigate apps continuously. No need to say Ok Google each time. It can orchestrate tasks across apps seamlessly.
Google Assistant can differentiate between email dictation and when it is being asked to complete an action. This feature is coming to the new Pixel phones later this year.
Now Assistant gets smarter. It understands human language better. Like if you ask for “Mom’s House” it can differentiate based on context if you are referring to your mother’s house or to a restaurant.
It can then do related tasks like remind you to pick up chocolates or flowers when visiting "mom's house". It can also update the weather at that location. And traffic.
Android Auto With Assistant for Mobile
Android Auto gets smarter now. It will highlight the things that are most relevant to when you start driving. It is all voice enabled. You don’t need to look at the screen before deciding to pick up a call. Makes sure people aren’t losing their sight of the road up ahead.
Machine Learning Gets Smarter
Google engineers are working on a new model to control biases in machine learning. This is a rather complicated model called TCAV which figures out what’s relevant to a search and what’s not, when there’s machine learning involved.
For example, if you are looking for doctors – and if most happen to be male – it will prevent the algorithm from searching for only male doctors. (Yes, we told you this was complicated), Pichai pointed out.
Incognito Mode for Maps
Just like the regular search, Incognito Mode on Maps will make sure the user’s location history cannot be tracked, mostly for advertising purposes.
Android Phone is Your Security Key
Next time you sign in to a Google account, you can digitally and physically verify your identity by pressing the volume button down. This means your Android phone is the security key critical to your digital life. This feature will be available on phones with Android 7.0 or above.
Data Gathering Without Privacy Violation
Federated Learning allows Google’s products without collecting raw data from you devices. Instead of you sending data to the cloud, we send machine learning models to your phone.
Each phone then sends data to the global model, without intruding on your privacy.
For example, take Gboard, it will learn new words when thousands of people start using new words. It won’t only track just your typing. Privacy and security is the foundation of what Google’s doing going forward.
Captions for Your Videos
Live Transcribe available in 70 languages on your phone. Live Caption is an extension of that. With one click you can turn on captions for a web video or podcasts or even for a live video you are shooting.
Transcribe Phone Calls in Real Time
Google is also exploring how this technology can capture phone calls. It can help those who are hearing or speech impaired. This new technology is called Live Relay. It runs on device and the conversations remain private.
One person speaks normally on the phone, while the other can read and type back replies that will be read out to the person.
It will also help patients with ALS. It will work with voice samples for people with disabilities. Project Euphonia is what it’s called. This is what “building a more helpful Google for everyone” means.
Time for Android Q!
Phew, after all the AI announcements, Google is finally going to share, in fact reveal the new features of Android Q. This flavour is also going to be the first to support phones with foldable screen, like the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X among others.
Android Q will support live captions, even when you are not connected to the internet. Making sure the data doesn’t leave the device. The caption feature is available on all apps. Smart Replies can predict the text you will type and even the emoji. It works on all messaging apps in Android.
Dark Theme comes to Android Q. You can activate it by using the quick tile or turning on battery saver. That’s it for now, the launch date will probably happen once the new Pixel phones are launched later this year.
Security Updates Without Rebooting
One big thing for security: Security patches can be updated without rebooting the device, can be updated in the background.
Focus Mode in Digital Wellbeing
Digital Well-being was launched last year to help you get less addicted to your phone. Now you can choose what apps you want to prevent from distracting you. It’s called Focus Mode and it’s coming to Android P and Q this fall.
Time for Hardware
Google Home going to be part of Nest. All devices come together for a seamless experience. It should also keep privacy top of mind.
Google Home Hub to be called Nest Hub. Nest Hub Max is a competitor to Amazon Echo Show. It can be used as a security camera. It can be used through the phone app. Video calling with Google Duo also part of Google Nest Hub Max.
The camera can be used to face recognise each user, depending on which, you will be given information suited to the particular user.
Pixel is Here
Yes, Google is launching another Pixel phone, this time claimed to be cheaper. And for $399 (Rs 28,000 approx) this looks exactly like the original Pixel.
Pixel 3a gets the same rear camera sensor as the Pixel 3 flagship, which Google believes can match up to the iPhone X. This phone will be available in markets like India from next week onwards, where it has been priced starting from Rs 39,999.
Google AI For Social Cause
Google neural network can help in detecting cancer. It’s machine learning can identify lung cancer from CT scans and can detect the malignant type even better than trained radiologists can. This will be of huge help in the medical community.
Google’s neural network model can predict how flooding will happen and then alert people living downstream about impending floods.
That's it Folks
So, Google has wrapped up the keynote without CEO Sundar Pichai giving his expected closing speech, probably because he’s gone to support Barcelona in the all important football match.
Watch out for more stories covering the major announcements from the Google I/O 2019 keynote.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)