Google has already had an eventful year, rebranding its AI chatbot from Bard to Gemini and releasing several new AI models. At this year’s Google I/O, expect the company to make even more announcements about AI, its various apps and services, and possibly new hardware for 2024.
When is Google I/O?
Google’s annual developer conference is fast approaching and will take place on May 14th and 15th at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. The opening day keynote, when Google leaders take the stage to unveil the company’s latest hardware and software, will begin at 10am PT / 1pm ET.
How to watch Google I/O
Google will stream the event live on its main website and YouTube for members of the public and press. You can register for the event for free on the Google I/O landing page to take advantage of benefits such as receiving email updates and viewing sessions on demand. There will also be an in-person element to I/O, as there has been for the past two years, with media and developers invited to attend. ZDNET will be among the crowd in Mountain View.
What to expect at Google I/O?
Earlier this month, Google shared its I/O schedule online, which includes a full agenda of keynotes, technical sessions, and workshops planned for the event, giving us a good look at the major announcements to expect.
As expected from the announcements already made this year, the main focal point of the event will be artificial intelligence.
In addition to the technology having its own “What’s new in Google AI” keynote, we’re seeing generative AI sprinkled throughout other keynotes, including a mention under the “What’s new in Android” keynote and another titled “What’s what’s new in Firebase for building gene AI features.”
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There are also over 10 confirmed developer “Tech Sessions” related to generative AI, focused on topics including Gemma’s latest advances and learning how to use multimodal generation with advanced extraction with Gemini.
For reference, at last year’s I/O, AI was also the jewel in the crown, with big announcements like two new major language models (PaLM 2 and Bard-now-Gemini), new AI features in Android 14, chatbot improvements, and more.
Android news at Google I/O
Likewise, this year you can expect to learn more about the new features in Android 15, which will likely include a myriad of new AI capabilities, updates to Gemini, and perhaps even a major new language model.
A tech session titled “Building the Future of Wear OS” confirms that Google will introduce Wear OS 5 after the launch of Wear OS 4 in July 2023. With the new smartwatch software, we may also get more details on the upcoming Pixel iteration Watch 3.
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The event schedule also points to new software upgrades in Android 15, the Android in-car experience, Chrome OS, and Android developer tools.
What we probably won’t see at Google I/O is hardware news, with the company revealing the Pixel 8a ahead of schedule this year. As for the successors to the Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet, both of which were announced at I/O last year, recent rumors suggest the company will hold both devices for summer or fall releases.
After all, Google I/O is known for surprises, which means you can always expect something no one’s talking about — at least not yet. Perhaps the company is teasing more hardware products. Perhaps it will herald big changes in the way we “Google” things. ZDNET will be covering the event live, so stay tuned for the latest updates.
