Google
I/O 2015 exploded onto the Technology scene over a two (2) days span from
Thursday May 28th 2015 and Friday May 29th 2015 as stated
in the article “Google
IO 2015: news, rumors and predictions”, published March 23 2015, By
Michelle Fitzsimmons Techradar.
The
Technology showcase by the Mountain View, California based Company highlighted
new products that they're launching in June 2015 and their planned products for
the rest of the year as noted in the article “Google
I/O 2015 recap: Android M, Android Pay, free photo storage and new VR plans”,
published May 28, 2015 by Lori Grunin, CNET News.
This mainly includes:
1. Android
M, the latest iteration of their Mobile OS
2. Android
Wear updates for their wearables market
3. Google
Pay and their expansion into Mobile Wallets
4. Cardboard
VR fold-to-use push into Virtual Reality using smartphones
5. Google
Photo, their Unlimited Free Cloud for pictures and Video for all Platforms
The
first three (3) are no surprise as I'd basically predicted them in my Geezam blog article entitled “Google
IO 2015 - Google Android VR coming as Android Wear turns it up a Notch”.
However,
the last two (2) are new kids on the block. Google is making a slow and steady
push into Virtual Reality but with an emphasis on affordability and access to
all, no matter your budget or the type of Smartphone you have.
Their
Cardboard VR, which toymaker Mattel is now using to re-launch the View-Master,
is also a part of Google's ambitions to push into Virtual Reality and Augmented
Reality, possibly by making a version of Android for VR Headsets as predicted
in my blog
article entitled “@google
to develope Google @Android for VR - Why a VR and AR War is looming on the
Horizon in 2016”.
Google
Photo is also a bit of a surprise. Not
only does this app, which is a currently in the Google Play Store and the Apple
iTunes Store work on Google Android smartphones and Apple
iPhone,
but it is also a challenger to other photo storage apps because of its
unlimited storage of photos and video footage.
This
beats out Apple Photo App, Yahoo Flickr App and even Dropbox's Loom App as
described in my Geezam blog article
entitled “Dropbox
acquires iOS App Loom as it steamrolls towards the launch of its IPO”.
Google ATAP Projects -
IoT Clothing, Secure microSD Cards
Google's advanced Projects from Google's ATAP
(Advanced Technology and Projects) Team is pushing the boundaries of what is
possible with hardware and software were also on show as reported in the
article “Here's What Was Significant At
Google I/O 2015”, published 6/02/2015 by Quora, Forbes:
1. Project
Soli - Improved gestures tracking Processor on a Chip
2. Project
Jacquard - Clothing meets IoT, marking trend in connected wearables
3. Project
Vault - Secure play area on a micro-SD Cards using self-encrypting algorithms
4. Project
Brillo - Google's IoT version of Android using Nest for home automation
Truly,
the machines are basically set to take over, especially as we now are so
dependent on our Fitness Trackers to keep us fit and healthy as pointed out in my
blog article
entitled “IDC
Stats for Wearables in the First Quarter of 2015 - US$13 Mi Band Fitness
Monitor Xiaomi No. 2 as Apple Watch to dominate Smartwatch segment by Q4 2015”.
Google I/O Statistics -
A year of Growing Strong for All of Android's Children
But
for me personally, being more of an Apple fan than a Google Fan, it was the
statistics that came out of Google I/O that caught my eye as reported in the
article “Google
I/O by the
numbers:
1B Android users, 900M on Gmail”, published 28 May
2015 by Max Taves and Richard Nieva, CNET News.
1. 2
million people stream from Google Android products on six (6) continents
2. 1
billion Android users worldwide
3. 8
out of 10 or 80% of all phones are Google Android smartphones
These
figures might be in part due to the success of the Google Play store, their
answer to the Apple iTunes Store. Gmail, their April's Fool joke from 2014, is
no joke, as it's trippin’ the light fantastic, coming in fourth place the
following services:
1. Google
Search
2. YouTube
3. Google
Maps
4. Google
Play
Google
Play is also getting huge support, which is not a surprise as Apps are the main
reason why people like smartphones:
1. 1
billion active users of Google Play
2. 50
billion applications installed from the Google Play Store
3. 900
million people worldwide use Gmail
Android
Wear, Google's smartwatch OS, is slowly getting some love from OEM and
Developers along with Android Pay:
1. 7
OEM (Original Equiptment Manufacturers) of smartwatches running Android Wear
2. 4000
Android Wear Apps
3. 700,000
Stores in the US of A will work with Android Pay
Finally,
some of Google most recent products launched in 2014 are slowly gaining
traction. They set the stage for Google's push into possibly manufacturing
All-Electric Vehicles as well as
Virtual
Reality and Augmented reality Gaming as noted in my blog article
entitled “Rivalry
between @Facebook and @HTC – @Google, @Microsoft, @Sony and @Samsung in VR as
Video Game Console Savior and smartphones Extinction”.
1. 35
Partners for Android Auto, basically an Operating System for your Car
2. 1
million people worldwide use Google Cardboard VR to experience Virtual Reality
Most
of these figures, quoted for a twelve (12) month period by various speakers
during Google I/O 2015, are not surprising. I just hope that the new Guinea-Pig
Projects and other experimental products bear fruit during the following months
instead of being re-announced at Google I/O 2016!
No comments:
Post a Comment