Google I/O first started off with the introduction of Android Jelly Bean 4.1. Google made Jelly Bean much smoother by making the entire OS run at 60 FPS (feet per second). Google made it smoother with what they called, "Project Butter". They also introduced triple buffering, for graphics, which allows the CPU and the GPU to run alongside to allow them to not wait for each other. Project Butter also has improved touch responsiveness and the OS anticipates where your finger will touch. In Jelly Bean, they also introduced a much easier way to manage your home screens. When you put a widget on the screen in Jelly Bean, all the other icons will align around it. No more having to move the icons over and over to make it look neat! If the widget is too big for the home screen, it will automatically re-size itself. Now you can swipe widgets and icons off the screen to delete them quickly instead of dragging them. The keyboard has also been improved by being fully predictive. There's also voice typing that works offline now. US English is going to be the first language supported, but other languages are coming "pretty soon". There are new languages now supported in the OS like Persian, Hindi, and Thai. Braille support, audio cues, and special gestures are some of the new accessibility features in Jelly Bean. The camera app has also been revamped in Jelly Bean. When you take a picture, the captured photo goes to the side and you can bring it back up with a quick swipe. When you pinch in the camera app, you get a film strip view of all your recently captured pictures. With another quick swipe, you can delete all of your unwanted pictures. There is also now an undo button for those uncontrollable fingers you might have. Google has also added more things you can do with NFC like the abilities to send photos after pairing with the device and the ability to pair with NFC enabled speakers. Notifications have also been improved. The notifications now allow you to do an action for the notification without going to the app for it. For example, if you miss a call, you can swipe down, tap the notification, and call the person from the app you were already in. There have been improvements made to search also by making search a more Siri like experience by having you ask a question, and having a nice, clear voice say the answer to you. They also introduced a new program called Google Now. It uses your search and navigation history to what you need to know and when you need it. If you are at a train station or bus station, Google Now can tell you when the next train or bus will come. Google Now can also tell you about restaurants as you pass by them while walking. It can also tell you when to leave for your next appointment on your calendar by looking at your calendar, calculating the best route, and by calculating how long it will take you to get there. It also works with flights too, by updating on arrival times, the terminals, and the delays. Google Now also helps you when you are traveling abroad. It will give you currency conversions and language conversions. Android Jelly Bean 4.1 will be available on the Samsung Nexus S, Motorola Xoom, and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on an over-the-air (OTA) update in mid July. There have also been some additional items added to the Google Play Store. You can now purchase movies, T.V. episodes, and T.V. seasons. Magazines will also come to the Play Store, and you can get 14 day free trials on Magazine subscriptions. All this content is available for you to view on your devices through your Google account. Google did not only talk about software, but they also unveiled new Nexus hardware.
After the Google+ demos, Google demoed their new technology, Glass. As you may have seen by the rumors, Glass is these glasses that can record video, take pictures, and give you information without distracting you. They demoed this product by having some skydivers wear the glasses and show what was happening through a Google+ hangout. The divers first jumped out of the blimp, landed on the Moscone, did bike tricks on the roof, repelled of the roof on the side of the building, and then rode bikes through the building onto the keynote stage. Many people on Twitter and other social networks (including us) thought that this was a great and exciting way to demo Glass. The video from the Glass was not very high quality, but it was cool that it came from the glasses. The Glass has a camera, processor, "a lot of memory to store information", a touchpad on the side for input, microphones, and a speaker. It also has a gyroscope, accelerometer, a compass, and multiple radios for wireless communication. The Glass comes in a couple of colors, white, turquoise, and black. The display on Glass is slightly above your eye, so it does not distract you from what is really happening. Glass was made physically and visually light so it is comfortable and does not distract people from your face. The touchpad and display part snaps off and attaches easily to other glasses like prescription glasses and sunglasses. With Glass, you can get information fast and have it not distract you from what you are doing. For example, while you are riding a bike you can see how fast you are going and where you are going or you can ask it a question and it will pop up almost instantaneously. Glass will not come out to the consumers until 2014, but U.S. I/O attendees were able to buy a pair for $1,500. Google also gave all I/O attendees a Samsung Galaxy Nexus that got the Android Jelly Bean 4.1 update, a Nexus 7, and a Nexus Q. Only the Galaxy Nexuses handed out at I/O got the Jelly Bean update before July.
That is the wrap up of the first day of Google's 2012 I/O. Want more information on Google's latest developers conference? Then check out the source links below.
Source: Engadget
Pictures from Google I/O on Google+ and the Google Play store website
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