Google I/O 2013, Google’s annual developer conference, starts today at 12 p.m. EST/9 a.m. PST. We’re expecting a lot of new additions, including Android 4.3, an updated Google Maps, some software updates, and potentially some new hardware devices. We’ll be posting about the day’s activities on this liveblog, starting at noon EST.
3:34 pm EST — 3 hours and 40 minutes later, we’re done. Stay tuned for more news.
2:56 pm EST — WHAT LARRY PAGE Q&A SESSION!?!?!
2:53 pm EST — Woah. Page is giving a great speech on the future of innovation.
2:45 pm EST — Larry Page, Google CEO, is on stage.
2:43 pm EST — Real time cloud and Google Earth and Google Maps have kinda-sorta merged. You can see stars too.
2:37 pm EST — Fantastic demo on Google Maps highlighting the changes to Google’s flagship product.
2:32 pm EST — Three new features: Built For You, Immersive Imagery, The Maps is the UI.
2:32 pm EST — “The New Google Maps”
2:31 pm EST — Google Maps for Mobile (Android and iOS) this upcoming summer.
2:27 pm EST — Google Maps now works with Zagat and Google Offers.
2:23 pm EST — “And let’s not forget accurate,” Google VP talking about Google Maps for iOS.
2:22 pm EST — Now Google Maps for Mobile.
2:21 pm EST — Here are some pictures from the event:
2:20 pm EST — Google is literally embarrassing Apple Maps right now.
2:19 pm EST — Talking about the past year’s changes to Google Maps. Nothing really important yet, besides adding North Korea.
2:16 pm EST — Now Google Maps.
2:14 pm EST — I couldn’t even type. Did Google just surpass Apple?
2:08 pm EST — Google Chrome demo. I’m literally in awe.
2:04 pm EST — New Google Now cards too. Reminders, Music, TV, Books, Video Games, and Public Transit. If you don’t have Google Now, you need it ASAP.
2:02 pm EST — Conversational search, “You can ask Google like you would ask a friend.” Now on Google Chrome for Desktop. Hotwording as well — You don’t have to even click a button, just speak to the computer.
2:01 pm EST — “Can search Google for “my upcoming flight” and “restaurant reservation” and get personal results. Really smart.” From The Verge.
2:00 pm EST — Adding Polish, Turkish, Simplified and Traditional Chinese for Google Knowledge.
1:58 pm EST — Google Answers first. Will be able to answer a lot of questions and predict potential questions.
1:57 pm EST — Um there’s a screen that just says “the end of search as we know it.” Don’t make me use Bing. Please.
1:56 pm EST — “We put the Google into Google+” Great presentation. Tons of Google+ changes.
1:55 pm EST — This is basically a better Instagram.
1:45 pm EST — Google announces Auto Enhance, which will remember the edits you make and do them for you with one click.
1:44 pm EST — Google allows you to store up to 15GB for free.
1:42 pm EST — Group video chatting for free…so…FaceTime?
1:41 pm EST — Google Hangouts should be available today.
1:37 pm EST — Now Hangouts. Assuming its the universal messaging service. Just admitted that Google products are fragmented. Wow.
1:35 pm EST — Wow. Automatically switch through photos without changing the page.
1:34 pm EST — Related Hashtag: Google analysts posts and automatically tags posts.
1:33 pm EST — New Google+ is very customizable (one column, two column, etc.) and reminds me of Pinterest.
1:31 pm EST — 41 new Google+ features. New main stream, new Hangouts, and more.
1:24 pm EST — Google Play for Education announced. Allows you to download apps for the classroom.
1:20 pm EST — Now on to education.
1:19 pm EST — Now we’re talking about the Chromebook Pixel. EVERYONE THERE IS GETTING A PIXEL.
1:13 pm EST — Short video of the changes announced so far.
1:11 pm EST — Sync up your payments with Chrome now. Makes buying stuff online very easy.
1:06 pm EST — Upson discussing the technicals details behind Chrome.
1:04 pm EST — Three features: Speed, Simplicity, Security.
1:03 pm EST — Linus Upson coming out to talk about new Chrome features.
1:01 pm EST — Showing demos of Chrome on tablets and Chromebooks.
12:57 pm EST — Last year, 450+ million monthly Chrome users. Now? 750+ million active Chrome users.
12:55 pm EST — Easy to update, on sale June 25 for $649. Pinchai back to talk Chrome.
12:52 pm EST — Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition announced. “”What you’re seeing here is real: this is a Samsung Galaxy S4 with the same software experience we ship on our Nexus devices. It’s Google’s take on Android and it feels awesome on the S4.”
12:51 pm EST — All Access is $9.99/month in the US and a 30 day free trial. Launches today. If you start by June 30th, you pay $7.99/month. Hugo’s back and recapping the announcements.
12:47 pm EST — Seems like an average music player, but fancier because it’s by Google. UI is better than the iOS Music app though. Get rid of songs by swiping.
12:46 pm EST — Google announces Play Music All Access; subscription music services.
12:45 pm EST — Google now talking about music.
12:42 pm EST — New Google Play user interface changes now emphasize recommendations.
12:40 pm EST — Here’s are all the new features Ellie introduced.
12:40 pm EST — Alpha testing, beta testing, and final version. Feedback is sent to Google and is not public.
12:39 pm EST — Now there’s beta testing and staged rollouts. Yay!
12:35 pm EST — Ellie Powers introduced a slew of developer features, including App Translator — a feature that translates your apps.
12:32 pm EST — Teleprompter down.
12:28 pm EST — New developer tool: Android Studios. Powered by the community ediiton of IntelliJ. New development environment for Android developers.
12:27 pm EST — First failed demo of Google I/O. Attempt to play some sort of a skiing game. Blamed the “networking environment.”
12:24 pm EST — Next API is comprehensive multiplayer service for matching and playing. Integrates with Google+.
12:22 pm EST — Google Play Games Services: First API is Cloud Save, which allows you to save player progression and game state. Achievements and Leaderboards: Intergrate with G+ circles.
12:21 pm EST — “Let’s talk about gaming.”
12:20 pm EST — Google Cloud Messaging: Now on 60% of the top 100 apps use GCM. Now supports connections from services, upstream messaging (sending data from app to servers), and GCM can now sync notifications too.
12:19 pm EST — Google+ sign-on: Cross platform single sign-on with Google+. Similar to Twitter and Facebook.
12:16 pm EST — From The Verge:
First is Fused Location Provider: uses all the sensors to find location with a new low-power location mode that uses less than one percent of battery per hour. Second is geofencing, lets you define virtual boundaries. “This has been a big ask from you guys.” Third is activity recognition. Helps you track activities, uses the accelerometer to determine when user is walking, driving, biking, etc.
12:13 pm EST — Google now offering three new locations API’s for third-party developers.
12:12 pm EST — VP Hugo Barra is now on the stage.
12:11 pm EST — 900 million activations on the Android ecosystem.
12:10 pm EST — An Android video presentation talking about what’s been going on with the mobile OS for the past year.
12:09 pm EST — “Let’s talk about Android.” Pinchai is dynamic on the stage.
12:08 pm EST — Pinchai now talking about Android and Chrome mobile and desktop OS.
12:05 pm EST — Pinchai talking about the history of computing.
12:04 pm EST — Sundar Pichai on stage now — the new head of Chrome, Android, and apps.
12:03 pm EST — VP Vic Gundotra is on stage. “Welcome to the sixth annual Google I/O conference.”
12:01 pm EST — Very upbeat video presentation on Google’s products and services.
12:00 pm EST — We should be getting started shortly.
11:52 am EST— About 10 minutes away from the start of Google I/O. Fun fact: Anthony De Rosa is reporting that Google’s stock (NASDAQ:GOOG) just topped $900.
11:35 am EST— Rumors indicate Google will unveil a “Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition” at Google I/O. It’ll have a stock Android operating system, sans the S4-specific features.
