The coronavirus pandemic forced Google to cancel its I/O developer conference last year, but the firm is planning to make some “major announcements” this year.
Google I/O 2021 is open to the public this year, and the Mountain View company revealed the dates earlier this month. Google I/O 2021 is a completely interactive affair, and we’ll look at the planned announcements in this post.
Google I/O 2021 is scheduled to take place from May 18 to May 20. You should register for the event on Google’s dedicated event page right now.
During the festival, you can attend seminars, AMA sessions, live Q&A during sessions, get developer profile badges, and more after registering. Aside from that, main consumer-centric product launches are likely to be made at the launch.
You will watch the Google I/O 2021 keynote on Google’s official YouTube site, as well. As of this writing, the event connection is unavailable; however, we will update this article with the event link as soon as it becomes accessible. You should also keep an eye on the I/O website for specific activities.
What To Expect From Google I/O 2021 Event
Let’s get to the exciting hardware and applications that will be unveiled at the event now that we’ve covered the basics:
One of the major highlights of the case will be Android 12. Although the finalized build of Android 12 will not be released to Pixel phones until after the incident, the first Android 12 beta update is expected. Meanwhile, our linked post will keep you up to date on the best Android 12 functionality.
Google has already posted three developer previews, in case you weren’t aware. There will be four beta launches in the coming months of May, June, July, and August. In August, Android 12 will achieve platform maturity, and the stable release of Android 12 is expected in September.
Along with Pixel phones, OEM partners can release Android 12 beta builds for unique devices, similar to last year. This will be the Pixel 3 and 3 XL’s last big Android redesign. The Pixel devices that will receive Android 12 are as follows:
- Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL
- Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL
- Google Pixel 4
- Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a (5G)
- Google Pixel 5
Announcement Of Google Pixel 5A
Let’s talk about the Pixel 5a now. Following speculation that the Pixel 5a will be canceled, Google has confirmed that the Pixel 5a would be released later this year. Furthermore, the company stated that the device’s introduction would be similar to that of the Pixel 4a from last year. In case you forgot, the Pixel 4a was released in August of last year.
This is when things start to get interesting. In a perfect future, Google will have unveiled the Pixel 4a at I/O 2020, similar to how the Pixel 3a sequence was released at I/O 2019.
However, due to the cancellation of I/O 2020, the announcement was postponed until August. According to these, the Pixel 5a may be announced at Google I/O 2021, with a market release date of August or even June.
The Pixel 5a 5G is expected to come with a 6.2-inch Full-HD+ OLED display and the Snapdragon 765 SoC used in the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5.
With that said, affordability is one place where there’s little or no need to get enthusiastic. The Pixel 5a 5G will only be available in the United States and Japan, according to a Google spokesperson.
Announcement Of Pixel Buds A Series
The Pixel Buds A are Google’s new fully wireless earbuds, which are scheduled to debut at the event. It was rumored to debut in April, with Google I/O 2021 as the next best timeframe. A new marketing email in which Google mistakenly leaked the Pixel Buds A template is another proof of its existence. Spoiler alert: They look very similar to Pixel Buds 2, but with a green tint.
We don’t know much about the Pixel Buds A in terms of features. It could be a cheaper version of the Pixel Buds, based on the ‘A’ in the branding. Furthermore, according to a recent 9to5Google article, the Pixel Buds A may miss gesture inputs for volume control. As a result, don’t hold your breath for the latest Pixel Buds A.
The real heir to Pixel Buds 2 will have to wait a bit while.
Google’s Own SoC – WhiteChapel Chipset’s Announcement
Last year, rumors about Google’s in-house SoC codenamed Whitechapel began to circulate. After a year of silence, a story from 9to5Google earlier this month outlined Google’s intentions to use its own chipset, beginning with the Pixel 6 5G.
For the much-anticipated Whitechapel chipset, Google seems to have partnered up with Samsung Semiconductor’s device large-scale integration (SLSI) division.
In terms of technical details, it will be an octa-core chipset built on Samsung’s 5nm technology, according to recent sources. Two ARM Cortex-A78 cores, two Cortex-A76 cores, and four Cortex-A55 cores may be used.
Although the Pixel 6 is unlikely to be announced at I/O 2021, the Whitechapel chipset is expected to be announced so that developers know what to expect and how to plan when it is finished.
Announcement Of New Improvement Done On Wear OS & Introduce New Nest Hardware
We should expect Google to launch updates to Wear OS and Fitbit OS at I/O 2021 now that it owns Fitbit. According to the I/O calendar, Google could cut the ‘OS’ and just call it Google Wear.
Another possibility is that new Nest hardware devices will be announced. The alleged Pixel Watch is another option, but even the leaks point to an October release date.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet, told investors on the company’s Q1 2021 earnings call to expect “major product changes and announcements.” As a result, there will be plenty of opportunities for product launches at the launch.
Announcement Of New Improvements Made To Google Assistant & Stadia
At I/O, Google typically introduces significant advancements in its speech recognition technologies, such as Duplex, the next-generation Google Assistant. Google I/O 2021 would be the ideal opportunity for the organization to showcase the progress it has made with Assistant over the course of the year.
However, the firm has also released a few Assistant changes, such as improved pronunciation quality and natural conversations using BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers). We may even get a taste of what Google’s cloud gaming activities, Stadia, have in store.
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