Liveblog: Google I/O 2017 Keynote Address

It is hard to overstate the anticipation of what Google has in store for the world as it kicks off its developer conference today. There have been so many changes in just the past year or two, it is difficult to know where to begin. There was a lot of excitement over several projects Google was shepherding, but many of those cupboards are now bare.

ATAP?

Two years ago, we were introduced to Project Jacquard, which developed conductive textiles that could be stitched into clothing thus allowing the creation of connected, and stylish apparel. Last year, we saw Levi Strauss introduce the first product to use this technology. Called the Commuter Trucker Jacket, it was slated for release this spring (since pushed back to “this fall”), and will cost at least $350.

An accompanying development, called Project Soli, a near-field radar that would allow interface manipulation on a granular level using hands and fingers. It was introduced two years ago, demoed again last year, and has been well off the radar since.

And who can forget Project Ara? Project Abacus? Project Vault?

All of these were developed under Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP). The team’s website has not been touched since before Ara was killed. The schedule makes no mention of ATAP, so we are just sort of wondering if there is anything left of that team.

To their credit, Project Tango is now a thing, and is in the market.

Android O

It is a reasonable certainty that we get an official rundown about all Android O has to offer, including a commitment to a second developer preview deployment. With that, we should see several more features revealed during the Keynote, and given our mobile geekiness, that is what we are really excited about.

The other Androids, AR/VR, Chrome, Andromeda, et al

The rest is all up for speculation. The other Android platforms do not have the same development timeline as the mobile OS, but it is not unrealistic to see some new features noted for Android Wear, Android Auto, or Android TV. We sure would not mind seeing something that made Allo more relevant (like SMS compatibility), but we are not holding our breath.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality will certainly be in the picture. Computing beyond the mobile space will also be something worth keeping an eye out for, but again, the rumors driving this (Android on PCs, Andromeda, whatever it could be called) have been just about 100% wrong. However, it does make sense given the anticipated expansion of Google Assistant capabilities.

An exciting Keynote

Last year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai talked about the expected migration from “mobile first” to an “AI-first” world. We fully expect to see significant advances in Google’s machine learning initiatives as the unstoppable force behind everything else that comes to bear at this year's Google I/O.

All will be revealed at the Google I/O 2017 Keynote address! We will be liveblogging it here, so keep your browser open for us and we will share the news as it is announced! The Keynote is scheduled to begin at 10:00AM PT | 12:00 Noon CT | 1:00PM ET | 6:00PM GMT!