Google I/O 2018: CEO Sundar Pichai confirms May 8 kick-off date

Google has announced the dates for its annual I/O developers conference. The event kick starts on May 8, and will run until May 10 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. As is the tradition with Google, the dates of the conference were also revealed through an online puzzle, which has been finally decoded.

This week, Google Developers Twitter account teased the event through a tweet with binary codes. The binary codes, when converted to text lead to the website google.com/io where a series of puzzles need to be solved to reveal the dates of the event.

One of the riddles includes a pineapple cake in a room (perhaps that’s what the next Android version, Android P, will be called!). However, what we decipher from Google’s cues, especially for the Android names, is never what it is labeled eventually.

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As for Google I/O 2018, it is expected that the focus will continue to be on Google Assistant, Google Photos, Daydream standalone headsets, and of course the successor to Android Oreo. Google CEO Sundar Pichai later tweeted confirming the dates for I/O 2018, with a side note asking the team to make the puzzles harder the next time.

In addition to details about Android P beta, it is expected that Pichai will announce new additions to the Android Wear 3.0 at the conference. In all likelihood, we might also hear a word or two about software improvements to the Google Home smart speaker range.

Google, Oreo partner to build space dunk game

Traditionally, Google names its Android versions after sweet treats; from Gingerbread, Jelly Bean, KitKat to Marshmallow and Nougat. The company is preparing to soon roll out its next Android version 8 and by the alphabetical order, it will be called ‘Android O’. This week, one of the senior Google executives Hiroshi Lockheimer shared a tweet of an Oreo cake, suggesting the next Android OS could be named after the popular Oreo biscuits. Today, we have a web game which has been developed by Oreo in partnership with Google, further hinting that the next version will indeed be called ‘Android 8.0 Oreo.’

The Oreo Space Dunk game uses Google Maps and asks users to scan their Oreo cookie. Once you do that, it throws the cookies in the virtual space based on your dunking power and you can watch your virtual cookie reaching all the way to space and getting dunking back on Earth in a glass of milk at varied places across the globe. To play the game, open your mobile web browser and go to oreospacedunk.com and simply follow the steps to scan and launch the cookie. Although the game asks you to scan a real cookie, we tried scanning an image of an Oreo cookie and the game worked absolutely fine. You will also be asked to share your location for the cookie launch site. Once you dunk it on Earth, you can share the distance your cookie travelled on Facebook and Twitter.

In the past, Google has teased its upcoming Android versions in similar fashion. Prior to the launch of Android N, Lockheimer had dropped hints suggesting it could be called Nutella. CEO Sundar Pichai also launched an online voting poll to ask users to help decide onto a name. While many assumed Pichai would go for an Indian sweet name, given his roots in the country, the final name was ‘Nougat’.

What is particularly interesting this time with the game is that the collaboration between Google and Oreo appears more like an official confirmation. According to Android Headlines, building the game also involves Google’s in-house advertising and marketing outfit – The Zoo. Now this might be indicative of something big on lines with the next Android version or could simply be a trick to let fans guessing for more. 

Name of the next iteration of Android is expected to be announced sometime before the Google I/O 2017 which is scheduled to take place from May 17 – May 19. At the California event, Google is likely to demonstrate the new operating system alongside the next version of Android Wear, and it could possibly showcase the next-gen Pixel hardware.

Google I/O 2017 will be held at Shoreline Amphitheatre May 17-19

Google hasn’t made this news official yet, but Google’s Developers have been having fun teasing us today with a save-the-date disguised as a puzzle.

Google Developer Tweet :- Around the world, from here to there, to the most clever minds, the secret will share. 

There’s no way I would have figured out this puzzle, but others already have, and the resulting outcome is that Google will hold its I/O developers’ conference on May 17 – May 19 this year in the same place it was held last year: The Shoreline Amphitheater.

Like last year, this year’s Google I/O will be held in the great outdoors. It’s still pretty early to know what will be announced at this year’s conference aside from the usual announcement of the next version of Android. As well, just like every year, information tends to leak closer to their announcement dates.

Google I/O 2017 official website here.

Google I/O 2016 set for 18-20 May in Mountain View

CES 2016 has just got over and here we are greated with another good news. The famous Google I/O 2016 will take place in May 18-20.

Thanks to Google CEO Sundar Pichai who posted in Google Plus " Exciting news: we're only 18 weeks away from Google I/O ! 2016 is going to be a special year for us - we held our first developer day 10 years ago at GooglePlex. To celebrate our 10th anniversary of developer gatherings, we'll be hosting I/O in our backyard at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA from 18-20th. We'll have 3 full days together to dive deep into developer content, code labs, and more".

 We Hopes for Google I/O 2016 

• Android N
• Android Wear
• Android Auto 
• Project Ara
• Self-driving Cars
• Google Chrome 
• Smart Home
• Virtual Reality (VR)
• Project Fi