Learnings from Google I/O 2016

We freely admit it. We were anxiously waiting for the Google I/O 2016 announcements, and excited to hear what the internet masters would be coming out with next.

Google I/O is an annual software developer-focused conference held in San Francisco, California, every year since 2008. The conference features sessions on building web, mobile and enterprise applications with Google and open web technologies.

The conference is also known to release new Google products and services, such as Chrome, Android developments and Google Glass. The top announcements and developments this year are:

Google Assistant

Google introduced their virtual assistant to compete with the likes of Siri, Alexa and Cortana named “Google Assistant.” Google Assistant learns and converses with you. Ask questions and help Google Assistant narrow down results like you would with a friend.

Say “Show me restaurants for dinner in the area, I don’t want any Italian food, though” and Google Assistant can narrow down results for you.

Where can you access Google Assistant? Google Home.

Google Home

Google Home is described as “a voice-activated home product that allows you and your family to get answers from Google, stream music, and manage everyday tasks.” The difference between Google Home and Amazon Echo is that the former is built on top of a search engine.

Presenters on stage went on to demo the useful things Google Assistant can do through Google Home, and they’re impressive. It takes conversational-based AI commands to a whole new level.

Google Allo & Duo

Google introduced two new communications apps, the first is Allo a “smart messaging” app. Allo’s basic interface is familiar, but has additional features like “Whisper and Shout” (which plays with capitalization and size for emphasis).

The exciting part of this messaging app is the search capabilities and learning capabilities. Not only can you search for your next dinner spot, it can recommend places you may like (making a Google My Business presence incredibly important for all local businesses). This is just a fraction of the AI capabilities within Allo.

Second is Duo, a one-to-one video app similar to Facetime but you can see your caller before you accept the video call. Like Allo, it has a clean, simple design so the capabilities don’t get lost behind the interface.

---

While these products won’t be officially released until the Fall, you can see what Google is putting their power behind, human conversation. Allo and Duo want to leave misinterpreted texts in the past while Google Home and Google Assistant aim to make computer interactions more human.

What do you think about these releases? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Learnings from Google I/O 2016 appeared first on LocalVox.