There is no way I can articulate this day in one post but I'm going to try. It started out good but ended amazing.
The day started with the 2 hour long keynote speech.
Google announced Google Lens. This allows your camera to act as an input device. For example, you can scan a restaurant sign with your camera and the restaurant reviews, menu, phone number will show up. You can take a picture of a flower and Google Lens will identify the flower for you. Just. Amazing.
A hot topic for today was Google Home and Google Assistant. Now, Google Home will be proactive and it will also allow hands free voice calling.
Also in store for the near future are indoor Google maps or VPS (Visual Positioning Service). Find the exact location of a specific item inside a building! You could pinpoint a certain screwdriver to it's location in Home Depot within a few centimeters.
Coming soon...stand alone virtual reality headsets.
The announcement about Android Go struck my interest. The new version of O allows for low budget devices with less than 1GB of memory to run on optimized versions of apps like Chrome and YouTube. This could be a great, inexpensive way to ensure that all students have a device in hand. It even allows for offline sharing.
There's even more! Read about all the new releases here. https://www.recode.net/
After 2 hours of awe inspiring presentations we had an hour for lunch on the lawn and then went back to the amphitheater for the Developer Keynote.
Here's where we were told that we would all get a Google Home to take home with us. In addition we will get $700 worth of cloud storage and a free photo book.
Got to Hug an Android!
Next I went to Assisting the drivers: from android phones to Android cars. Executives from Audi and Volvo announced that their new consoles will be powered by Android. It will have GPS powered by Google maps, know your personal settings but also be able to do things like "Google play a game with the kids". It will then play an age appropriate Trivia or travel game with the kids.
What's New in Android Accessibility focused on creating apps that are user friendly for everyone. 1 in 5 people will have a disability at one point in their lives and they are a large part of users. This session focused mostly on accessibility for low vision users but touched on other disabilities. Many great features that will also be helpful for students with disabilities.
Up next was the State of the Mobile Web and then a session on Progressive Web Apps. These are apps that are designed to use minimal data and run quickly making the user experience much more efficiently and effortless.
After this session I had a truly unique experience. I found out through Facebook that I have a cousin (whom I've never met) that works at Google. He works out of Cambridge but happened to be in Mountain View this week. He was kind enough to invite me to the Googleplex for dinner. Only a 10 minute walk away from the conference. We spent about 2 hours catching up on some genealogy but also "talking Google". Just amazing to hear it from an inside perspective.
After dinner I walked back to the amphitheater where I was met by my new friends. We made a 3D video, hung out in the "old school" arcade room and watched as the lady leading the karaoke party via bicycle rode by.
A good time was had by all. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
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