Google I/O 2014 Keynote Detailed Wrap-Up : Major Highlights To Check Out!

Google’s I/O Keynote 2014 just wrapped up yesterday & this keynote knocked out all of the biggest announcements! Sundar Pichai started off showing some raw number about the Growth of Android and they were pretty impressive! Around 1 Billion people use android daily.

The theme of this year’s Google I/O was Android Everywhere. Below are some Major highlights from yesterday's event. (Watch the whole I/O Keynote event Video here )

Android L
Google announced its next android version, codenamed Android L. This new version brings a lot of improvements, including UI improvements, notification enhancements, improved multitasking & good speed. Multi-tasking was provided up with the introduction of Chrome tabs being integrated into the task button. Android L also brings up new visual elements called Material Design.

The ART runtime is replacing Dalvik as the runtime in Android L permanently. This runtime brings double performance increase as well as its compatible with processors with ARM, x86 & MIPS architectures.

Material Design
Material Design is being implemented not only for Android but also for Chrome OS, and wearable devices too. Material Design has elements such as splashes of color, animations, and a sense of depth. New animations brings smooth transition between every action with GUI render to 60fps. The splashes of color are brought to life by Palette, which instantly detects a primary color in an image and can color related UI elements the same way.

Project Volta
Android L brings Project Volta, an initiative to improve battery life. The Jobs Scheduler API is designed to use less power while the phone is sleeping, by scheduling background jobs for efficient downtimes. Also there’s a battery saver mode to save out some juice by tuning up your phone & this could gain you 90mins additional uptime.

Google Fit
Google Fit is Google’s new platform to keep a check on your health and fitness. The APIs will use the data from sensors on your Android Phone and/or Smart Wearable stuffs and keep a track on your sleep pattern, steps , heart rate & other health aspects. Hope they release a dedicated app for the same to view all statistics.

Android One
Google introduced its new Program, the Android One, its a smartphone program similar to just as GPE phones plus the Nexus program. Here not only the software is tailored but also the hardware is made to suit the software in every aspects

The first smartphone in Android One comes from Micromax (will be joined by Karbonn & Spice) The phone as key features like 4.5" display, FM radio, Dual sim, SD card support & all this just under $100!

Android Wear
Google displayed its support for Android wearables, with the option to swipe interface, also say “Ok, Google” or tap the screen to initiate voice commands.

Two of the Android Wear devices are available today. The LG G Watch sells for $229 while the Samsung Gear Live goes for $199 on the Play Store. The Moto 360 will join them soon coming and would be water resistant along with the G Watch.

Android TV
Android TV has a user interface designed specially for the big screen, so you could enjoy the Android Experience at your home. Google Play Games allows you to game through Android TV. Also you can play multi-player games with your friends from your phones or tablets, also there's support for gaming controllers. Android TV can be controlled either by voice or by an Android device. Sony, Sharp, Razer, and ASUS have all been announced as partners currently working on Android TV.

Android Auto
Android Auto brings the Android experience in the cars. This brings an entertainment system with sync from your Android phone. This system has voice controls for almost every task, you could start Navigation or even reply to a text message.

Cars with Android Auto would be arriving later this year with 25 car makers in the Open Automotive Alliance.

Chromecast supports mirroring & more
Several improvements are coming to the Chromecast. Now users can mirror the screen of your Android phone or tablet to the Chromecast with almost zero latency, hence rich experience.

Also use the Chromecast to turn your TV into a beautiful screensaver using the Backdrop feature. You could place your pictures albums or Google Earth images, paintings etc. Also now you could connect a device near your Chromecast without being on the same Wi-Fi network, bringing ease.

Android apps on Chrome OS
Android apps can begin to be ported to Chromebooks. The only problem would be using the mouse for many things than the ease to use a touchscreen. Now not only Google Now cards but also your notifications will be displayed on your Chromebook along calls & messages.

Also the Chromebooks would unlock with your Android phone or smartwatch being near to it.

Other Additions

Native Office Editing adds up Quick office inti Google Drive so you could edit your documents on the go with ease.
Google Cloud Platform brings app & website development all on the web, plus data can be stored on the Google servers,

Plus Google Announced that it would be providing Unlimited Google Drive Storage just for $10 per month

Finally Google at the end announced that they were giving all attendees a 'Google Cardboard'. Later it turned out that Google Cardboard is actually an incredible way of getting yourself a VR headset by getting some lenses and placing your phone inside the Cardboard with the Cardboard app linked up.

Well the app splits up the screen in two giving a 3D experience, Seriously that's cool!

Hope you enjoyed this post, watch the whole I/O Keynote Event Video Here!