Yesterday, Google announced the schedule for Google I/O and we were surprised to see that there will be only one keynote, on one day. Traditionally there’s been more than one. Having said that, this year’s keynote is to come in at a nice hefty 3 hours long. This has raised questions on just how much Google is going to be announcing at this year’s Google I/O conference. With only two weeks to go and a whole bunch of rumors flying around, it’s hard to think on what they’ve got ready to announce. Of course, some things look pretty much set in stone when it comes to Google I/O, they’re going to have to announce some sort of update to their web services and this year, it looks like Babel could be the star of the show. With a unified keynote, why not announce a unified messaging platform?
Things we shouldn’t expect to see however is something to do with the elusive “X Phone”, how many times have we heard that name, whispered like some sort of mythical legend? Well, legends aren’t born in short amounts of time and it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see anything of the X Phone at this year’s Google I/O. Which is hardly surprising, the X Phone could be someone’s idea of a practical joke at this point – who knows. Key Lime Pie is something that’s becoming a bit of a mystery as well, it’s been widely regarded that the next version of Android is going to come with a sweet new name and Android 5.0 as its version number. Thanks to some server logs here and elsewhere, Google could be announcing Android 4.3, yet another version of Jelly Bean. Announcing another version of Jelly Bean does not sound like a brilliant idea, after all it gives carriers and OEMs yet another excuse not to support their phones with updates. They can simply and easily tell people that it’s Jelly Bean, and technically still current.
If Google have only set room aside for one keynote then it could be that Google is waiting to release their products in the fall, with a new Nexus smartphone, and follow-ups to the Nexus 7 and 10. Launching in the fall with a new version of Android would be a good idea as well, after all that would help sales of the new devices hitting shelves in the golden quarter. When it comes to devices, Google is definitely becoming more of a consumer-minded company and launching three new devices in the fall will help sales and could boost the overall Nexus branding.
Regardless, we’re sure that Google have something special to announce in the coming weeks, it’s not as if they’ve ever disappointed us and, holding something back might not be a bad idea for a company that seems willing to try anything. What do you think? Will Google I/O this year be a little different from past years?