Even if you couldn’t make it to Google I/O 2014, you may have been able to carve out some time today to watch the keynote. It was two and a half hours long, and it was jam packed. For those of you that missed it, Google has been kind enough to post the entire thing on YouTube. They even included the first half hour, which was just video and no audio, showing people milling about and a Rube Goldberg countdown machine. You can skip the first 27 minutes or so if you want to jump right to the actual keynote. Here’s the video of the keynote:
Google unveiled a ton of new stuff at I/O today. The next version of Android is just being called “L” for now. We expect the actual name to be announced when the new Android version is released to the public. For now, the L release is being made available in a developer preview so that devs can get their apps ready. The L release of Android is ushering in a new age of design, which Google is calling Material Design. Material Design is inspired by real world objects like paper and ink, and changes the design esthetic to something flat and more colorful. Squared off corners and an optimized Roboto font are making us impatient for the update to land for consumers.
Google dropped Android Wear on us today, too. The Moto 360 will be available later this summer, while the LG G Watch and Samsung’s Gear Live smartwatches are available on the Google Play Store right now. The Gear Live was just announced today, while the LG G Watch is a watch we’ve been expecting for several months. An official Android Wear SDK is available for developers to start working with already, so apps for Wear won’t be long in the making.
Android Auto is Google’s take on what an in-dash Android computer should look like. It’s based on work started with the Android Open Automotive Alliance, and offers turn-by-turn navigation, Google Now, and notifications right in your dashboard. Android TV is replacing Google TV and focuses heavily on gaming. That’s not all that Google announced today. We’re still digesting everything so stay tuned to our Google I/O 2014 news feed. It’s been an amazing day, and the conference isn’t over yet.