Compared to last year, Google I/O had a lot more fun things announced. I mean we got a developer preview of Android L. We also got Android Wear, Android Auto and Android TV, and that was just in the keynote. There was plenty more that we got in Google I/O this year, but those were the big topics. Of course, Google Play and Drive both had announcements as well as Chrome.
I’d have to say that Android L was the most exciting announcement at Google I/O this year, with Material Design of course. Android L is a pretty large update, and for the first time ever we’ve got a developer preview that will work on any Nexus 5 or Nexus 7. Google is touting over 5000 new APIs with this release as well as an entirely new UI. Which is something Matias Duarte has been working on for quite some time, obviously.
The announcements didn’t stop there. Google announced Android Wear, Android TV and Android Auto which are all tied into Android L. Android Wear is obviously for wearables like the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live which became available for pre-order this week, shipping in July. Android Auto is Android in the car basically, and man does the UI look amazing there. Then there’s Android TV, which is basically Google TV, Chromecast and all the Android TV sticks baked into one device. It’s pretty exciting. Of course this is all coming in the fall.
That leads us to our poll. What was your favorite announcement from Google I/O this year? We talked about this briefly on the Android Headlines show last night, but we think Android L was our favorite announcement. Let us know in the comments below.