My Favorite Google I/O Announcements

There have been many announcements at the Google I/O this year. I really love what Google has shown. Here are my favorite announcements from this year's I/O.

Google+

Google+ received a huge revamp of the desktop design. Everything is now based on the card design that is also used in the mobile app. Depending on your screen size Google+ will show posts in three, two, or one column. The new auto features such as Highlight, Enhance,and Awesome when uploading pictures. When uploading photos, Google automatically finds the best ones and enhances them. If you took multiple shots of a group photo but not everyone was smiling in every picture, Google will look through each one and create a new photo with everyone smiling. Its really impressive of just how good the photos look after uploading to Google+.

Google Maps

Maps also received a new design as well. Now Google Maps will adapt to what you do. You can click on places and roads connected to it will be highlighted and labeled. Also a card will appear show up with more information on that location. There is a new navigation viewer showing public transit or bike routes. Using WebGL, you can now see 3D models of buildings with greater detail and panning and zooming are now much smoother. You can also zoom way out to show Earth as it currently sits in space.

Google Now

Google Now is coming to Chrome! Just like on Android, you can now speak you inquiry and Google Now will speak the answer back to you, all from the browser. It will also remember previous searches to keep the context of your current searches. For example, you can say "Kings Island" and it will return a map and web search of Kings Island. Then ask "How far away is that from here?" Google will remember that "that" means Kings Island and "here" means your current location and gives you directions. You can also tell Now to send you a reminder based on time or location.

Android Studio

Google announced their own IDE called Android Studio which is based on IntelliJ. It seems to be much more UI focused than Eclipse. I've been trying to get into Android development and Eclipse wasn't the most easy thing to understand. I use Unity to develop games for Android now but hopefully Android Studio will make the learning experience more understandable. One example shown at the I/O was displaying how your app will look on multiple devices with different screen sizes. Any changes to the code were automatically shown on the virtual devices.

Send Money with Gmail

It is now possible to send money by simply attaching it to your email! Its incredibly fast and convenient. Recipients will receive your payment within minuets. I can hardly wait to try using it to pay rent or my half of utilities to my roommates. Its currently invite only and the only way to get invited it to have someone send you money. You can rummage around Google+ and ask some people who have been invited. There is currently a small movement called "Pay It Forward". Basically, someone will send you one cent and you are excepted to 'pay it forward' to another person.