Google I/O 2016: All the news and analysis

We learned quite a bit this week from Google’s three-day developer bonanza about what the internet behemoth sees as the future of tech, of mobile and of itself.

But there was much left unanswered. For one, we don’t know when most of the new products — set to propel Google in the emerging fields of artificial intelligence and virtual reality — will arrive.

It’s no surprise that Google adores the mobile web.

And it’s no surprise why: Google is worried about the rush of attention to mobile apps — particularly to the time-sucking apps owned by Facebook.

If you spoke with a Google employee this week at its I/O developer conference, I guarantee they uttered these words: “Early days.”

Mario Queiroz, a VP, started it. He introduced its Home device — “your personal Google around the house” — during the keynote address. “It’s early days,” he said.

Google said Friday that it is nearly ready to let developers get their hands on Project Ara, with a test version of the modular smartphone to be released in the fourth quarter.

A thinner consumer version is due out next year.

Google and Levi’s showed off a new denim jacket Friday with built-in smart fabric sensors that allow cyclists to control their music, answer a phone call or respond to a message.

It is unique among clothing in that it’s going into developer beta testing this fall and unusual among consumer electronics in that it can go into the wash.

The Google Assistant — a machine intelligence system the company wants you to talk to anywhere and everywhere — is a lot like Google search, but different.

“We think of the Assistant as a fundamentally different product than search and we think it’s going to be used in a different way,” John Giannandrea, Google’s new search and artificial intelligence chief, said onstage at the I/O developer conference.

On Thursday, we asked Google about its new custom-made chip for artificial intelligence called a Tensor Processing Unit, or TPU.

Google politely declined to answer Recode’s questions, saying only that “more information is coming later.”

The arrival of Android app support is prompting a rethink of what a Chromebook can be, with computer makers expected to add more sensors, better screens and new shapes and sizes when they introduce new models this fall.

Starting in September, new Chromebooks will feature sensors such as gyroscopes and accelerometers, displays with wider viewing angles and even two-in-one designs that let the machines act as both tablet and laptop.

Google’s mobile world has long been seen as a less lucrative place than Apple’s for app developers. Joel McDonald disagrees.

Over two years ago, McDonald quit his job to make digital trees. They are stunning trees — elegant images, inspired by Japanese ink wash paintings, that a surprising number of people have paid money to manipulate inside Prune, McDonald’s app.

Google yesterday confirmed rumors that it has been working on a custom chip designed to speed up computing related to its artificial intelligence efforts.

The result, it said at its I/O developer conference, is a chip it calls a Tensor Processing Unit. It’s designed to work with TensorFlow, an open source software library for developing AI applications.

Google confirmed on Thursday its plan to allow Chromebooks to start running the bulk of Android apps starting later this year.

“Developers can start to optimize their app for the Chromebook form factor in advance of launch later in 2016,” Google said in a blog post ahead of a session at its Google I/O event.

Jump, Google’s software program for shooting and stitching together virtual reality footage, has added two new camera partners: IMAX and Yi Technology, a Chinese digital camera manufacturer.

The choices signal two key content areas for Google’s growing VR team: The film industry and China, where standalone VR headsets are taking off.

While focusing yesterday on its new virtual reality headset as a design that will be licensed to partners, Google also plans to sell a version of Daydream itself.

The Daydream headset is designed as an evolution of the low-end Cardboard, relying on a phone to provide the display, brains and head-tracking abilities. Unlike Cardboard, though, Daydream is designed to be far more comfortable so it can be used for longer periods of time.

Google announced something for everyone yesterday at its 10th annual I/O developer conference. There were more details of a new version of Android; new messaging and video-calling apps; a built-in new VR platform for Android; and a good-looking Amazon-Echo-like smart speaker called Google Home.

There was even a cool new research project that will let users run portions of apps from the web without installing them first.

This morning, Google laid out its ambitious vision for the future, and a series of spectacular Google products that will take us there.

Not now. But sometime soon. In the future.

Rather than an attempt to take on high-end gear such as Facebook’s Oculus or HTC’s Vive, Google’s new virtual reality headset really is Cardboard 2.0.

The Daydream design that Google announced on Wednesday aims to be far comfier than Cardboard, including a headband and more ergonomic fit. But at its heart, it’s a low-end device that, like Cardboard, relies on a smartphone to act as the systems, brains, display and head-tracking mechanism.

Universal app campaigns, Google’s tool that lets app advertisers spend across several services — and a pillar of Google’s strategy to wrest dollars away from Facebook — are coming to Apple’s iOS.

Google announced the news during its I/O developer conference on Wednesday.

Over the past year, Google has tinkered with several methods for blurring the lines between mobile apps and the mobile web.

It’s going full-court press now. At its I/O developer conference, Google unveiled an ambitious new feature that lets Android apps send users to specific parts of their app from any web link, even if the user hasn’t downloaded the app.

After falling behind to tech rivals on mobile messaging, Google is jumping back in. And it’s leading with its artificial intelligence chops.

At its I/O developer conference, Google introduced a new app called Allo that incorporates its personal assistant and artificial intelligence tech into the app.

Every year, big tech companies use their developer conferences to launch splashy stuff. Some of these products go on to reach millions, maybe billions. Some die on the vine.

Google kicks off its annual I/O developer conference on Wednesday, where it will unfurl new products around Android, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.