Google’s I/O conference was held on May 10/11 at Moscone Center, San Franciso. I caught up with the key highlights from a podcast i downloaded over the weekend. Google sounded dare i say it quite ‘Microsofty’ in that they expect the Android OS to be on various devices including light-bulbs and fridges….!? Ok i understand fridges, it would be great to open up an app on my phone and see what was in my fridge so i knew what to cook or whether i needed additional ingredients. But light bulbs seriously…?

Google also announced that they would merge the versions of Android into a single version again as the current versions are device specific, Gingerbread for mobile and Honeycomb for tablets.

It will be quite interesting to see what Google decide to do with the Chrome OS if their vision is for a single OS platform on all devices?

To summarise, the below are the key announcements from the event:-

Thursday, May 12nd 2011

Missed out on Google I/O 2011?

Google I/O – Check out all of the announcements and check back on Friday when videos of all sessions will be ready. 4 days ago

Wednesday, May 11st 2011

Android Market for Developers

Android – Announcing 5 new features for Android Market focused on helping you find apps you’ll love. 5 days ago

Preview of In-App Payments on the Chrome Web Store

Chrome – Developers can now sign up for the In-App Payments developer sandbox. 5 days ago

Java Port of ROS

Android – Released rosjava, a pure Java port of ROS, in partnership with Willow Garage, enabling the development of advanced Android apps for robotics. 5 days ago

Google Tasks API

Google APIs – Using the Google Tasks API developers can — for the very first time — create rich applications which integrate directly with Google Tasks. 5 days ago

Chromebooks: A new kind of computer

Chrome – Learn more about Chromebook features and availability. 5 days ago

More information on Chromebooks for businesses and schools

Chrome – Transforming the business computing model with Chromebooks. 5 days ago

Monthly Chromebook subscriptions for businesses and schools

Chrome – Monthly subscriptions with all in one service start at $28 per user for business and $20 per user for educational institutions. 5 days ago

Chromebooks coming next month

Chrome – Chromebooks from Samsung and Acer will be available starting June 15 for consumers, business and schools in seven countries. 5 days ago

Angry Birds now available in the Chrome Web Store

Chrome – Google collaborates with Rovio to bring Angry Birds to the web for the first time. 5 days ago

In-app payments for apps in the Chrome Web Store

Chrome – Developers can add in-app payments to their apps with literally one line of code. 5 days ago

Expanding the Chrome Web Store around the world

Chrome – Chrome Web Store now available in 41 languages for free apps. 5 days ago

Chrome now has 160M active users

Chrome – Up from 70 million users at last year’s Google I/O 5 days ago

Welcome to Day 2 of Google I/O

Chrome – Stay tuned for updates from Sundar Pichai and the Chrome team 5 days ago

Tuesday, May 10th 2011

New Eclipse tools for Android

Android – Launched App Engine Tooling for Android which gives Android developers new tools to easily build cloud-aware applications. 6 days ago

Text= Parameter for Google Web Fonts

Google APIs – Make web fonts faster with the Text= parameter from Google Web Fonts. 6 days ago

Google Places API available for all developers

Geo – Spark a new wave of location-based app development, both on mobile and desktop, with the Places API. Read the documentation herehttp://goo.gl/BzmYI 6 days ago

Peer-to-Peer NFC coming to Android

Android – Demonstrated tag reading, writing and peer-to-peer, and includes previews of advanced peer-to-peer functionality coming in Ice Cream Sandwich such as 0-click sharing. 6 days ago

New Eclipse tools for Android

Android – Launched App Engine Tooling for Android which gives Android developers new tools to easily build cloud-aware applications. 6 days ago

Build smarter apps with the improved Google Prediction API

Google APIs – The only cloud service that allows businesses to access sophisticated machine learning with only a few API calls and by utilizing the flexibility of Google Storage. 6 days ago

New charts and features from Google Chart Tools

Google APIs – Try out new charts like geochart, candlestick and combochart, along with new features like interactive Dashboards and ChartEditor. 6 days ago

ChromeVox screen reader for Chrome and Chrome OS

Chrome – Available for Chrome OS and also as an extension for Chrome on the desktop, allowing developers to test their web apps with a screen reader inside the browser so they can conduct better accessibility testing. 6 days ago

Google Plugin for Eclipse v2.4: Android Meet App Engine, App Engine Meet Android

Developer Tools – Build native Android apps that can take data with them wherever they go, using Google’s cloud service, App Engine, to host your backend service and store your data. 6 days ago

Style maps and customize info windows with new additions to the Fusion Tables API

Geo – Trusted testers can try the new Fusion Tables Styling and Info Window API, which enables developers to set a table’s map colors and info windows with code. 6 days ago

Google Storage now open for all

Developer Tools – Introducing a host of new features and no longer needs an invitation to get started. 6 days ago

New Web Resource for Developers: The Guide to the App Galaxy

Android – Travel through the App Galaxy to learn how to promote, earn and measure your app. 6 days ago

Preview of +1 button for publishers

Google APIs – In the coming weeks, the +1 button will be available for publishers. Stay tuned. 6 days ago

Go programming language coming to Google App Engine

Developer Tools – Go will be the third language, after Python and Java, in which to write Google App Engine apps. Download the SDK athttp://goo.gl/nXu15 6 days ago

Google App Engine 1.5

Developer Tools – Now with support for backends, task queues and updated Eclipse support. 6 days ago

Google Books API now in Code Labs

Google APIs – Write applications to query information on the more than 15 million books on books.google.com including book metadata, pricing, and more. 6 days ago

Summary of Android announcements at Google I/O

Android – Music and movies in Android Market, Android @ Home, Android Open Accessory and more! 6 days ago

Project Tungsten

Android – Hardware reference design that runs the Android OS and the Android@Home software framework. 6 days ago

Android @ Home

Android – Open source libraries that will enable developers to build apps that can discover, connect and communicate with devices and appliances in the home. 6 days ago

Android Open Accessory: Standardizing hardware development across Android devices

Android – Platform-level support for hardware accessory communication with Android devices – including integration with Android Market, a new USB accessory API and an open-source Accessory Development Kit (ADK). 6 days ago

Music Beta by Google

Android – Upload your personal music collection and access it instantly on any web browser or compatible Android device without the hassle of wires or syncing. Currently by invitation only. 6 days ago

Movie rentals on Android Market

Android – Choose from thousands of movie titles and watch instantly on the web or your Verizon Motorola Xoom (support for more devices, including phones, coming soon). 6 days ago

Ice Cream Sandwich preview

Android – Next major release of Android: Ice Cream Sandwich. One OS everywhere, state of the art UI, advanced app framework, open source. 6 days ago

Update to Honeycomb

Android – Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) will be rolling out to XOOM 3G devices over the next few weeks. 6 days ago

Over 100M Android devices activated worldwide with 400K activations added every day

Android – There are now 310 Android devices from 36 OEMs on 215 carriers in 112 countries. 6 days ago