The Top 5 Announcements From Day 1 of Google I/O 2018

The opening day keynote speeches at Google’s tenth annual developer conference have come to a close and tech enthusiasts around the world caught a glimpse at of some the new products the company will release this year.

As a whole, Google honed in on improving a large portion of its flagship software with cutting-edge artificial intelligence capabilities. Executives unveiled a Google Assistant feature that will make phone calls for you and “Smart Compose” addition to Gmail that literally finishes your sentences. But aside from those features, the company announced major changes to its mobile OS, an augmented reality feature for Google Map navigation, and a whole new way to quickly edit photos.

Inverse has rounded up five of the most exciting reveals announced during the first day of Google I/O.

5. Android P Gets a Fresh New Look

The ninth version of Google mobile OS was perhaps one of the most anticipated announcements at this year’s Google I/O and for good reason — it has been completely revamped. Instead of the familiar three-button navigation, the previous Android OS used, this iteration takes a page out of Apple’s playbook and lets users swipe through menus with iPhone X-like gestures. Google also has ditched the home button and gone with a swipe up option which will take you to a horizontal menu of all of your apps.

An initial version of Android P has already been released, but the full version will be available for all users sometime this fall.

4. Google Lens Gets Smarter

Google showed off its smart visual search tool, Google Lens, during last year’s developer conference; a feature uses that image recognition technology to bring up relevant information about certain things you pointed your camera at. This year Google Lenses have been improved to such a degree that it might just be a huge selling point for those contemplating about getting an Android phone.

The feature is now incorporated right in the camera app of any Android phone and can now bring up information about any thing from books, clothes, furniture, and dogs. It’s essentially like Googling something by just pointing your camera at it.

3. Augmented Reality in Google Maps

How many times have you tried to navigate using Google Maps only to have no idea where you have to turn next? Well, enter the augmented reality street view feature that makes traversing city streets easier than ever.

This new addition will overlay Google Street View images onto what you’re pointing your camera at, allowing the app to point you in the right direction. Make less wrong turns in a new part of town.

2. Google Photos Gets A.I. Upgrades

Mobile apps have completely revolutionized how we edit photos and Google is entering into the fray with its A.I. tech. Google Photos now has the ability to turn black and white images into color pictures, separate people from the background, and turn photos of a document into a PDF with the touch of a button.

To make things simpler, the app will suggest its own edits. So if an image is a little too dark, a small notification will appear at the bottom of your device’s screen asking if you’d like to brighten the photo. It’ll be like having a professional editor right at your finger tips.

1. Google Assistant Gets New Voices

One of the biggest issues with smart home devices like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri is that their voices aren’t quite natural. Google has tried to tackle this issue by adding six new voices to its Google Assistant, giving users eight to choose from.

The tech company used real voice actors in conjunction with its WaveNet A.I. tool that has the ability to learn and mimic human voices. These additions also come with a host of new features that will allow the Google Assistant to carry out more nuanced conversations with out the need of a prompt, like “Hey Siri,” for every question.

Oh, and sometime this year, the voice of John Legend will be the ninth featured Google Assistant voice, for all of you R&B fans.