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Google pulled impressive stunts at the keynote of  its Google I/O Developers conference where a whole lot of products were announced and released including Project Glass, its media player – Nexus Q and an Asus branded Nexus 7 tablet. A new kind of notification service “Google Now” was announced as well as the latest Android version[Jelly Bean] and updates to Google+.

We know you’re excited to read about and see Project Glass so we’ll begin there.

Project Glass

Earlier this year Google announced “Project Glass” – its augmented reality glasses. Project Glass glasses act like glasses you’ve seen in your favorite sci-fi movie. It runs android and provides an extra layer to your vision. The glasses are controlled by speech and can pull out notifications, reply messages, you get it.

U.S attendees of the I/O conference can pre-order the glasses at $1500 and have them by 2013.

Here’s a Demo of project glass which was streamed live at Google I/O. It’s a video of high-risk athletes jumping out of a plane while wearing the glasses. “Guys we’re gonna do something pretty magical here”

Nexus 7

Turns out the rumors were right on this one. Google teamed up with Asus to bring the Nexus 7 tablet to Google’s line of Nexus devices. Weighing 340 grams, the Nexus 7 is a 7-inch tablet with 1280×800 pixels display protected by scratch-resistant corning glass. Powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 3 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, it runs the latest version of Android, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The tablet is Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth capable.

Nexus 7 comes with the released version of Chrome for Android, bringing you the speed and simplicity of the desktop Chrome to your tablet. It also comes pre-installed with a Google+ version that allows you hold hangouts via its 1.2 megapixel camera. The tablet costs $199 and comes with $25 Google Play credit on every purchase. Shipping starts mid-July.

Its 4325mAh batttery lasts 8 hours of HD video playback, 10 hours of web browsing or 10 hours of e-reading. Seems like Amazon’s Kindle Fire has another competitor.

Nexus Q

The Nexus Q is the world’s first social streaming media player. The nexus Q is essentially an alien-like, black orb that sreams your favorite content to your Android device. The nexus Q will also stream to your speakers or TV screen. There are no downloads, no syncing and no space limits. All you have to do is tap your Android device on the LED display of the Q.

To play songs from the Nexus Q, you simply pick a song from the Google Play Music app on your Android device and it plays instantly on Nexus Q. Google’s Music Manager app uploads content from iTunes or Windows Media Player to Google Play so your stuff is available everywhere.

Now here’s the social part of Nexus Q: your friends can add content to your playlist via their Android tablet or phone as long as they’re connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

The rear of the Nexus Q has ports available for HDMI or AV receivers. Volume and other settings can be controlled via your Android device.

Jelly Bean

For Android fanboys out there who didn’t expect a lot of upgrades from Ice Cream Sandwich, Google definitely shocked you. Jelly Bean upps the ante of smooth and fast transitions within Android. Google says it made moving between apps and homescreens effortless, so the device feels like your turning pages in a book. There’s a bit of improvement on battery life also – Jelly Bean boosts your device’s CPU when you touch it and then turns it down when you’re not using it. Widgets now have the ability to resize and move on their own, giving more space to your homescreens.

For more on Jelly Bean, read: “Android 4.1: What’s New In Jelly Bean?”.

Google Now

Imagine Siri. She gets you the stuff you need as soon as you ask. Google Now takes that further. It was built to get you the right information at the right time. Google Now tells you the weather as soon as you get up, gives you traffic updates before you leave work and tells you when the next train comes as soon as you reach the train platform. Automatically.

The service works with notifications called “Cards”. Cards appear at the time they’re needed. They’re like notifications but with more information and at the exact time you need them. Google Now gives you the option to select which cards you want to see. Certain notifications like time at home, currency exchange rates, weather and translations can only be gotten if you enable location services.

Android PDK.

Google launched the Android Platform Development Kit for manufacturers who build Android on their devices. Android PDK makes it easier to add overlays, tweaks and modifications to new versions of Android. PDKs will be released to manufactures months ahead of OS launches. This means manufacturers have time to build updates and modifications for devices before Google releases the OS.

Google+ Events

With 250 million+ users and over 150 million active users, Google+ now has “Events”. Events brings a robust form of sharing to Google+. Once invitations are accepted, the event automatically adds itself to the user’s Google Calendar. “Party mode” can then be activated when the event starts – this turns event pages into a live feed of photos and posts from all users present.

Google+ Mobile App

The mobile App for Google+ got updated with a whole new cleaner and simpler interface and finally supports tablets. The new G+ app has the ability to filter the home feed according to circles. You can get the new version on Google Play.

Google Play Store

Image Source: http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/06/27/google-io-day-one-roundup-jelly-bean-google-glass-two-new-nexus-devices-and-so-much-more/

Google has teamed up with content providers to bring new TV Shows, Magazines and Movies to the Google Play store. TV Show episodes are available for download at quite reasonable prices. The store also allows you purchase movies which are stored in the cloud and are available for you to watch at any time.

You can buy current issues of magazine or pay monthly or yearly subscriptions via the Play Magazines app.

The “My Apps” page of the Google Play web interface also got a new design – allowing you sort apps based on what devices they’re installed on. You can now update and uninstall apps via the web interface.

Final Notes

Google’s keynote at the I/O developers conference shows the company still has its playful side in tow. No one else pulls a skydiving stunt like they did. Like Sergey said, many things could have gone wrong but they did it anyway. We’ll love to test out the Nexus 7 and Q when they finally hit the shelves. Day two could be even better.

Binjo

Binjo is passionate about(some say he's obsessed with) technology and the web. . In his spare time, Binjo runs UP NEPA! Where he blogs on a wide range of issues. Circle Him on Google+

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