A look ahead at Google I/O 2014

People have come to expect a lot from Google’s I/O conference, held in San Francisco, Calif. every year. While it’s typically classed as a developers’ conference, it’s become a big event for tech industry watchers, looking to see what the search giant is set to unveil.

With the 2014 edition of the conference scheduled for Wednesday, this year should be no different – and it looks as though Google will be making a number of announcements around Android.

According to Dieter Bohn, writer for The Verge, Google will probably be cranking out a fair number of news related to its operating system (OS) – for example, rumour has it we may be getting a new version of Android.

In October 2013, Google launched Android 4.4, or “KitKat,” so it’s high time we saw another release of a dessert-themed OS.  While the company may choose to wait til later this year to unveil it, giving us just a sneak preview this week, we may get to see a lot of changes to the way the OS looks. For example, we may get a revamping of the user interface, making for a tighter integration of Google’s web apps and the apps that appear in Android. We might also get to see Google make more of an enterprise play, as it hasn’t really done so in the past.

Then there’s Android Wear, Google’s much talked-about wearable device platform.  Earlier this year, Google unveiled concept photos of Android Wear, so it’s very likely the company will be rolling out the carpet for both fitness devices and smartwatches like the Moto 360 and the LG G Watch.

But beyond our wrists and phones, Google may also be making some moves to get inside our cars. In January, Google announced it was starting the Open Automative Alliance, so we may expect a system pretty similar to what Apple is doing with CarPlay. Essentially, Google’s system would probably allow users to control their phones by pushing the buttons and twiddling the dials on the dashboards of their cars.

Then there’s Google’s foray into the living room. If you haven’t heard much about Android TV, there’s probably a reason for that – Google just hasn’t done a great job in appealing to TV watchers. Although the company managed to redeem itself somewhat with the Chromecast, we’ll probably get to hear more about Android TV, which is meant to target set-top boxes and provide content the same way Apple TV, Roku, and Fire TV by Amazon all do.

And of course, we can’t forget about Google Glass. Earlier today, Google announced it would be making the device available in the U.K., the first country to get it aside from the U.S. That may be a sign of the times – that Google is more bent on getting these devices to more users, taking it out of the hands of just developers and other tech enthusiasts and taking more aim at the mass market. We may not hear anything drastically new about Google Glass, but there should be an update.

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