Google’s developer conference turns into a pixel festival

Google’s developer conference I/O 2023 will take place on May 10th. During the course of the kick-off event, which is expected to last two hours, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, supported by product managers, will present a surprising number of new pixel devices in addition to new functions for Android 14 and a wealth of other AI and cloud features present.

The company also appears to be announcing a new service similar to Apple’s Where’s Network. There is also talk of a tracking gadget á la Airtags. But one after anonther.

If the rumors and leaks are true, Google I/O 2023 will be the first part of Google’s hardware event, which is usually held throughout October. The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro as successors to the very good Pixel 7 and 7 Pro (test) are not expected, but other products from the Pixel family are.

First, Google should introduce the successor to the Pixel 6a (test). According to leaks, the budget smartphone Pixel 7a should be a lot better than its predecessor, but not bigger. It’s said to get a 6.1-inch display with a 90 Hertz refresh rate, while the 6a only supported 60 Hertz.

There is also talk of support for wireless charging and protection against water and dust according to IP67. According to leaker Roland Quandt, which has reached official-looking press material, the camera should also receive an update and a Tensor G2 chip should be on board as a processor. The processor is also in the Pixel 7 models.

With the Pixel Fold, Google also wants to enter the foldable market. Rumors have been circulating on the internet for years about a first smartphone with a foldable inner screen, and according to the latest rumors, the group will finally be presenting it at I/O 2023.

Based on the leaks and an official teaser, the form factor is reminiscent of a mixture of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Oppo’s Find N: It has a 5.5-inch external display and a flexible internal display with a diagonal of 7.6 inches.

Recently it was said that the device will be thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and will have a particularly stable hinge. The Tensor G2 is also expected as the processor, but it should be quite expensive at 1,700 to 1,800 US dollars.

A year after the first teaser to re-enter the tablet market, on May 10th it finally seems to be the time to launch the Pixel tablet.

After the teaser in May, Google delivered some more features of the tablet in October 2022. According to them, the device can not only be used as a simple Android tablet, but in combination with a charging dock it becomes a smart display similar to a Nest Hub. This means that it doesn’t just lie around somewhere when not in use, but provides useful information and can be used to conveniently control the smart home.

But it probably won’t be cheap: According to Roland Quandt from Winfuture it should cost between 600 and 650 euros and be offered with 256 and 512 gigabytes of flash memory. The dock, meanwhile, is said to cost around $130, which is a premature listing on Amazon showed. It is unclear whether the dock will be included as standard with the tablet.

In addition to the new products that are expected with certainty, a first look at the next pixel generation in the form of the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro would also be conceivable. Unlike other hardware manufacturers, who keep their products secretive until the official launch, Google is quite open to a certain extent. In the course of the I/O 2022, the company already gave a first look at the Pixel 7 models and the Pixel Watch (test), although they were only fully revealed in October.

For years, Google has been working on an upgraded version of its “Find my device” service – the presentation of the service, which should then be more similar to Apple’s where-is-? service, could also take place in the course of I/O 2023.

Corresponding references to this come from various sources: In Google Fonts is about a new icon for so-called “Nest Tags” (via Android Police and @neil_rahmouni) has been discovered, which looks quite similar to a tracking gadget. The fact that Google and Apple are working together on an industry standard for Bluetooth trackers should not have been announced a few days before the I/O.

As early as January 2023, developer and “code truffle pig” Kuba Wojciechowski found out that Google’s Nest team was working on a tracking gadget codenamed Grogu, Groguaudio or GR10 that would support both Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and tracker-friendly ultra-wideband ( Ultrawideband, UWB) should support. As the Nest team is said to be in charge of the task, it appears that the gadget will not belong to the Pixel family but to the Nest family.

Even if the hardware will not be a small item on the I/O agenda, the website of the developer conference already shows that the group will cover many other topics in the course of the keynote. In addition to the expected innovations that Google will pack into the second beta of Android 14, Company according to the agenda apparently also address topics such as Google Wallet, Play and AR.

The design language Material You, Chrome OS and Smarthome also play a role. For many, however, given the hyped ChatGPT4 AI system, the point of generative AI is probably particularly important. This area will also be addressed in the course of the keynote. It will probably be about further developments of Bard and the innovations in the Google Assistant.

In addition, it is rumoredthat pixel smartphones could receive Bard integration in the form of a home screen widget, among other things. The group may have other AI irons in the fire.

For Google fans and of course developers, the keynote on May 10th should be exciting, so it is definitely worth watching the event. Google is providing a live stream for this purpose, which should start around 7 p.m. Central European Summer Time.

If you don’t have time, that’s no problem: We will report promptly on all relevant news about I/O 2023.