Google I/O 2023 Recap: From Bard AI To Pixel Fold, Here Are The Top Announcements

Google held its annual I/O developer’s conference on Wednesday, sharing a slew of announcements and launches of flagship products. Here’s a quick recap of the biggest unveils:

Google IO I O 2023 Top Announcement Launch Pixel 7a Fold Tablet Bard AI Maps Search Workplace PaLM Maps

Pixel Fold — Google introduced its first-ever foldable offering at I/O 2023. Priced at a whopping $1,800, the Pixel Fold has a centre book-like fold. While the external display is 5.79 inches, the inner display is 7.69 inches long. It is powered by the in-house Tensor G2 chip — the same SoC that powers the Pixel 7 series. [Image source: Getty]

Pixel 7a — Priced at Rs 43,999, Google’s latest mid-range offering is also powered by the Tensor G2 SoC as well as the Titan M2 security chip. It comes with a dual rear camera setup, marked by 64-megapixel primary snapper and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens. It sports a 6.1-inch full-HD+ gOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate. Google Pixel 7a comes in an 8GB+128GB storage model. It is offered in three colourways — Charcoal, Sea, and Snow. [Image source: Getty]

Pixel Tablet — Priced at $499, the Pixel Tablet is designed to be used as a smart home hub rather than a portable tablet. It comes bundled with a Charging Speaker dock which offers a punchy bass. The Pixel Tablet sports an 11-inch screen, supported by four inbuilt speakers. It features an 8-megapixel rear snapper and another 8-megapixel video-calling camera at the front. [Image source: Google]

Bard AI — Google opened up access to its ChatGPT rival, Bard AI, in 180 countries, including India. Apart from English, Bard AI now supports Japanese and Korean languages, with support for 40 more languages coming soon. Based on Google’s own large-language model, LaMDA, Bard AI is touted to be more factually correct when compared to ChatGPT. [Image source: Google]

PaLM 2 — Google introduced a new large-language model (LLM), PaLM 2 at I/O 2023. Apart from coding and reasoning that’s accepted to be standard among LLMs, PaLM 2 also has the ability to carry out multilingual translation, thanks to its training based on over 100 spoken word languages. PaLM 2 is claimed to power over 25 Google offerings. [Image source: Google]

Workspace AI — Google announced that Gmail and Docs on mobile will now have AI features such as generating summaries, smart compose, and smart reply. The tech giant is also planning to add a single-prompt auto table generation feature to Sheets. [Image source: Getty]

Search — When it comes to Google’s top product, the company added generative features to make Google Search more capable. Dubbed “Converse”, the feature will be available to the public via Google Labs on both app and desktop. [Image source: Getty]

Maps — Almost a year after its launch, Google Maps is finally bringing Immersive View format for users. Adding Immersive View To Google Maps' travel routes is likely to make it easier to understand where users want to go. The company intends to roll out Immersive View for Routes in 15 cities globally by the end of the year. In the coming months, Immersive View in Google Maps will be rolled out in Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Paris, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, Tokyo, and Venice. [Image source: Getty]

Android 14 — Google offered a fresh demonstration of some of Android 14’s lock-screen features, including its various wallpaper offerings — emoji, cinematic, and generative AI. [Image source: Google]