Google I/O 2021
The highlights from this year’s conference
Well, as you may recall, a few days ago, I wrote an article about Google I/O 2021 conference which took place last week and as a Developer who participated at this important event, I would like to share with you, what I think are the best highlights from the keynote and sessions I attended to.
One of the most impressive features that were presented during the event was their truly revolutionary advances in Machine Learning by giving us a closer look at LaMDA, which in deed is a true powerhouse that will gradually become available to developers and users worldwide. LaMDA’s main focus is in the way it handles a more than natural approach to conversational applications with unprecedented capabilities which were not common until now.
Main areas and improvements of this technology, are mainly targeted to the following fields: image / text / audio / video.
It will be amazing how the apps we will develop will increase their adaptability to a wider audience and even (which is so encouraging to know) people with disabilities will also benefit even more, with these upcoming technological resources.
Models used for machine learning are becoming widely available and the costs to run an instance for this type of VM (Virtual Machines) are dropping at a tremendous rate.
You will be able to add tags to videos in a way that it will become much easier to find a precise spot along longer recordings than what is currently available.
In this field of Virtual Machines, Google will be unveiling another set of cloud machines, which will be running operations well above the 1 exaFLOP mark (exaFLOP is one quintillion floating-point operations per second), so I am eager to see the type of machine learning models and applications which will be greatly benefited by this technological milestone. These pods are planned be available later this year.
Another area, that Google significantly has made a tremendous effort to improve and excel other companies, resides on user security. It was explained during the keynote, that the most common problem which deals with security issues, has to do with users making use of simple and common passwords and worse yet, using the very same password on multiple sites or applications. Therefore, phone based authentication is expected to grow in the coming months and become widely adopted by more and more users, who gradually implement a more secure approach at using and creating better and less vulnerable passwords.
As for AR (Augmented Reality), Google is about to launch the use of this amazing technology, now applied to their search engine, but not only that, they are already implementing it, on a project they named: AR for Sport Athletes, which is truly an amazing way to experience, right on your smartphone device, AR versions from some of the best Athletes from the US.
Google Maps will also benefit with these updates, by making the engagement with businesses in your nearest area and allowing them to display more details, promotions and better yet, a virtual walkthrough of the business itself. This is of course at an early stage and mainly in some of the largest cities of the continental US, and will include places like: Street Signs / Landmarks / indoor areas of buildings, train stations, airports and more. Beside that, the highlighted places on your Map will display their preferred time of business as well as peek hours.
Alright, so there you have it. If you are an Android, Chrome user or have access to any of these apps on your mobile or desktop device, you will be discovering these and more features in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned for more news in the tech arena. See you soon!
