Google revamps search, maps, Google+; launches game and subscription music services today
By David Bloom
Google’s I/O developer conference featured a morning-long string of announcements of changes to most of the company’s major operations, including its search functions, Maps, the Google+ social media site and a new subscription music service, and a cross-platform game service
The most jaw-dropping tech showcased this morning transforms the basic Google search to a voice-only experience. A person activates the search engine by saying “Okay, Google” to a computer, tablet or smartphone and then asks a question. The search engine figures out what the person is asking, then responds by voice itself.
The service, which launched today, is somewhat similar to Apple’s Siri service on its iPhones, but importantly, will operate on many kinds of devices, including iPhones and iPads, as well as computers using the Google Chrome browser and cellphones and tablets running Google’s Android mobile operating system.
- Senior VP Vic Gundotra showed off a dramatically revamped Google+ social media service, led by a much more capable and accessible version of its most popular function, Hangouts.
Now, Hangouts will allow people in Apple-made devices as well as Android and Google Chrome browsers to share video, photos and text with each other all the time. Hangouts have become a popular way for some brands, including media-savvy types such as Conan O’Brien and musician Bruno Mars, to host live video interactions with fans and save them for later viewing on Google’s YouTube service.
Google+ also will now leverage Google’s data prowess to automatically tag video and photo posts on the site, then show related content from elsewhere on the web. For instance, a photo of a celebrity would be identified and linked to other photos of the celebrity, screening times for their newest film and more. Content creators will be able to block such related tags for a specific photo or video, or globally for their material.
Separately, the service will offer new photo tools for users that automatically pick the best shots, optimize and enhance them, even create panoramas, animated GIFs or motion graphics out of them.
- Google’s redesigned Maps function will add a new rating service for businesses, Zagat “badges” to highlight the best restaurants, and new traffic information, including incident alerts and “dynamic re-routing” that will suggest alternative directions. A new “explore” function will suggest nearby places to visit, shop, dine and more. The new capabilities will arrive “this summer.”
- The company also said it will launch a subscription music service, Google Play Music All Access today in the U.S. for $9.99 a month.
The new service will provide access to millions of tracks in 22 genres in addition to the user’s own music, executives said. One function will build a playlist of similar songs based on the song the user is playing. The user can then tweak the playlist by reordering it or deleting tracks.
The service will have a 30-day free trial and early adopters who sign on before June 30 will get it for $7.99 a month. The service will roll out to other countries “soon,” the executive said.
- Google also announced a new cross-platform gaming service through its Google Play store that could provide a significant new competitor for established videogaming consoles from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.
The service will provide many of the basic multiplayer services common to the videogame consoles, such as leader boards and opponent- and friend-finding functions. Importantly, however, the service will allow players to go against people using devices other just Android phones and Chrome netbooks, and will keep track of game progress and achievements across multiple devices.