Google I/O 2022 keynote: Android 13 and all of the new Pixel hardware announced

Good morning, we're a little less than 30 minutes out from Google kicking off Google I/O 2022, if you can't watch it live on YouTube then we'll offer you the next best thing with all of the latest news as its announced. 

While we wait for things to get underway, let's take a quick look at what we could see  announced today. The Pixel 6a is going to be top of mind for most Android fans with Google's most affordable Pixel 

While we wait for things to get underway, you can enjoy the concert going on ahead of the keynote, but let's also take a quick look at what we can expect today.

The Pixel 6a is going to be top-of-mind for most Pixel fans as Google looks to bring some of the heat generated by the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro to its most affordable smartphone. That includes not only the visor design, but presumably the new Tensor chip that debuted last year. While the details regarding the hardware in the Pixel 6a are intriguing, perhaps the biggest question is what will it cost as Google set a high (low?) bar for itself with the $599 price for the Pixel 6, suggesting the Pixel 6a could drop below the $449 we saw for the Pixel 5a last year.

The Pixel Watch is the other major product release that could happen today, which after years of leaks appears to be finally close to release with an allegedly lost prototype Pixel Watch turning up recently.

At Google I/O 2021, the company made a major announcement with its partnership with Samsung delivering a much-needed shot in the arm for Wear OS. And while the resulting Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic gave Wear OS a massive market share boost, we have yet to see anyone else benefit and Google likely wouldn't mind being the beneficiary.

The design leaks and alleged prototype line up almost perfectly, giving us a reasonable level of confidence in both, but that doesn't mean that it will debut today.

Unsurprisingly the Pixel Watch uses a circular display, most Wear OS watches have stuck to this design since the early days of Google's wearable efforts. The prototype is quite a bit thicker than the earlier renders would have suggested, but it's possible the final shipping product will be a bit thinner and notably, the curved design makes it not seem as thick on the wrist.

While those are the top contenders, there have been rumors of Pixel Buds Pro earbuds and of course, there have been persistent rumors of a Pixel Fold phone as well. We wouldn't lay any money down on either arriving today, but they can't be ruled out completely.

From a software standpoint, we are hoping to hear quite a bit more about Android 13, while Pixel and OnePlus 10 Pro owners can already install the Android 13 beta, there's not too much to see just yet. Safe to assume that Google will have more to tell us about what Android 13 will look like when it arrives later this fall.

We're underway!

Sundar Pichai welcomes the in-person attendees back to Shoreline for the first time in 3 years. 

Pichai is celebrating some wins for Google Forecasting with alerts regarding flooding, and instructions for finding Covid vaccine centers helping tens of millions of users. 

Pichai is looking at a number of advancements to Google Translate, with 24 new languages being added to the service. Machine learning is allowing Translate to advance faster than ever with new learning models.

A new leak from @evleaks has potentially offered a look at the specs for the Pixel 6a ahead of its launch with a 6.1-inch display, a Tensor processor, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. Rear cameras are a 12.2MP wide-angle and 12MP ultra-wide, with an 8MP front-facing camera. These cameras would include Google's powerful Magic Eraser, Real Tone and Face Unblur features. Support for 4K 60 video rounds out the specs. Blass has a strong track record, but we likely won't have long to wait to find out if these are accurate. 

A new automated summarization feature coming to Google Docs in the next few months essentially creates a TL;DR version of any document in seconds. It will also be available for Google Meet meetings in the future. 

Google Meet is picking up some tricks from the Pixel cameras with studio lighting and Real Tone to help users look their best during virtual meetings. 

Google Lens is "used over 8 billion times a month," which is a 3x increase from last year. Helping people to find what they need or want an answer to by simply taking a picture.

Google's Multisearch allows users to snap a screenshot and find a wide array of information about that image. A Multisearch Near Me feature will allow you to see nearby restaurants that serve a food in your image or a product that you are looking for like a replacement cable for your laptop or TV.

A new AR feature in Lens will overlay useful information on top of whatever you are viewing to help guide you when shopping. This includes reviews of the products to details about them and the ability to refine for personal preferences if for example, you have a nut allergy. 

Google's Real Tone, a feature that debuted on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro last year, helps to ensure that peoples unique skin tone is captured properly. Google is taking this even further by working with a Dr. Monk, who has spent the last 10 years building the "Monk Skin Tone Scale," and is applying this scale to Photos and Search.

In Search this will allow you to filter by skin tone, an invaluable tool when searching for products like makeup.

Google is open sourcing the Monk skin tone scale to ensure that anyone can take advantage of this research to make their products more inclusive.

Google Assistant is up next!

Two new options so you don't have to say "Hey Google" every time. First is "Look and Talk" rolling out today for Nest Hub Max, just look at it and you'll be able to start talking to it when it recognizes your eye contact. This is processed entirely on device so it isn't going to anyone else.

Quick phrases is the other method, with a half dozen new options coming soon and more on the way. If you are extremely privacy conscious then don't worry, you are in control over whether these are active.

Google is also improving the natural language processing on Assistant to make sure it still gets your search complete even if you have an "um" or "uh" mid-search and flub the exact wording of your search. 

Google's LaMDA is short for "Language Model for Dialogue Applications," and it represents Google's research into conversation. The app interprets your questions and attempts to provide an appropriate conversational response versus a traditional search result. Pichai walked through the app helping to craft a story and then the Test Kitchen App was used to create a task list for planting a vegetable garden. The app will be available in beta later this year to help provide feedback and improve LaMDA.

Google Tensor! Jen Fitzpatrick is covering how Google is working to keep users safe online. This includes important work from Google's Threat Analysis Group that seeks to identify threats online and inform and protect users.

Google "builds security into everything it makes" Google detects and blocks billions of threats in Gmail, Google Play and Chrome every day. Soon Google will integrate new protections into Google Office Suite.

Chrome and Android are gaining support for virtual credit cards to protect your actual card numbers online. The feature is rolling out later this summer.

Google is hammering privacy hard, covering how it "de-identifies your data" to ensure that no one, including Google, can access your data. This allows Android to suggest responses to messages without retaining any of the messages or inputting your password without sharing that password with Google.

Google is covering its new feature coming soon that will allow you to remove your phone number, email address and other personal information from Google Search.

Android 13 is up next!

Sameer Samat takes the stage to cover what's coming in Android.

There are three big themes for Android 13: phone at the center, extending beyond the phone, and better together.

Samat takes a shot at Apple by saying that Google hopes "everyone gets the message and adopts RCS" for messaging to ensure that users are safe no matter what device they use. 

Google has digital IDs coming to Google Wallet later this year, starting with driver's licenses. This mirrors what we saw from Apple, but time will tell if Google has better luck getting this feature rolled out to everyone.

A brief story covered how a man's life saved by Android's car accident detection and similar safety features are coming this year with Wear OS adding SOS later this year and a Quake notification system coming to Android.

Wear OS has tripled its active users over the last year.

Google touts 270 million active large-screen Android devices. Critically Google is taking some extra steps to make the experience on these devices better with updates to 20 of its own apps to better make use of the extra screen real estate. 

Apps like TikTok, FaceBook and more are also updating for larger-screen Android devices and Google will help you surface these tablet-optimized apps in Google Play. It is absolutely mind-blowing that it took Google this many years to do this, but better late than never.

Google's better together initiative is improving your interactions between your phone, laptop, tablet and even TV. This includes features like copying and pasting wirelessly between devices and more. 

Fast Pair is Google's answer to connecting your devices quickly and easily. It's as seamless as pairing on Apple when it is supported, so it's good to see them pushing these partnerships further and hopefully it becomes more pervasive this year.

Pixel hardware!

Pixel 6 is the fastest-selling Pixel ever. Already sold more than Pixel 4 and 5 combined!

Pixel 6a is confirmed, sticks to the $449 price point. Same iconic design language from the Pixel 6 and featuring the Google Tensor chip.

Critically it is the same Google Tensor chip found in the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, so no nerfed processor for the affordable model.

The cameras offer support for all of the great camera features that debuted in the Pixel 6 and there are even improvements to Magic Eraser, allowing you to change the color of potentially distracting objects rather than removing them completely. In the sample above a bright green cooler was changed to that more muted tan.

The Pixel 6a will be available in three colors starting July 21 online and in stores July 28.

Google Pixel 7!? No it's not available, but Google is already giving us a look at the hardware! 

Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will come with the next generation of Google Tensor.

The Pixel Buds lineup is being expanded with Pixel Buds Pro this summer, the first Google earbuds to feature active noise cancellation.

Pixel Buds Pro will deliver 7 hours of battery life with ANC on and 11 hours without ANC, an impressive figure for the earbuds themselves, so we'll be interested to test that out. Spacial audio support will arrive after launch. Pixel Buds will be available starting July 21 for $199.

Pixel Watch!

Pixel Watch will feature deep integration with Fitbit, continuous heart rate and sleep tracking and track your progress against your goals. Coming later this fall. No pricing information, so we are expecting Pixel Watch to arrive alongside the Pixel 7.

Pixel Tablet!? Ok, now Google is just going wild. The tablet won't arrive until next year, but we got a brief glimpse at the hardware that will integrate with the rest of the lineup.

Sundar Pichai is back talking about AR.

AR allows you to spend time "focusing on what matters in the real world," according to Pichai. They want to augment and overlay without actually taking you out of real life.

These glasses provide a live translation of what is being said to you using Google Translate as the engine for the translation.

That's it! Google I/O 2022 keynote is a wrap! Wow! Pixel 6a, Pixel Watch, Pixel Buds Pro, Pixel 7, and Pixel Tablet on top of all those amazing software announcements was more than anyone bargained for so make sure to check Laptop Mag for our in-depth coverage on all of today's announcements.