Google IO 2011 Android Keynote Video, Highlights [Takeaways]

Google IO 2011 keynote literally blew everyone’s mind. Google kickstarted the event with a number of announcements that every android user & developer was waiting to hear.

Update: Keynote Video now available (scroll to bottom)

Here’s a list of things that were announced:

1. Movie Rentals:

You can now rent and watch movies on any android device or via browser as low as $1.99. The rental is valid for 30 days and 24hours after starting the video first time. You can even download the whole movie, and watch it offline on your tablet or phone.

2. Android Honeycomb 3.1

• Full support for Google TV along with Tablets. Same UI, same apps. New Google TV PArtners: Samsung, Vizio in addition to Logitech, Sony.
• Resizable widgets on homescreen, plus other ui improvements.
• USB host mode that will let you connect any USB device with your Honeycomb device beit be  importing photos from your digital camera, or an Xbox 360 controller.
• Google’s new Movies app that will let you rent thousands of movies from the Android market, and it will be available on Google TVs as well
• New Apps: Books
• New graphical transitions, animations, more GPU powered (hardware accelerated), faster, better UI.
• Data storage encryption.

3. Google Music

• A free beta service for you to upload 20,000 songs to google’s cloud, free of cost
• Playback anywhere: Browser, any android phone, Tablet.
• Cached locally on phone/tablet.
• iTunes, Media player compatible desktop clients that syncs your playlists.
• “No wires, no painful syncing — it’s all just available instantly.”

4. Android IceCream Sandwich (Android 4.0)

• Unified for Smartphones + Tablets goodbye fragmentation
• New innovative features like face-tracking and camera focus shifting based on voice recognition.

5.  Guaranteed updates:

Manufacturers and carriers committed to making sure their Android devices receive the very latest updates. All four major US carriers (and Vodafone) as well as HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola are on board, and all will guarantee you timely upgrades to the latest version of Android for eighteen months after release, provided the hardware’s capable.

6.  Android Hardware accessory support:

• Use any external hardware/accessory with your Android device e.g. workout machine or a massage chair.
• Full sport for DIY Arduino based hardware projects using ADK.
• Several hardware accessories to be available soon.

7.  Android@Home

• Google wants to think of “every appliance in your home” as a potential accessory for your phone. this brings endless possibilities. You cna do nasty stuff like turning on and off based on calendar events, applications talking to washing machines, games automatically adjusting for mood lighting, and basically little green dudes taking care of all the menial duties in your house.
• One amazing demo was a concept, Android-powered device hub called Tungsten. Using NFC tag embedded into CD cases the device was able to detect the CD and add it to your library. Another touch and it started automatically.

Google has really taken a step further in Openness of Android, the excitement is sky high. Keynote video after a break!

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