Our Google IO 2021 live blog is underway, and we’re gearing up to see the Google Pixel 5a, Pixel Buds A and Pixel Watch. Plus, we should get our first look at Android 12 and maybe new Wear OS updates. It just started today, May 18 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, or 3am AET on May 19.
We have a guide on how to watch along with Google IO 2021, and we’re talking you through everything that happens at the initial keynote event in this live blog below.
Google IO 2021 live blog
All times are in Pacific Standard Time (PST)
1:24am: Ok, in all seriousness, LaMDA could be a fun and interesting way for people to learn about topics like Pluto.
10:20am: Important Update: Pluto is not a planet, according to our friends at Space.com. Google should close its doors by the end of the day for being this wrong during a Google IO presentation about the ‘knowledge graph.’ It’s been a fun ride.
10:18am: Is Pluto still a planet these days? Google keeps referring to it as a planet this IO live stream, as I’m unsure if that’s right anymore. If it’s a planet again, science needs to get its act together and stop confusing kids/me. If it’s NOT a planet, Google’s entire should go out of business.
10:16am: Natural language breakthrough: Google’s LaMDA is designed to converse on any topic and explore novel interactions. It understands a lot about a topic like Pluto, oddly conversing with the former planet. It’s very strange.
10:14am: What’s behind Google’s latest smart tech? Image recognition behind your photo data is helping the company learn. Google Lens can now take photos of math problems and solve them. Google Lens has been used 3 billion times in the last month.
10:12am: Google has set out to translate the web. Usage is up 4x from last year and Google has given us a mega number: 20 billion web pages were translated by the company in the last month.
10:09:am: Google Meet is popping up in more places. It’ll be available directly in Docs and Sheets. Google Meet is getting special camera zoom and lighting controls for clearer shots. Live Captions and Translation is coming, too.
10:08am: Google Smart Canvas is a new workspace experience announced. It’ll allow you to generate plans and add tasks your team is currently working on. Goes after Asana/Monday.com/Airtable/Trello.
10:05am: Chromebook are the No. 1 device globally in education K-12.
10:03am: Google Maps is seeing updates with eco-friendly routes most fuel-efficient route to reduce car emissions and fuel consumption. There are also 150,000 miles of bike lanes in Google Maps.
10:00am – Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai is in Mountain View, but in front of a small group of people. Google is keeping this event safe once again. He’s talking about building a more helpful Google for everyone.
09:41 – It’s almost time for Google IO 2021’s main keynote to begin. What are you most excited for? We’re hoping there will be new smartphones, wearables and new headphones as well.
With Android 12 likely to take up a bit part of today’s show, it may be a while until we hear about this new tech from Google. The company may even decide to just focus on software, only time will tell.
Follow along with us here as we get to the event time itself, and we’ll talk you through everything happening on stage while the big show is on.
08:48 – Planning to watch along as Google announces its new tech? You can use the embed just above to follow everything that’s happening live and you can read our breakdown of the event here.
08:00 – Then there’s the Google Pixel 5a, which could be the star of today’s show. That may be the highlight, at least when it comes to hardware as it’s always exciting when we get a new smartphone from Google.
07:08 – Everything for Google IO 2021 is virtual, but in previous years the event has been a physical one where you can attend.
Google canceled the May 2020 event in early March 2020, right at the advent of the pandemic when everyone had begun to shelter in place and live events felt increasingly unsafe. It seemed that redeveloping IO as a virtual event on short notice wasn’t feasible at the time, though events held later in the year like Apple’s WWDC 2020 were rapidly converted to online-only presentations.
Google normally holds the Google IO keynote and subsequent developer sessions in physical gatherings at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, where COVID-19 restrictions on large events (but not masks) will lift in mid-June.
Even if Google wanted to deal with a fully-masked event or checking attendees’ vaccination cards, it wouldn’t want to delay the event a month and potentially mess up release schedules for its hardware. Plus, the company has likely been planning it in an online-only format for months.
05:50 – So what actually is Google IO? It’s the company’s developer conference, so it’s partly where we hear about new software updates for platforms like Android and Wear OS, but it’s also an experience for third-party developers to attend conferences and learn more about Google’s software platforms.
The big focus is always the opening keynote, but the actual event itself is three days long so it’ll be spread out from May 18 until May 20.
You can view the official Google IO schedule now, where you’ll find keynotes, AMAs, workshops, meetups and developer sessions. Many will be too technical for casual viewers, but you can filter the schedule to only view ‘Beginner’ events.
We can’t predict what you’ll find interesting, but we’re already intrigued by some of the panels ourselves. One such workshop is ‘Create your first tile in Wear’, using the ‘latest Tiles API release’. This suggests that a big update could be coming to Wear OS or its app store, with Google’s team ready to walk developers through the transition.
That one’s more for professionals than casual tech nerds. But we think TechRadar readers would enjoy the series of ‘What’s New with X’ keynotes at Google IO. Topics include updates to Android, Google Play, Google Assistant, Machine Learning (AI), Chrome OS, and smart homes. All of these could expand upon the big reveals of the keynote.
Plus, you can attend AMAs on specific topics and directly ask Google developers about new changes, or go to meetups themed around professional development in tech.
05:15 – Will we see the Google Pixel 6 at today’s big launch? It’s very, very unlikely as often the company unveils its next-gen flagship phone later in the year. That said, we’ve seen a variety of leaks around the upcoming phone in recent weeks so we’re not ruling out the fact we may hear a teaser or something of a hint at the next-gen phone.
04:17 – Olivia Tambini, Audio and Music Editor for TechRadar, says “We’ve been hearing a lot of rumors that the next Google Pixel Buds will launch at today’s event – and we’re hoping that Google has made some substantial improvements to its wireless earbuds.
“While we liked the cute, rounded design of the earbuds, the audio quality and battery life left a lot to be desired, and that means the original Pixel Buds couldn’t hold their own against the likes of the Apple AirPods. They were pretty pricey, too.
“As the next-gen earbuds are rumored to be called the Google Pixel Buds A, we’re thinking that they could be cheaper than their predecessors – Google has previously offered more budget-friendly variants of its Pixel phones with the Pixel 3a and Pixel 4a. If Google can offer better audio, a longer battery life, and a cheaper price, it could really be onto a winner.”
03:02 – Expecting to tune into the event as it happens later today? If you want to, you can watch along through Google’s own livestream on YouTube using the link below. We’d recommend following along on this live blog while you do so though.
02:00 – Welcome to TechRadar’s Google IO 2021 live blog, where we’ll be talking you through everything happening at today’s big tech launch as it happens.
We’ve heard leaks and rumors around a variety of tech announcements, so we may be seeing new hardware from Google today. We’re expecting the Google Pixel 5a, Pixel Buds A and maybe even the long-rumored Google Pixel Watch as well.
Google IO is where the company unveils new software, so it’s very likely we’ll be hearing about all the new features you can expect in the Android 12 update, and there may be improvements for its Wear OS platform as well.
Stick with this live blog when the event starts, and we’ll talk you through everything as it happens on stage.