Google I/O 17 SL, by Mobitel - Google IO Keynote Speech

We kick off the keynote to a quick animation, that outlines all of Google's Projects.

Without further ado, out comes Sundar Pichai. A couple of minutes of mandatorily plugging Google later, he gets into the real body of the Event.

To start off with, he casually announces a new service to be added to Google Mail. Smart Reply will be able to learn from you, and quickly allow you to reply to emails with a message-based experience.

The next big announcement is Google Lens, which is basically an integration of Google's myriad services with vision as an input device.

Coming on next, we have a kind of TPU, which is basically an upgrade to proceessing units. Offering significant upgrades to power and speed for the specific purpose of making computers more amenable to AI.

An announcement for developers - The Google Assistant SDK will be out for developers to integrate into their own solutions.

With Actions on Google now on mobile phones. we could be looking at a whole overhaul of how phones fundamentally work. It may not be a replacement of the app paradigm just yet, but it is coming pretty close.

Next up, updates to Photos. Smart sharing's now a feature. Google will now find pictures in your device. and suggest you share them with the people in them. Sounds simple; isn't.

As expected, Google Lens will be integrated with Google Photos, integrating computer vision with the capability to analyse images.

As for updates to Youtube. I'm not too impressed technically. The idea of "Superchats" is Youtube assigning a process and a name to an already existing process, which, while not too revolutionary, is definitely a great thing to see.

Moving on to the next section - Android. Picture-in-Picture, like Superchats before it, isn't really anything new, BUT is in fact something that many a user has definitely wished for before.

The upgrades to notification dots? Smart Selection? Vitals? More of the same. Streamlining of an already existing process to improve an existing user experience is something that can never go unappreciated.

A couple of big announcements for Android Devs, Kotlin is now an official language compatible with Android. With improvements to their profiling tools, and the Dashboard, where an Android app can be analysed and top issues can be highlighted. Also coming is the beta release of Android O, although it's only out for an extremely limited set of devices.

As a person that struggled with an Samsung S Duos for two years, Android Go seems like a great feature. It's nice to know persons with low-end phones will not be left behind.

Finally, there is Gboard, which integrates translation services and phonetic typing into a single keyboard, something which I, as a multilingual person, personally like very much. No more struggling with different keyboard layouts.

"Great momentum with apps, more Daydream-ready phones, and a standalone headset coming leater this year." Quick summary about VR from the presenter himself.

Moving on to AR, I find that the most interesting idea here is VPS (Visual Positioning System). It could be incredibly helpful to the visually impaired, and even just to people looking to navigate an area.

As an undergraduate looking to enter the job market, I find the idea of being able to find open job postings right through Google Search to be really interesting.

Looking at the keynote, it's clear that the future from scifi movies isn't so far off.

Google I/O 17 SL, by Mobitel - I Dream of 5G

The next major item on the list is a presentation on 5G, by Gobinath S. Govindasamy.

A criticism I've had of all the speakers so far is that they are far too technical for a layman to comprehend. Mr Govindasamy, the presenter of this paritcular item, however, seems to at least be aware that he is being overly technical, and seems to be striving to keep his presentation on common terms.

He states that 5G may not be as far off as you think. It could even be as close as 2018. The new 5G standard comes with vastly increased speed and bandwidth, to the point that it could even be used in an application that requires split-second timing, like in cars.

Google I/O 17 SL, by Mobitel - Drones - Its Revolution and Evolution

I'm back with the second major item on Mobitel's agenda. A presentation called "Drones - its revolution and evolution", delivered by Manju Gunawardene.

The presentation is, predictably, on the role of Drones in the future of Sri Lanka. Manju Gunawardene is a little technical -  and anyone that isn't conversant with the field may start to lose interest, as evidenced by looking around at the audience.

However, it sounds like the use of drones has really helped the government analyse the dump at Meethotamulla, and even identify difficulties in relocating the garbage and find even as much as an underground pond.

He goes on to illustrate the use of drones in precision agriculture, and other similar application fields. Their real strength is in data collection so that actual variances and differences can be detected by actual experts, then acted upon by the concerned parties.

Google I/O 17 SL, by Mobitel - InspireSL

Hi everyone. I'll be blogging about Mobitel's I/O '17 SL event over on Facebook, Twitter, and here. Thanks to Mobitel for hosting the event, and to Readme for the great seats!

InspireSL competition.
The first thing on Mobitel's agenda - the Inspire SL Competition's final round. Some excellent talent on display here. May the best team win.

Teams and products

• I seem to have missed the first team to go up, Plexa by Datacon.
• The second product and team, Lawyered by Hustlers, is a product that aims to make the law more accessible to the common man by deciphering the legalspeak usually associated with legal documents.
• The third product and team, Bazura by Verzions, is a product that all IT undergraduates have probably toyed with at one point or another - how to streamline the process of trash collection. This project, has a unique twist in that it allows people to bid on other people's trash, thereby streamlining the recycling process.
• The fourth product/team, SafeAgri by AgroInventors, a one-man team which makes their presentation in Sinhalese. Their product, SafeAgri, aims to solve the problem of the overuse of pesticides in commercial agricultural application via the use of a delightfully '60s sci-fi looking device, that apparently is capable of keeping away pests without the grievous harm to the environment. An impressive project to be certain.

Of the teams I've seen so far, technically, SafeAgri seems to be the most impressive. I do not know, however, if they will be able to win, seeing as they are working with the handicap of having presented in Sinhalese. I do love a good underdog story.

• The last team to come up, have a great, simple concept, IJX - Angel. A drone capable of flying to drowning swimmers and quickly giving them lifesaving gear.

EDIT: The winner will be announced shortly.
EDIT: The winner of InspireSL is SafeAgri! Congratulations!