What happens at Google I/O stays at Google I/O

Google’s annual event for developers is just two days away and there is already some buzz around it. Google is expected to launch a Nexus tablet, announce the next version of Android called Jelly Bean, might have an entertainment box for homes and even show off Project Glass. Of course, there will be some buzz around Chrome as well as Chromium and we will hear lot more about Google Maps and what’s new in it. However, there were lot of things that were announced at Google I/O but very little of it actually ever got adopted on a mass scale. Let’s take a look.
Android ICS: Google had first announced Android Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) at Google I/O 2011. It was supposed to be the platform to unite both smartphones and tablets. The first device running ICS was available late last year but still less than 10 percent Android smartphones are running ICS at the moment. What’s worse, majority of Android tablets that were launched on Honeycomb never got upgraded to ICS and were discontinued when vendors started launching newer versions with the latest OS.
Google Music Beta/Movie rental: This is another service Google had announced at I/O last year but it failed to take off. It was supposed to allow users to store their music in the cloud and sync it across multiple devices. Sounds simple but this too never became popular. Ditto for its movie rental store, which eventually became a part of the new Android Market, now renamed Google Play.
Android@Home: This was the big news out of I/0 2011 – the ability of apps to talk to other appliances at one’s home. It also announced Android Open Accessory to let developers create hardware accessories that would work across devices. Well, we haven’t heard anything about that either in the last one year.
Chromebooks: Google has been trying to peddle the idea of Chromebooks for over two years now and this year won’t be any different. Anyway, last year Google had demonstrated some new features on Chrome OS but till now it seems to be only used within Googleplex and certain reviewers outside.
All in all, Google I/O has usually promised loads but delivered little. Will this year be different? We certainly hope so. We will be covering Google I/O as it happens on June 27. As a bonus, I have embedded the Google I/O 2011 keynote session from Day 1 below. Grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy.