Enlarge / Sadly the Shoreline Amphitheatre will probably be empty this yr. Google I/O is online-only. (credit score: image alliance / Getty Photos)
Google I/O 2021 is really occurring this yr. However on account of a sure worldwide pandemic, it is going to be all on-line as a substitute of out of doors within the solar of Mountain View. Google skipped the 2020 version completely, however the firm is lastly able to ship its first ever digital Google I/O. For us onlookers, which means we’re formally coming into unknown territory.
Google I/O begins Tuesday, Could 18 at 1 pm EDT, when Google/Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai will take the stage and presumably exhibit what Google has been engaged on all yr. We have been prepping for the present ourselves, and the shift to an all-virtual occasion hasn’t lessened the quantity of tea leaves to learn. We’re anticipating to see fairly a number of issues over the subsequent week.
Properly, first, let’s discuss what we’re most likely not going to see: the Pixel 5a. At Google I/O 2019, we noticed the launch of the Pixel 3a in Could of that yr. However with I/O 2020 canceled, the Pixel 4a did not hit the market till a lot later within the following yr, on August 20, 2020. Usually we’d name the launch timeframe for the 5a a toss up between mirroring the 3a or 4a launch dates, however Google has already set us straight. Again in April, the corporate stated the Pixel 5a can be “introduced according to when final yr’s a-series telephone was launched.” In order that’s August, not Could, and never at Google I/O.
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