Technology: Top announcements from the Google I/O 2016

Sundar Pichai, Google Home

San Francisco: CEO Sundar Pichai announced several upcoming software and app upgrades at the Google I/O 2016.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivers the keynote address of the Google I/O conference. Pic/PTI

The Google Assistant: Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced "Google Assistant" which will help you with daily tasks like booking movie tickets. The "Google Assistant" is conversational - an ongoing two-way dialogue between you and Google that understands your world and helps you get things done. "It makes it easy to buy movie tickets while on the go, to find that perfect restaurant for your family to grab a quick bite before the movie starts, and then help you navigate to the theater. It's a Google for you, by you," Pichai wrote in a blog post. "The Assistant is an ambient experience that will work seamlessly across devices and contexts. So you can summon Google's help no matter where you are or what the context. It builds on all our years of investment in deeply understanding users' questions," he added.

Google Home: Also unveiled was the "Google Home" - a voice-activated product that brings "Google Assistant" to any room in your house. "Google Home" lets you enjoy entertainment, manage everyday tasks and get answers from Google - all using conversational speech. With a simple voice command, you can ask Google Home to play a song, set a timer for the oven, check your flight, or turn on your lights. "It's designed to fit your home with customisable bases in different colors and materials. Google Home will be released later this year," Pichai informed.

Allo: A new messaging app called "Allo", Allo includes "Smart Reply" which suggests responses to messages based on context and comes with fun ways to make your chats more expressive, including emojis, stickers and the ability to get creative with photos.

Duo: It is a companion app for one-to-one video calling. "With Duo, our goal is to make video calling faster and more reliable, even on slower network speeds. We also introduced a feature called 'Knock Knock' which gives you a live video of the other caller before you answer," said Sundar Pichai. Both Allo and Duo are based on the user's phone number, so they can communicate with anyone regardless of whether they're on Android or iOS. Both apps will be available this summer.

An improved Android N: "We are sharing details about what's coming in Android N, including better performance for graphics and effects, reduced battery consumption and storage, background downloads of system updates, and streamlined notifications so you can power through them faster, and updated emojis including 72 new ones," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said.

Android Wear 2.0: Google also previewed "Android Wear 2.0", including a revamped user experience and stand alone apps that run right on the watch, no matter where your phone is or even if it's off.

Daydream: Google has built a new platform for high-quality mobile virtual-reality (VR) platform called "Daydream". CEO Sundar Pichai said about Daydream, "Together with Android manufacturers, we're working on upcoming phones and sharing designs with them for a VR viewer and controller that will be really immersive, comfortable and intuitive to use."

Android Instant Apps: Google says Android Instant Apps can be accessed from anywhere without installing, run as seamlessly as loading a webpage and are compatible all the way back to Jelly Bean.
- With inputs from agencies and Google's official Twitter page