Google continues tweaking its products, and in May, Google I/O, Google’s annual two-day conference, featured the best new features, services and improvements in Google’s varied portfolio.
Software dominated the conference, and Google’s additions to its developer platform made implementing new software even easier.
One interesting addition announced at the Google conference was Google Play Music All Access, a subscription music service meant to compete with services such as Pandora and Spotify.
According to a Google blog post, the revamped Google Play Music application comes with access to “millions of songs.” Whether the application puts a dent in the streaming music business is debatable; Apps like Spotify and Pandora have a strong user base, and it’s unclear if Google’s offering arrived too late to compete. Google also released Hangouts, a cross-platform and group chat replacement for its Talk application.
At the conference, Google also made improvements to its Chrome browser, unveiled a new Google+ redesign with new features and previewed a new version of Google Maps with vector imaging. Google also placed an emphasis on the work of its developers and the new features available to them.
One Google blog post reports that developers can tap into the Google Maps API, include cross-platform single sign-ons with their apps and access the Google Wallet API — letting developers connect loyalty offers and promotions to Wallet and simplify the purchasing process. With the new features, Google is drawing more developers to its platform, but why was Google I/O so focused on developers?
According to Wanted Analytics, it’s because demand for software developers is growing — by 16 percent from a year ago and 190 percent from 2009. They say it is “likely difficult to source potential candidates,” and will grow more difficult as demand continues. For companies such as Google — and Apple — offering the best developer tools and features for potential developers cuts down on the difficulty to source new developers; instead, the developers come to them. In all, the Google conference focused on software — talk of Google Glass was subdued — and new tools to draw in developers and ease the search for a large pool of untapped talent who are in-demand.
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