Google I/O Preview: Google Glass UK, Nexus 8 And Moto 360

Google Has A Few Things Up Its Sleeve (And One Thing On Its Wrist)
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Google I/O is just a few days away, and already there's plenty of discussion about what the company will unveil at its annual developers conference.

The announcement that Google Glass has launched in the UK was clearly no coincidence with Google I/O just a few days away. Could Google start making a big push towards a consumer launch of Google Glass, or maybe it'll announce Android Wear for Google Glass?

Tablets are expected to be a big deal at this year's show. The Nexus 7 2013 version came out over a year ago and we haven't heard a peep of anything since Google unveiled the Nexus 10.

Google Glass is expected to be another thing on the list, whilst things have been quiet in terms of a consumer release Google will surely be keen to tie it into their expanding ecosystem of wearable tech.

Finally there's Android Wear, the all-singing all-dancing wearable OS that will debut on the stunning Moto 360 smart watch.

Oh, and Android 4.5 (or perhaps 5.0) itself...

Nexus 8 tablet

The Nexus 8 could in fact be a Nexus 9 according to a new leak by Android Police. The leak shows specs as well as the first images of the 'HTC Volantis' or Nexus 9.

This is a long time coming, in fact it's more than a long time coming. Google has been spectacularly quiet about own-brand tablets despite having huge success with the Nexus 5 and the Nexus 7.

Analysts believe this is essentially because Google has given up on large-scale tablets, which makes the Nexus 8 all the more likely.

The new Nexus tablet will reportedly come with a blisteringly fast Nvidia Tegra K1 chip and boast a screen that would compete with the iPad Air.

The ever present and rumour-filled Digitimes seemingly confirm the reports that HTC will make the Nexus 8.

Designed to take on the likes of the iPad Air and Samsung's new Tab the Nexus 8 would be a 8.9-inch pure Google tablet offering high-end specs at a very low price.

Google Glass in the UK

So it's official, Google has unveiled Glass for the UK and it'll cost you a pretty extraordinary £1000. Becoming part of the 'Explorer' program not only gets you a Google Glass it'll also give you access to the huge range of pretty incredible things Google Glass can do.

If Google is planning to launch Glass in the future as a piece of consumer hardware it'll need to start rolling out not only development kits worldwide but also start putting them in the hands of consumers and the addition of the UK certainly seems like a step in that direction.

The launch of Glass in the UK certainly raises more questions that it answers, hopefully Google will answer a few of those this week.

Android Wear and the Moto 360

It's the next big thing and until Apple announces an iWatch to compete with it Android Wear and the Moto 360 are leading the pack when it comes to Smart Watches.

Google's already given us a taste of what to expect with Android Wear, not only with the Moto 360 but also with this handy new developer video which gives a dry, but interesting look at how Android Wear will work on your wrist.

Then of course there's the Moto 360 smart watch, arguably the best thing to come out of the tech world since Apple first unveiled the new Mac Pro.

Boasting a sleek metallic design the Moto 360 actually looks like a watch you'd want to own. In fact it's looking even better after Motorola held a competition to design the best Moto 360 watch faces.

Samsung Gear with Android Wear

As well as the Moto 360 Samsung has long-confirmed that it'd be launching an Android Wear Samsung Gear.

This would be as well as the current Gear 2 Neo and Gear 2 which both run an all-new Tizen OS which, whilst pretty, is currently restricted to being compatible with Samsung smartphones only.

The clear advantage of having a Gear running Android Wear is that it could potentially be compatible with both all Android smartphones and iOS devices, something which Google Glass currently already does.

The Wear Gear (try saying that after a few drinks) would look pretty much identical to the Gear smart watches but instead of the heavily skinned UI currently featured it would run a pure version of Android Wear.

Google I/O: Android 4.5 or Android 5.0

If there's one thing you can rely on it's that Google will create a schedule and then promptly ignore it, such is the way of Android's operating system.

With KitKat we saw what was a visually big change but when it came to numbers the software appeared to be incremental.

With the prospect of smart wearables making a big appearance at the developer conference it seems likely that Google will launch Android 5.0 Lollipop.

We've already seen leaked images of a complete icon redesign for Google with new icons for Gmail, Google Maps and the Google Play Store.

It would also help bring in line some of the services which are beginning to look dated such as Google's Gmail app which has remained almost unchanged for some time.

Could this be the first sign of a universal design theme which would cover everything from wearables to Chromebooks?