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Google I/O rumour roundup: Android 4.3, new chat and gaming services, refreshed Nexus 7 tablet and more

Google I/O rumour roundup: Android 4.3, new chat and gaming services, refreshed Nexus 7 tablet and more

By Anupam Saxena | Updated: 13 May 2013 14:34 IST

Google's annual conference for developers, Google I/O starts May 15, and the Internet giant is expected to unveil a number of new products including its new unified chat service, the next iteration of the Nexus 7 tablet, an gaming service on Android, Android 4.3, and new Chrome features among others.

Google is expected to merge its various messaging platforms including Google Talk, Hangout, Voice, Messenger, Chat for Drive collaboration, and Google Talk for Google+ into one platform, which was reported to be internally called 'Babel'. However, a new report by TechRadar suggests that Google will unveil the unified chat service as Google Hangouts during Google I/O. The report cites an internal source at Google to confirm the development and also features some new screenshots of the service.

Another recent report suggests that Google might be looking at launching a refreshed Google Nexus 7 at this year's Google I/O. It quotes Ming-Chi Kuo, an Analyst with KGI Securities, who shares that the next generation of Google Nexus 7 tablet will come with a high-resolution screen and a 5-megapixel rear camera. It is expected that the tablet will have a 7-inch LTPS display with 1,980X1,200 pixel resolution.

Meanwhile Google is expected to release Android 4.3 at Google I/O this year, instead of Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie which was widely expected. The OS has already showed up on server logs tracing back to the Google campus, while there are no signs of Android 5.0.

Google is also working on Google Play Games, a game centre like service that will feature support for achievements, leader boards, real-time multiplayer games allowing users to play games with other connected players, turn-based multiplayer games such as board games where players take chances to play, and notifications. While the existence of the service was first revealed at the time of launch of the Google Glass companion app, a new report reveals that it is very slowly rolling out to devices right now and will also feature cloud based game saving. Google is expected to demonstrate the service at the I/O event.

Google might also announce Google Now integration with Chrome and Chrome OS and design changes to the web version of Google Maps that will remove the sidebar and display everything on top of the full-screen map.

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Further reading: Android 4.3, Google Hangouts, Google IO, Google I/O 2013, Google Nexus 7, Google Play Games, Google babel, Nexus 7, google, new Nexus 7