Google's Biggest Announcements From I/O 2016

The next version of Google's mobile OS is almost done, and there are gobs of new features. Software updates now happen seamlessly in the background (just like Chromebooks!). Vulcan 3D graphics to improve games. Better security. Better notifications. Better multi-tasking with multi-window support. It launches "later this summer," but there's a [beta-quality release candidate](https://www.google.com/android/beta?u=0) available now for Nexus devices. Oh and what's the N stand for? [You decide](https://www.android.com/versions/name-n/).

Where there was once Cardboard, there is now Daydream. Ultimately, the name will encompass everything Google does in VR, but right now it means two things: a hardware standard for high-end smartphones, and a VR mode that’s built right into Android N. Google’s building headsets with multiple partners, too, so expect more—phone, headsets, and software—this fall.

Google dips into the smart home ecosystem again with Home. This cute little piece of hardware is a wireless speaker with a built-in voice-powered assistant. If that sounds like Amazon Echo, well, it's just like Amazon Echo—complete with third-party partners for music, podcasts, news, ordering dinner, hailing a car, and making restaurant reservations. It's also very handsome, and you get to pick your own color. Arrives this fall.

At its core, Allo is a chat app with stickers and cool interface tricks, like the ability to make your message bigger or smaller to indicate excitement (or lack thereof). But behind the scenes, there's some cool predictive tech thanks to Google's work in artificial intelligence. Check out Cade Metz's [inside look for WIRED](http://www.wired.com/2016/05/googles-new-allo-messaging-app-gets-edge-ai/).