Google I/O 2022 live blog: Pixel 6a, Pixel Watch, Android 13 and all the news as

Google Docs is getting automatic summaries. Using natural language processing, the feature parses documents and pulls out the major points. The Auto Summary feature is also coming to Google Chat so you can get the key highlights of a group chat (helpful if you talk to people who tend to ramble). Pichai also says they’re working to bring summaries to Google Meet as well.

Here’s a YouTube improvement that builds upon the auto-generated chapters that Google added last year. Google’s improving the process so that 80 million videos will have chapters for easier scanning. Auto-translation of captions in 16 languages is coming, too.

Google Maps is next. After recapping how Google Maps has gotten more accurate in Africa, India and Indonesia with better building data, Sundar Pichai previews immersive view for Maps It’s a 3D render that allows you to pan around cities to see the sights, traffic patterns and weather. You can even get interior views of nearby restaurants created by images. 

Immersive view is rolling out to Google Maps for select cities later this year.

First announcement: Google is adding 24 new languages to Google Translate. That total includes some of the indigenous languages of the Americas.

Our Pixel 6a hub has been updated with the leaked specs if you want some light reading during Sundar Pichai’s opening recap of Google’s recent efforts in working with the government of Ukraine and directing people to Covid vaccinations. 

“After two years of starting meetings with my mic muted, I thought I’d check,” says Sundar Pichai, performing an on-stage mic check.

And we are underway from Mountain View, California (via the YouTube app on the Apple TV in my living room). Opening video is recapping Google’s various problem-solving tools with email, cloud documents, photos and maps.

Sundar Pichai has checked in.

We’ve reached the countdown clock and preshow hype video portion of the show on the Google I/O live feed if you’re wondering.

Oh, and there’s a Pixel 6a render from Evan Blass, too, if you prefer that sort of thing. The new phone looks a lot like the Pixel 6, which we were expecting. Now all that awaits is pricing and availability, which I bet we hear about during the keynote.

Well, pack it up, everyone. Leaker Evan Blass just got the jump on Google I/O with a tweet listing the Pixel 6a specs.

Some of it’s what we expected — there’s that Tensor chip for the Pixel 6a that’s been heavily rumored. Some of the specs will disappoint people, as the refresh rate of Google’s budget phone appears to be stuck at 60Hz and the battery isn’t as big as earlier rumors had suggested.

Edited: I initially jumped the gun and thought that Google was promising five years of software updates. Alas, a closer read suggests that it’s only five year of security updates. While that’s nice, it still raises questions as to whether Google can match the four years of software updates you get with the Galaxy A53 (and Samsung flagship phones).

The Google I/O keynote feed is now live on keynote, and if you ever wanted to hear an electronica version of Zombie from The Cranberries, this is the pre-show concert for you.

Is it too early to start talking Pixel 7? Yes, in the sense that Google’s next flagship phone isn’t going to be ready until the fall. But no, in that any Android 13 or Google Assistant talk during Google I/O might reveal more about the features coming to future phones.

If you’d like to whet your appetite for Pixel 7 news while waiting for Sundar Pichai to take the Google I/O stage, you can gaze upon these leaked renders that claim to show off Pixel 7 cases. Those are some mighty odd camera cutouts, if you ask us.

All weekend long, the Android Twitter account has been running a poll on what update people are most excited to see at Google I/O. The options: security updates, messaging updates, cross-device updates, new partnerships. Our vote would be “new hardware,” but nobody asked us.

For the record, cross-device updates leads the poll as we get down to the half-hour mark before the I/O keynote.

Google bought Fitbit last year, and it’s a pretty good…