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It has become a tradition for Google to present the new version of Android at Google I / O. The interest in the mobile operating system is huge, as it drives the larger part of the smartphones and tablets worldwide. At the conference, Google did not fail to boast that the number of active Android devices had already reached 900 million. The surprise of the conference was that instead of announcing the new version codenamed "Key Lime Pie" as expected, Google presented the fastest-selling version of the Galaxy S4 smartphone made by the Koreans from Samsung. From June onwards, the smartphone will be offered with Android 4.2, it will not contain the modifications and applications of Samsung and will receive updates directly from the U.S. company. For the time being, the device will be sold only in the U.S., where it will be available on 26 June with unlocked bootloader and will cost $ 650. It will support the rapid LTE network and will come with 16GB of internal memory.

Google+ with a new design and options for uploading and sharing photos

The new design of Google+ is inspired by the great version of iPad and tablets with Android OS. Until yesterday, it had used the one-column style in which we had to scroll from top to bottom to view all news and videos. From today onwards, the new version offers us a network of three columns in which each post is in the form of a tile. You can discuss, like, share the content of each tile or you may turn it to view its latest activity. This option is particularly well developed as it creates a specific sense of interactivity.

There is a radical change in the way you update your status. The window that is always in the upper left corner will expand and move to the middle of the screen as soon as you click with the mouse on it to start writing. The five buttons built into it - Text, Photos, Attach Files, Video and Hangout - will be available whenever you need them.

There are changes in the options bar that remains hidden until you "call" it by the "Home" button, which provides you with a larger and better-arranged useful working space.

The social network can now automatically add hashtags, scanning your photos or status updates (of course, this option can be disabled at your request).

One of the most discussed changes in Google+ was the functions of automatic image correction - Auto Enhance, Auto Awesome and Auto Highlight.

Auto Enhance analyzes and fixes some parameters of your photos. According to the presentation, it is actually a process that changes brightness and contrast, tone distribution and saturation, corrects colour, and reduces noise. One of the demonstrations showed how Google+ had automatically detected scars and blurred them to make them less visible. Auto Enhance does not destroy the original image; it just makes a better copy of it. If you do not like the results, the function can be deactivated at any time.

Auto Awesome, in turn, detects photos that are similar in terms of time and type and animates them, i.e. if you make a series of photos at short intervals or if they are similar, Google+ will automatically animate them, it will turn them into a (GIF) image.

Auto Highlight uses special algorithms, which select the best photos that you have uploaded. If you upload two identical photos or if some of the photos are out of focus, Google+ will cope with this task and it will not be necessary for you to select and delete the inappropriate photos one by one. So, the next time you upload 500 photos from your summer vacation, this will be very convenient because Google+ will automatically do everything for you.

If that's not enough, Google increases the storage space for photos from 5 to 15 GB.

Google Hangouts for messages between Android, iOS and Chrome

Google has unified the various proposals of the company for the exchange of messages and announced the new service at Google I / O. The new proposal is called Hangouts. It replaces Google Talk, Google+ Messenger and Google+ Hangout and can be used with Android, iOS and Chrome for Windows, Mac and Linux via an additional plug-in. So, one application is used for chat, calls and video calls.

The main screen contains a list of recent calls instead of the traditional contact list. The calls are in chronological order, the recent ones being at the top. You can easily send messages to one friend or a whole group, to make video calls with up to 10 participants and share photos. The transition between a computer and a mobile device is completely painless - you can start a conversation on your phone and finish it on the computer. In addition, you will have access to the entire history of exchanged replies.

Google maps with a new design for desktop, Android and iOS

At the I / O 2013 conference, Google presented a significant update of one of its most popular services, namely Maps.