Raymundo Rush: Everything Google announced at I/O 2016

Developers and press gathered today at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, for the annual ritual known as Google I/O.

Are you ready for a Google overdose? Here's everything the company announced during its most important event of the year:

The future of Android: N Developer Preview 3

Google launched its latest Android N developer preview today - the first one to receive “beta-quality” status. Developers can start testing their apps for this release by downloading the new preview here. The factory images should arrive shortly for the following supported devices: Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus 9 LTE, Nexus Player, General Mobile 4G, and Pixel C.

Google wants your help naming Android N

Remember the rumor suggesting Google may use an online poll to name Android N? Well, it turns the rumor was half-correct: It's more of a suggestion box than a poll. Google wants to hear your what you've got at android.com/n.

Dave Burke, vice president of engineering for Android, said Google reserves the right to choose the final name. And he begged the crowd not to name it “Namey McNameface.”

Google's new Assistant

Google introduced a revamped personal digital assistant today called, aptly, the Google Assistant. It's based on existing technology, including Google Now.

The assistant will power Google's upcoming Amazon Echo competitor, Google Home, as well as its new mobile messaging app, Allo. It's voice-activated and available across devices, but the interface is packaged like a chatbot - similar to, say, Facebook Messenger's M.

Above: Google Home.

Image Credit: Screenshot

Powered by Google Assistant, Google's Home looks sort of like the company's OnHub router, introduced earlier this year. But unlike OnHub, there are no buttons, said Mario Queiroz, vice president of product management at Google. The system works with different types of mobile devices and even other kinds of speakers and television screens, Queiroz said. Various configurations will be available.

Google Home will also work with the most popular home networking systems, as well as Google's own Nest devices, Queiroz said. But more generally, it can answer any question, thanks to the underlying Assistant technology. It's basically an Amazon Echo.

“More Expressive” conversations with Allo

More uses for Google's Assistant: the company unveiled a brand new messaging service today called Allo.

Google says the service “brings the richness of Google right in the chat” while also helping you get in touch with anyone in your phone's contact list. The goal is to make your communications more expressive based on your personality. The new app will be available later this summer.

Above: Google's Duo video calling app.

Image Credit: Screenshot

A companion to the new Allo messaging app, Duo is Google's new FaceTime challenger.

Duo calls are end-to-end encrypted, Google engineering manager Eric Kay said. But the feature that makes it stand out most from other mobile-friendly video calling services - including Skype, Facebook Messenger, and Facebook's WhatsApp, not to mention Google's own Hangouts - is something called Knock Knock.

Android + VR = Daydream

Daydream is Google's plan to move beyond the Cardboard headset it introduced two years ago. It's a new platform designed to offer better virtual reality experiences on mobile devices.

Look out for a headset, a controller, and a handful of smartphones designed to work with Daydream.

Big publishers are coming to Daydream

NetEase is one of the first major game companies to commit support for Google's new virtual reality initiative. The Chinese publisher and developer announced that it is making a game for Daydream, the new mobile VR platform. The title is Twilight Pioneers, an action role-playing game with a fantasy setting.

Android Wear 2.0

Last year, the Moto 360 left us wanting more. Today, our prayers appeared to be answered with Android Wear 2.0 - which Google is calling “the most significant update to Android Wear” since the platform launched over two years ago.

Android Instant Apps load like websites

The pitch is simple: Instant apps just launch, no installation required. Tapping a URL will soon prompt Android to open an “Instant” app even if the user doesn't have that app installed.

Android Pay lets you pay on mobile sites

Google is making its Android Pay mobile payment service more widely accessible. The company today not only extended its APIs, it also created new data feeds aimed at making it easier for developers to integrate payment processing into their apps.

New Play store features for devs

Google rolled out new Google Play store features for developers today. Ellie Powers, Google Play's lead product manager, showed off improvements to how beta programs work, benchmarks, a new pre-launch report, and a slew of minor improvements.

Google Play has over 1 billion monthly active users now, which the company argues makes it “the world's largest app distribution platform.” Last year, Google Play users installed apps 65 billion times. That number is up from 50 billion in 2014, or a 30 percent increase.

Android Studio 2.2 preview

Android Studio 2.2 preview is the latest version of Android's integrated development environment (IDE). You can download the new version for Windows, Mac, and Linux now directly from the Canary page. If you are already using Android Studio, you can check for Canary updates in the navigation menu.

Firebase gets new features

Google announced big updates to Firebase, its service for helping developers build apps for Android, iOS, and the Web. At the same time, the company also simplified Firebase's pricing in an effort to woo more developers.

Google Classroom launches Coursework API

Google is announcing a new tool for developers to use if they'd like their applications to integrate with Google Classroom, a cloud service for handling assignments, coursework, and grades.

APIs for Google Slides and Google Sheets

Google is launching new tools that will make it easier for developers to have their apps do things with spreadsheets inside Google Sheets and presentations in Google Slides. Slides now has its own dedicated application programming interface (API), and there is a second, more powerful Sheets API. This will not affect the existing Sheets API.

Universal App Campaigns for iOS

Universal App Campaigns for iOS are now available in beta and will roll out to all developers “in the near future.” Additionally, Google has made it easier to target “high-value users.”

Google also revealed that over the past year, it has more than doubled the volume of app installs driven by ads. Specifically, the company has delivered over 2 billion app downloads to developers.

New Android TV partners

Google today introduced the latest generation of Android TV partnerships. The connected television platform will be integrated into Sony's and Sharp's next product lines, specifically the 2016 Bravia and Sharp Net Player, continuing a long relationship between the companies. In addition, Google has struck a partnership with RCA, which will produce its first Android TV, and Xiaomi, which will make its 4K set-top box.