Google shifts Android news to a virtual event ahead of its I/O developer conference

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News about Android is being relegated to a side show at Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O, next month. On Monday, the company announced it would share information about the latest updates coming to the Android ecosystem at an upcoming virtual event called “The Android Show: I/O Edition,” airing on May 13.

The decision to move the Android portion of Google I/O to its own separate event ahead of the start of I/O suggests this year’s developer conference could be even more AI-heavy than usual. AI news and updates were already taking up an increasingly longer portion of the Google I/O consumer and developer keynote addresses.

Google, however, is framing this shift differently.

Instead, the company says there were “so many new things to share” about Android that it chose to create a special event — an I/O edition of its Android Show video podcast — as another way to share the latest news and changes. It also notes that Android will continue to have a presence at I/O in keynotes and technical sessions for developers.

Still, moving a bulk of the Android news to a virtual show ahead of the main event is a notable programming change for the developer conference. Whether that’s because there’s “too much news” or because Google decided Android’s news didn’t require as high a billing as in previous years remains to be seen.