Google I/O and its impact to Asia with Ben Bajarin

Ben Bajarin from Creative Strategies & Techpinions joined us in a two part conversation on post Google I/O & Apple WWDC 2017 and its impact to Asia. In the first part, we discussed the major announcements arising from Google I/O 2017 with the focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented / virtual reality (AR/VR), the tension rising between the Asian OEMs with Google on the Android fragmentation and developer engagement & whether Andy Rudin’s new gig with the Essential phone be acquired by one of the major Asian OEMs.

Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included):

• Ben Bajarin (@benbajarin, LinkedIn, Techpinions profile) from Creative Strategies and Techpinions. [0:44]
  • What have you been up to since we last spoke? [1:04]
• Google I/O 2017 [2:03]
  • What are the key announcements from Google I/O this year? [2:25]
  • Android has reached 2B monthly active devices this year, and where is the growth opportunity for Android and given their fragmentation, how are they going to monetize given that most Android OEMs don’t make a lot of profits as compared to Samsung in the emerging markets? [5:56]
  • Any chance of another mobile OS might show up if Google continues not to focus on Android moving forward? [10:06]
  • In Google I/O 2017, the Google Assistant will come to iOS, does that mean that their strategy is still distribute their service across all platforms, and will you see a situation where Google might find a way into other platforms for example, Amazon Echo? [12:20]
  • The most interesting announcement to the emerging markets is Google Go, which they are targeting the next billion. Given that they are not successful with Android One in the years before, will they be able to penetrate into the emerging market? [15:10] 
  • One interesting discussion is on Google’s new AI chip known as Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) and given your interest in semiconductors, can you discuss why Google build a new AI chip and how they will use this AI chip into their next stage? [16:52]
  • Recently, Andy Rudin, the creator of Android created the Essential phone running on Android and announced the Ambient OS that focused on IoT and AI in Recode, where do you see the premium android device market will go and will Andy Rudin’s company eventually be acquired by one of the Asian OEMs or Chinese companies? [19:30]
  • What’s Google AR and VR roadmap heading in 2017? [25:15]

Editor’s note: We experience some recording difficulties coming from Skype lately not just for this one, hence if the quality is not so good, our apologies in advance. 

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The show is hosted by Bernard Leong (@bleongcw) and are sponsored by Ideal Workspace (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) with their new Altizen Desk on Indiegogo (Twitter, Facebook, Medium). Also check out Ideal Workspace’s new standing desk, Altizen and sign up for their mailing list. Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, “The Beginning” from Red Cliff Soundtrack.