Google might be fresh off of its massive I/O developers conference, but that doesn't mean there aren't any other events on the horizon. The company has announced that it will be holding a Ubiquitous Computing Summit this fall in San Francisco.
That name is a bit vague, but the summit will center around the idea of making it simpler to use software across multiple different devices and form factors. The idea is that something should tie together the user experience between using a phone, a tablet, a TV, a smartwatch, or a car's infotainment system. And on the developer end of things, it also means that the same software should run across different platforms without writing entirely new code. According to SlashGear, a Google developer advocate says that the summit will also focus on more context-aware apps that know when, where, and how it's being used. As a goal, the summit reportedly seeks to outline a set of guidelines for developing such software.
More consistent for users and easier for developers
If that vision for the future of software sounds familiar, that's because it is. Google itself has discussed "ubiquitous computing" over the past couple of years. Android Lollipop, and Jelly Bean before it, were both marketed as steps toward unifying the Android experience across devices. In addition, in the past year, Google brought together its Android software development kits for all form factors. Microsoft, too, has sought to unify the software on its devices. Windows 10 runs not only on PCs, but on smartphones, tablets, and even the Xbox One.
A date is not yet set for the Ubiquitous Computing Summit, but we'll let you know more when we hear it. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.