In his first interview since taking over control of Android from Andy Rubin, Pichai was asked what Google watchers should expect from I/O this year. "It's not a time when we have much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system," Pichai responded. Instead, the focus will be "on all of the kinds of things we're doing for developers, so that they can write better things."
A number of things could be of use to developers and also interesting to consumers, of course. That includes an update to Android. Recent rumors and Web logs point to an incremental update to Jelly Bean - Android 4.3 - rather than a completely new version of Android, codenamed Key Lime Pie. Jelly Bean made its debut at last year's Google I/O.
Over the weekend, meanwhile, Android Police reported on a leak that revealed a host of gaming-friendly features set to arrive to the Android platform in the form of a new "Google Play Games" service. That includes Google+ gaming integration, synchronized game saves, achievement notifications, and leaderboards.
Other Google I/O rumors, meanwhile, have tipped a new, low-cost Nexus 7 and a Google Wallet app without a physical credit card.
In talking with Wired, meanwhile, Pichai said that Chrome and Android will remain two separate entities, for now.
"So in the short run, nothing changes. In the long run, computing itself will dictate the changes," he said. "The picture may look different a year or two from now, but in the short term, we have Android and we have Chrome, and we are not changing course."
Pichai was also not concerned about Facebook Home, which brings the social network front and center on the Android OS. Google is "excited they've done good work," Pichai said, something echoed by Eric Schmidt recently.
Still, "with every release of Android, we do go through changes," Pichai conceded. "So we may make changes over time. But if this is what users want, I think Facebook will be able to do it. We want it to be possible for users to get what they want."
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