There were two major tech conferences earlier this month: Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Build 2018, from May 7 to May 9, and Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) I/O, from May 8 to May 10. Which conference boasted the most excitement and innovation? Here's the biggest news from each event.
A year ago, Microsoft announced that it was going to integrate its personal digital assistant, Cortana, with Amazon Echo and Alexa, the virtual assistants developed by Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). The Build 2018 conference was the first time Microsoft demonstrated how this integration will actually work. The feature remains in beta, but Microsoft has launched a website where consumers can keep track of the project's development.
Microsoft also introduced Windows 10 Timeline, which helps keep track of apps and activities for users. The Timeline function will now be usable with both iOS and Android, too. For the time being, it will mostly be Microsoft's proprietary apps that are synced to Timeline, but Microsoft is actively encouraging app developers to allow this functionality. In other cross-platform news, Microsoft previewed a new app, dubbed Your Phone, that will sync Android phones and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhones with Windows 10. CEO Satya Nadella has made compatibility a major part of the Microsoft vision.
Microsoft also revealed that it's about to make a major change in the way it pays developers. It's long been standard practice for big app stores to take a 30% cut of all revenue an app earns, but Microsoft will now under certain circumstances - only for consumer apps, but not including games - take only a 5% cut. Microsoft has had trouble attracting developers to its store, so the company is clearly hoping that this will be a huge draw.
Other major announcements include that Microsoft will be reimagining its Kinect device, formerly an accessory for its Xbox gaming console, as a cloud service, and a change in the way Alt-Tab works that will make it easier for users to navigate between tabs.
Meanwhile, over at Google I/O, the focus was on a different kind of innovation: machine learning. Google ran a demo of its Duplex system, a digital voice assistant capable of imitating a human to make calls for appointment scheduling - setting up an appointment at a salon or making a restaurant reservation, for instance. The service drew unexpected controversy for the dubious ethics involved in having a computer pose as a human. To allay some of these concerns, Google has since announced that Google Assistant will notify people that Duplex calls are being recorded.
Google also announced that it will launch a Google News project, which will compile articles based on a user's taste and will include a fact-checking component. Some users are also worried that this, too, might pose ethical problems, as Google becomes ever more mixed into our personal lives. Google's introduction of Gmail Smart Compose, a predictive composition feature that will help users write emails faster, is another example of this general trend. Google also introduced Smart Displays, a screen-enriched smart speaker system, which will be on sale through hardware partners like Lenovo (HKG: 0992), LG (KRX: 066570), Sony (NYSE: SNE), and JBL (NYSE: JBL).