Google I/O 2014 Day 1: Chromebook and the rest

The first day of the Google I/O conference for 2014 is over and the company has made some pretty big revelations. While the Android ecosystem is definitely getting an overhaul, other Google services and products also play an important role in the future of the company. The Chromebook, Chromecast, Google Drive and new health apps have demonstrated Google's seriousness towards conforming the mobile and PC arenas. Here's what the company announced.

Chromebook

The Chromebook plays a big role in Google’s efforts to bring the PC and mobile arenas together. At the I/O conference, the company announced that the Chromebook can now run Android apps. More importantly though, you can use an Android L-powered smartphone to unlock, lock or login to web apps on the Chromebook. The proximity sensing abilities of the Android L OS come into play for this functionality.

Google Fit

Apple has its own health apps, Samsung has its SAMI suite of applications and now Google has the Google Fit suite of applications. This is a set of cross-platform applications, which can track fitness-related activities. Google already has Nike, Adidas, Runkeeper and some smartphone makers as partners for the project. Amongst this, Nike will bringing its Fuel platform to the Google Fit program.

Chromecast

The Chromecast can now stream directly from an Android smartphone or tablet, which means that even if your device is not on the same Wi-Fi network as the Chromecast, you can still cast your phone’s or tablet’s screen on another screen through the Chromecast.

Google Drive

The update to Google Drive, with new presentation and other features could be bad news for Microsoft. In addition, Google gave some numbers, which should be alarming to the Windows maker. As with Google Docs, you can use Google Presentation to create full fledged presentations. Moreover, you can run them on all your devices seamlessly. The new update will also include features to differentiate your work files from your personal files. Google also announced a 10$ per month unlimited storage plan on the Google Drive, probably the best cloud storage deal till date.