Android fans will want to clear their calendars for the second week of May. Google's annual developer conference, I/O, begins on May 12, and the three-day conference is likely to showcase the next version of Android and new hardware that the company may offer.

Google announced this schedule in typical fashion. It was announced through an online co-op game, and when it was unwrapped, the dates for Google I/O 2020, May 12, 13, and 14, were revealed; Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, also announced the dates for Google I/O 2020, a stone's throw from its headquarters in Mountain View, California, at the tweeted the dates for the conference, which will be held at Shoreline Amphitheater.

In other words, we know when and where Google will gather developers this year. What we don't know yet is the agenda for this year's conference.

Google typically releases a developer beta version of this year's Android update in the spring, but Google I/O will provide a platform for a closer look at the new features coming to the mobile operating system before the full release in late summer. So, assuming Google follows the number naming convention it adopted for Android 10 last year, expect to get a detailed preview of Android 11. (Or, freed from the challenge of coming up with a Q-themed dessert, Google will return to the old naming convention for mobile operating systems and show us Android's R-themed names, such as Android Rice Krispie Treats and Android Reese's Pieces! Maybe.)

All developer conferences tend to focus on developer tools. After all, the word "developer" is in the description, and Google surprised us last year by showing off several consumer hardware devices. These surprise announcements included the Google Nest Hub Max, a 10-inch smart display, and the Pixel 3a lineup. Given the sales boost these lower-priced Google smartphones have contributed to, it would not be surprising to see a variation based on last fall's Pixel 4 flagship debut at or around Google I/O.

Google also likes to show off its machine learning prowess at I/O and what it can do with its vaunted Knowledge Graph. This includes introducing new Google Assistant features and deploying better software smarts in products such as Gmail and Google Maps, as well as the 2018 I/O where Google showed off how the Assistant can make restaurant reservations on your behalf over the phone.

Other potential topics at Google I/O 2020 include plans for Android Auto, Android TV, and Wear OS, although Google's wearable platform has not received much love at recent developer conferences.

Consumers are also increasingly interested in how the big tech companies are handling all the personal data we keep handing them, so we can expect Pichai and other Google executives to talk about privacy and security on stage at the opening keynote on May 12. expected. During last year's keynote, Google introduced automatic deletion controls to determine when browsing data is erased and the ability to use Android phones as security keys.