OPINION: Google I/O drew all the headlines this week but there were plenty more goings on in the tech world. Here’s the late May Bank Holiday weekend winners and losers.

Android 16 was on the sidelines of Google I/O, as Google used its developers’ conference to focus on Gemini AI advancements.

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There was news on how AI Mode would transform search beyond anything we’ve seen since the engine’s inception at the dawn of the web. We also got word of an impressive real time voice translation feature for Google Meet that preserves the sound of the speaker’s voice, and news that Gemini is going to help us converse with our cars starting with Volvo vehicles.

More on I/O later.

Elsewhere, there was little to compete. Apple confirmed its WWDC schedule, where we’ll see iOS 19 and the rest of its software updates previewed next month. However, there’s unlikely to be news on the delayed Siri AI update, but it might be for the best. Apple may also launch its first smart specs next year to rival the Meta Ray-Ban shades next year.

In Apple adjacent news, long-time hardware chief Jony Ive is joining forces with Open AI on a new device. But what could it be?

We also had a man present at the Munich high-end audio show. Check out these incredible turntables. Strava fans finally got an explanation for the dreaded Strava Tax rounding down of distances and Signal put the mockers on Microsoft’s invasive Copilot Recall feature.

Now for the winners and losers…

Winner: Android XR Glasses

Google Glass just came of age with the impressive demo of Android XR Glasses at Google I/O. It was the highlight of the show by far. And that’s saying something. The company seems to have mastered a non-invasive experience that delivers information on request via Gemini voice and a built-in lens display, rather than bombarding the wearer’s real world with information.

The demo showed a Google employee seamlessly (more or less) chat with Gemini and surface pertinent information as they moved through the real world. Answers to questions, conversations with full personal context and awareness, directions on a map, and more. It felt genuinely futuristic and apparently within grasp. We can’t wait for the first Android XR Glasses device, with Samsung and Warby Parker on board to make ’em.

Loser: Google Gemini AI Ultra

We’re used to paying over the odds for subscriptions services, but $250 a month! Blimey, Google.

You know what this means don’t you? The best AI tools are already being set aside for the ultra privileged to further press home their monumental advantages.

The company’s new AI Ultra subscription gives power users (i.e. rich users who can afford $3,000 a year) access to the very latest Gemini tools across a number of sectors.

Our own Lewis Painter writes: “It looks like Google is throwing everything including the proverbial kitchen sink at the plan with the aim to attract power users, whether that’s creators, filmmakers, developers, researchers or die-hard AI fans who want to be on the absolute bleeding edge of AI advancements.”

You’ll get Gemini, the Flow video and image generation engine, the similar Whisk tool that can turn images into videos, higher usage of the new Google Notebook LM, and Project Mariner –  experimental “agentic research prototype” can handle up to ten tasks simultaneously.

It may see businesses sign up, but it’s over for the little guy, folks. AI was supposed to democratise some of this stuff, wasn’t it?