Google I / O Officially Canceled: What Other Tech Fairs Are Affected by Covid-19?

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• Google I / O Officially Canceled: What Other Tech Fairs Are Affected by Covid-19?

As the spread of Covid-19 spreads across the globe, the tech world needs to rethink the way it launches new products and services, and nearly every tech event between now and July has gone online. Apple's canceled WWDC 2020 is now an online-only event, the brand also launched a new iPad Pro and MacBook Air at a virtual conference... and now Google I/O has officially moved. In February, the cancellation of the Mobile World Conference toppled the first domino in many cases since then, and it is likely to continue until the spread of the coronavirus epidemic is contained. With E3 and Build also going down and finding other ways to get their messages across to developers and fans, it's clear that 2020 will be a year of disruption in the tech world, and that will have an impact on when we can buy new devices. We've rounded up all the cancellations that have already taken place and what we expect to happen later in the year as we navigate 2020.

MWC

(Image credit: Future) The biggest annual smartphone trade show was the first to go; On February 12, the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications) announced the cancellation of Mobile World Congress 2020. The confirmation came after Nokia, LG, Facebook, Sony and other big names had already withdrawn. The shock: MWC has been a mixed bag of late when it comes to truly revolutionary phone launches, but this year was a big time for 5G. As CCS Insight says, "the focus would have shifted from large-scale demonstrations like remotely flying taxis and aircraft, to more realistic and pragmatic scenarios." Without this futuristic vision passed down to the industry, this could slow the impact of new and innovative ways to use 5G that we haven't thought of yet. The launch of the phone itself wasn't cancelled, as some brands that lined up for the show were always making announcements, just with less fanfare. For example, Sony unveiled its new flagship Xperia 1 II with a YouTube presentation and more will be released later this year. Then there is the economic impact on Barcelona itself. "We are looking for solidarity and everyone bears their own costs," Mats Granryd, the GSMA's managing director, told Bloomberg. “We are an NGO and we have no profit. We don't have large sums of money and all our income goes to the industry. "

Facebook F8

(Image credit: Facebook) Facebook's big developer conference was scheduled to kick off on May 5 of this year. Mark Zuckerberg typically opens F8 with a speech in which he'll make a vague pledge of confidentiality, followed by various announcements about the company's various products and services. The impact: Probably not huge for users, but developers won't benefit from face-to-face time with the company. In a statement, Facebook said: "We plan to replace the in-person F8 event with locally hosted events, video, and live content." And just like with Oculus, the company usually holds its own Connect conference in the fall, and for now, we're assuming it's still on the right track.

GDC

(Image credit: GDC/Informatech) If you're an indie game developer, the Game Developers Conference, held annually in February/March in San Francisco, is about as big as it gets. E3 may have the show, but it's GDC where small games find a home and hard-working developers get their first big break. Its indefinite cancellation is a blow to many people working in the industry and will have ramifications later in development cycles. "I think the cancellations of GDC and E3 will have a big impact on the video game industry, but few will be available to the public," Kotaku publisher Jason Techrier told TechRadar. “Companies that planned to advertise their games at these shows will always find ways to advertise. "What people don't realize is what's going on behind the scenes at these two events: how many games are signed, how many negotiations start, how many networking events lead to game deals. I think the repercussions will be severe." The impact: Desktop publishing is hard, and these small developers often have to spend beyond their budget to get to GDC. Therefore, there will be an economic impact on many developers who cannot recover their costs. But more important than that, GDC is a place where developers come to meet publishers and show off their games. Not having the ability to build these relationships, and in many cases finding a way to get your game published, has obvious ramifications.

SXSW

(Image credit: Shelley Hiam / SXSW) South by Southwest (known to friends as SXSW or South By) is Austin's biggest annual event; A huge melting pot of technology, music and movies that consumes the city for two weeks in March. After weeks of pressure to cancel the conference, the decision was made by Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who declared a local state of emergency. It came after companies like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Netflix and Apple had already withdrawn from the conference. Even Trent Reznor and Ozzy Osbourne had given up, and if Osbourne isn't taking a chance, you should probably pull the plug. The impact: For big tech companies like Facebook and Twitter, the ramifications are unlikely to be huge; but it's a different story for small businesses and artists. For many independent filmmakers, a first at SXSW can launch their careers. The cancellation is sure to be a setback for many artists who have been given a chance. There will also be broader implications for Austin himself. SXSW is a major economic engine that attracts hundreds of thousands of participants each year. Even the local press, which relies on SXSW events, will be hurt by the cancellation.

Google I / O

(Image credit: Future) Google's Developer Conference, held at the Mountain View headquarters in California, is the company's biggest public event of the year. This is essentially what WWDC is to Apple, but even more important than the company's Made by Google hardware event in the fall. Google I/O 2020 was going to take place on May 12-14, but it didn't say on March 3 that it was going to make it an online-only event; on March 21, it was officially announced that it had been postponed. The Impact: I/O is where Google announces some of its top news to attract developers and product users. Previous I/O shows were live streamed, and we expected Google to still make big announcements at this time, this is where we expected to get more information on Android 11, but it doesn't happen. More. Like GDC, developers who use GDC to network and learn more about the details of Google's plans and products will feel the biggest impact. There are usually many discussions throughout the day attended by developers; this is where the impact will be felt the most. However, we're still waiting for the launch of the Google Pixel 4a and the new Pixel Buds that compete with the Airpods at some point, as long as they're not delayed by production issues (which we haven't heard of yet).

Google Cloud Next

Google Cloud Next has now been postponed indefinitely. The event took place digitally only from April 6-8, but Google has now completely pulled the plug. The company says it still intends to hold the event, but has yet to set a new date. "Google Cloud has decided to postpone Google Cloud Next '20: Digital Connect out of concern for the health and safety of our customers, partners, employees, and local communities, and based on recent decisions made by federal and local governments regarding coronavirus," said Alison Wagonfeld, CEO of Google Cloud, in a blog post. The impact: Cloud Next is Google's largest corporate event, typically consuming the entire Moscone Center in San Francisco. The conference is a milestone for major announcements about G Suite, Google Cloud, and the company's other corporate offerings.

Adobe Summit EMEA

(Image credit: Adobe) Adobe Summit, the first digital business experience conference, is often a space where marketers can share the best tools and best practices to improve the customer experience. The show was scheduled to take place on May 13-14 at the ExCel in London, but is now on the growing list of shows cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. The impact: After closely monitoring the evolving situation around COVID-19, Adobe decided to pull the plug on the event, where it would announce its latest product and platform innovations. Unlike other programs, Adobe Summit EMEA has not been permanently cancelled. The company said the event would take place later this year, though the dates and details have yet to be confirmed.

E3 2020

(Image credit: ESA) The world's biggest gaming convention is now officially cancelled. Scheduled to take place June 9-11 in Los Angeles, E3 2020 was set for another explosive year, despite the decline in support from big business. In a statement, ESA said it was "exploring options" with its members to coordinate an online experience in June, and that will be important for the future of the event. The shock: The Los Angeles convention slowly fades away. In 2013, Nintendo replaced its press conference with an online presentation, and has continued to do so every year since. In 2019, Sony withdrew its presence entirely and had already committed to doing the same in 2020 before E3 was cancelled. However, all eyes were on E3 2020 as it would be the last show before the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in time for the holidays. Granted, Sony wasn't ready to attend anyway, but we were hoping third-party developers and publishers would announce the event. Microsoft will be hardest hit here. He wanted to use E3 to hype up and now he's going to host a digital event. So will next year be business as usual? Maybe not. The ESA statement ended with an interesting choice of words: “We thank everyone who shared their views on E3's reimagining this year. We look forward to introducing you to E3 2021 as a reimagined event that brings fans, media and industry together in a showcase celebrating the global gaming industry. A "reimagined event" it seems this year's cancellation might have been the last straw, and next year's show could be very different. Our own Gerald Lynch even thinks this delay might be better for developers: "The shows Recent reports from E3 have questioned the relevance of the event. Increasingly, big game announcements are being made independently of E3, with some companies choosing not to fully exhibit at the show. "On the eve of its PlayStation 5 reveal, Sony has stated that it will not be participating in E3 2020 (before the current health crisis), while Nintendo has preferred for years to host its own web feed rather than 'an E3 conference'. (Though it still has a substantial presence at the show.) And it looks like they all will this year.” However, Kotaku's Jason Schrier believes the impact will be felt most severely among developers who rely on E3 to make vital connections. "The networking opportunities will be sorely missed and it's hard to gauge the severity of the consequences," he says.

Microsoft Build

(Image credit: Microsoft) When: May 19-21 Microsoft Build was supposed to start on May 19 in Seattle, but with the number of coronavirus cases rising in Washington, it's now only available online. In a statement to The Verge, Microsoft wrote: "The security of our community is a top priority. In light of security recommendations for the state of Washington, we will host our annual Microsoft Build event for developers as a digital event, rather than a in-person event "We look forward to bringing our ecosystem of developers into this new virtual format to learn, connect and code together. Stay tuned for more details to come." The impact: It's not devastating to users because there's little announced material at this conference, but it's certainly going to scare developers. We were hoping to hear more about the platforms that would power things like dual-screen devices (or even flexible), which will still be distributed during the virtual conference, but developers will have to wait longer for direct feedback and testing with Microsoft Build has become quite a spectacle in recent years, but with around 6,000 developers in attendance , it's a great way to have vital contact with the company, and other key developers, as they assess how you can interact with new corporate announcements on the platform and software.

WWDC 2020

Will we see WWDC 2020? (Image credit: TechRadar) When: Not confirmed, but it's usually the first week of June. Apple's developer conference, which is usually held at the San Jose Convention Center in June, has now been moved to an "online-only" showcase. Apple announced its streams later in the day, giving the company a bit more time to see how the COVID-19 situation is going. But with the cancellation of the May conferences and the arrival of June, Apple decided to make sure that the flights were not booked and that the developers were not disappointed. And in true Apple style, he decided not to make a virus and focus on the positive that this 2020 was no longer a physical event: "We are delivering WWDC 2020 in June in an innovative way to millions of developers around the world, bringing together the entire developer community with a new experience," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of global marketing. "The current health situation has forced us to create a new WWDC 2020 format that offers a comprehensive program with keynotes and online sessions, providing an excellent learning experience for our entire developer community, around the world. We will share all the details. in the coming weeks." The Impact: WWDC is, of course, a great show for developers who get the chance to talk to Apple engineers and get important information. But it's also when Apple introduces the next major software updates through its products; This year we will see iOS 14 and watchOS 7 for the first time. Although these software updates won't roll out until the new products are released in September, Apple needs to get developers excited and ready to build the next wave of software, which requires education and communication. After all, you want your new iPhone to have apps that work, right? While Apple calls the online platform only "innovative," not having the ability to directly connect to information could further stifle innovation in third-party apps. "For me, it's almost the only opportunity of the year where I spend all my time learning and testing new frameworks and tools," Joaquin Durand, a developer from Houston, Texas, who participated in several WWDC events. "A lot of people go there just to network or go to the labs to talk directly with Apple engineers about their plans. For them, not talking about their lab issues could be a problem."

What is happening now

We are only three months into the year and a large handful of conferences have already been cancelled, while others are still pending. Here are the upcoming tech and gaming events that could be removed, and what each one could mean.

Computex 2020

(Image credit: TechRadar) When: June 2-6 Computex is the world's largest PC show each year, featuring everything from major manufacturers like Dell and AMD to specialty products and wacky custom PC builds. But beyond the simple scope of the various IT products on display, Computex is historically a show where we witness the biggest IT launches of the year. This year we're expecting AMD Ryzen 4000 processors for mobile devices, as well as a load of the best Ultrabooks we'll see in the coming year. Now, though, we're starting to see a lot of conferences cancelled, even E3, which will continue in June, the week after Computex ends. Especially considering that Computex traditionally takes place in Taipei, which is just a short flight from Wuhan, the show could be delayed or cancelled. However, according to a statement by Walter MS Yeh, CEO of TAITRA, the organization behind Computex, Taiwan is perfectly safe and measures are in place throughout the country to ensure that visitors and residents are completely safe. security The impact: Computex is without a doubt the most important trade show in the IT world, because there are so many small vendors trying to market themselves and find buyers in the industry. If Computex is delayed or cancelled, the big manufacturers like AMD, Nvidia, Dell, and HP will be fine: they have the resources to make big releases themselves. But, at the lower end of the industry, this could have a bigger impact.

IFA 2020

(Image credit: Tobia Schwarz/AFP/Getty) When: September 4-9 IFA is still arguably Europe's biggest tech fair, and though it's a few months away, the scale of the Berlin conference means that attendees and vendors will need plenty of warning if this does not happen. At the time of writing, the IFA is still in full swing, and with the future extremely uncertain in terms of the spread of the virus, it is impossible to say whether the events of the summer will continue to be vulnerable. The impact: The cancellation of this show could be quite strong. Like MWC, IFA is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of its importance to the industry. This becomes less relevant over the years, as big companies have chosen to make their big announcements outside of the show. Even Samsung, the usual headline in Berlin, caused less of a sensation at its annual IFA press conference. In other words, unless you're crazy about connected fridges, in which case you might be having a bad September.

The launch of the iPhone.

(Image credit: Apple) When: (likely) September 8 Looking further afield, the inability to contain COVID-19 could spell change for Apple's hardware event, its biggest event of the year. This is where the iPhone 12 and Apple Watch 6, among others, will be revealed. Once again, 5G could play a significant role if Apple finally adopts it in the iPhone 12. The impact: This is a significant impact, and for different reasons than WWDC. Apple's fall hardware event has become a product unto itself and without an audience of fans and tech journalists ready to run its products dry, it won't generate quite as much hype. If cancelled, we expect the company to still broadcast the big reveals live, while Apple could seed products directly to reporters immediately after the event to generate these big hands-on insights that will drive the sales date forward. However, an Apple event will not. it is good without products. Foxconn, Apple's main iPhone assembler, has had to scale back production after the coronavirus outbreak, though as of this writing, efforts have intensified as China slowed the spread of COVID-19. But even if production goes well in the fall, Digitimes reports that Apple-imposed travel restrictions are delaying testing of the new iPhone, which could delay the announcement.

What now?

At the moment, it is impossible to calculate the impact of these canceled conferences; In some cases, the ramifications could ripple through the industry for years, but others will be less significant. Carolina Milanesi, a senior analyst at Creative Strategies, attends many of the conferences mentioned above. For developer conferences, she believes that cancellations won't be a big problem for companies. "Because the number of developers present is usually a fraction of the overall base, these events always have digital sessions available," she told TechRadar. "Of course, the developers that were supposed to be there will miss the hands-on and social side of coming together to learn from each other." However, it is the reaction of the markets following the events of this year that could have the most detrimental effects in the long term. "In general, I think the ramifications of the coronavirus will go beyond the supply chain and beyond the events," says Milanesi. "We will see a demand impact from lower consumer confidence and reusable disposable income."