UPDATE 3/20: Google has decided to scrap its I/O event entirely, and will not even be holding an online version of the annual developer conference. The company is citing the San Francisco Bay Area's decision to require all non-essential businesses to close offices in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
"Out of concern for the health and safety of our developers, employees, and local communities — and in line with “shelter in place” requirements by the local Bay Area government — we sadly will not be holding an I/O event in any capacity this year," the company said in a tweet.
"Right now, the most important thing all of us can do is focus our attention on helping people with the new challenges we all face. We’ll continue to do everything we can to help our communities stay safe, informed, and connected," Google added.
Original story:
The coronavirus outbreak has forced Google to cancel I/O, its biggest event of the year.
“Due to concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19), and in accordance with health guidance from the CDC, WHO, and other health authorities, we have decided to cancel the physical Google I/O event,” the company said in a statement.
"Over the coming weeks, we will explore other ways to evolve Google I/O to best connect with and continue to build our developer community. We’ll continue to update the Google I/O website,” the company said.
The event was scheduled for May 12-14 in Mountain View, California. However, fears about the ongoing outbreak have been shutting down technology trade shows left and right. Among the casualties are Mobile World Congress, the Game Developers Conference, Facebook’s F8 event, and Google’s Cloud Next gathering, which the company also canceled just yesterday; it will run as an online event instead.
Microsoft Build and Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) are still on, as of this writing. But Microsoft says on its Build website that it's "monitoring public health guidance in relation to in-person events."
The note continues: "At this time, global health authorities have not issued guidance to avoid travel to this location. We are looking carefully at our event calendar as well as our presence at industry events in the coming months. We are not taking decisions lightly, but the health and well-being of our employees, partners, customers and other guests remain our ultimate priority."
The outlook isn’t good. Microsoft Build is scheduled for early May in Seattle, a region that has already reported 9 deaths. Microsoft already pulled the plug on this month’s MVP Global Summit; it too will be an online-only event.
Apple hasn't made any announcements about WWDC; the show's website still lists details about the 2019 conference, which took place in San Jose in early June.
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