Google I/O slated for late May in San Francisco

Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of products, will kick off the event, Google said on a conference website, which went up Tuesday.

Details are scarce yet on what's on tap for the show. The conference will feature "two days of inspirational talks, hands-on learning, and a chance to hear more about Google's latest developer products," Google says on the site.

A Google spokesman declined to comment further on the schedule, but said the site will be regularly updated as the event draws closer.

General admission will be US$900, while an academic ticket will cost $300. The window to submit a registration application will open at 9 a.m. U.S. Pacific time on March 17, and close at 5 p.m. on March 19.

Google I/O is a major event for the company. Last year, software for wearable devices like smartwatches was a big topic, as was "material design," Google's effort to unify the look of its software across platforms. Google Glass made its splashy public debut, with live skydiving, at I/O in 2012.

In 2015, more talk around smartwatches and Android Wear specifically is likely, as rival Apple by then will have already launched its Apple Watch. Beyond that, there is sure to be discussion around new ways for developers to build and grow their own products and apps using Google's ecosystem. Perhaps mobile payments and the future of Google Wallet will be discussed. Maybe Google will even give an update on developer features for Google+, which was noticeably absent from last year's show.

And perhaps CEO Larry Page, who didn't take the stage last year, will make an appearance and wax poetic about self-driving cars, Internet balloons, and satellites. He last spoke at I/O in 2013.

Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach's e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com