Google I/O Opening Keynote To Be 3 Hours Long?

2013 is turning out to be quite a year. We saw a number of awesome devices in January during CES 2013 like the Curved OLED TV and the Oculus Rift, and then Sony surprised us all with a preview of the PlayStation 4 in February. Microsoft will do the same later this month with Xbox Infinity, and then follow up with its next-generation Surface tablets and an update to the Windows platform across the board. Apple is also gearing up to launch new hardware while also giving iOS a facelift with iOS 7.

And that's just a brief taste of what's going on. Google reportedly has quite a load to show everyone later this month, and has set aside three hours for its keynote presentation during the launch of Google I/O 2013. Whether Google will use the entire three hours is a different story, but the keynote kicks off at 9 a.m. PDT on May 15, and the first Day 1 developer sessions don't begin until 12pm PDT. A quick lunch may take place between 1 p.m. and 1:40 p.m. PDT.

There have been a lot of rumors pointing to Google I/O as the launch platform for a number of new devices including Motorola's plans for the X Phone, a smartphone customers can customize like a desktop PC. Also rumored to appear will be the next-generation Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets, the Nexus 5 smartphone, and the company's Babble messaging service. Android 4.3 "Jelly Bean" will also make its debut, and possibly a preview of what's to come in Android 5.0 "Key Lime Pie".

Also up for introduction are notebooks powered by Android based on x86 and AMD chips, and a wider public presentation of "packaged apps" for Chrome OS – these work offline and have the appearance of native apps. Google first introduced these through the developer channel via a Chrome App Launcher which pulls apps into the desktop.

"Starting today Chrome packaged apps will be available in the Chrome Web Store for anyone on Chrome's developer channel on Windows and Chrome OS," Google said in the Chromium Blog on Wednesday. "You will notice that the “App” category now contains only the new Chrome packaged apps. A new category, called “Websites”, contains all existing hosted apps and legacy packaged apps."

Google may also reveal Google Games, its upcoming platform for Android gaming. It will reportedly support real-time multiplayer, turn-based multiplayer, in-game chat, achievements, leaderboards, invitations and game lobbies. Additional information about Google Glass will also likely be made, including a direct confirmation as to when the specs will go retail.

All that said, it's no wonder Google is setting aside three hours for its keynote -- there's likely more that is rumored to make an appearance that's not listed here. Still, it sounds like we might need to stock up on snacks and caffeine so that we don't miss one second of the keynote.