Hisham Sarwar
Google is now combining its former Android-based IoT OS Brillo with tools such as Android Studio, Android SDK, Google Play Services, and Google Cloud Platform to launch Android things. Doing so will make it easier for developers to form smart devices. For this reason it has recently launched an IoT platform Android Things for building connected devices while leveraging the company’s cloud-based services and Android APIs. This will be of great assistance in delivering updates and allowing voice commands.
The company is also working on its IoT communications platform ‘Weave’ so that devices can easily connect to Google services for setup and can communicate with Google Assistant and other gadgets. Weave is already being applied by Philips Hue and Samsung SmartThings and Google states that other manufacturers including Belkin WeMo, LiFX, Wink, Honeywell, First Alert, and the TP-Link will soon be backing up the platform. Also, Nest’s Nest is also expected to be merged into Weave so all the connected devices of these brands can easily work together.
Developers by using supported hardware development kits such as Intel Edison, NXP Pico, and Raspberry Pi 3 can start creating their desired products. With all these developments Google expects to dominate the IoT platform space. Google’s proposal along with access to cloud services is more exciting than the other alternatives that are offered for developers. Developers can begin with the Android Things in Developer Preview but the company will soon provide Brillo users with the facility to migrate their projects to the new platform.
