Android Things is ready: here is the software platform for the IoT
Android Things comes to version 1.0 and will allow Google partners to produce smart gadgets in a simplified way, taking advantage of Big G.’s ready-made services.
After making it available to developers in late 2016, Google is now launching version 1.0 of Android Things. The first devices with the new platform for the IoT world will arrive within the next few months, and will include LG speakers, iHome, or even Smart Displays produced by LG, Lenovo and JBL.
What is Android Things? This is a development platform designed to facilitate the production of smart gadgets to the various partner companies using Big G.’s services. Google manages some parts of the software and the smart features, with the developers only having to implement them on the products. through tools very similar to those already used in the development of Android products.
It is clear that by accessing technologies that are ready for use like Google Assistant or Google Cast, manufacturers can devote themselves full-time to hardware and easily release new devices based on proven platforms, without having to develop and support them. The arrival of the first final version of Android Things results in an imminent expansion of the smart products and speaker market.
Products based on the platform will not have to follow a specific style, or subject to certain rules. Each of them will be a product of its own, with similar smart features but extremely different uses: among the incoming products, we find a docking station that transmits data from wearables to the company’s servers, or a photo display for public settings.
Android Things does not seem a way to slap the Google logo on any domestic device, and not, but a strategy to further cement the presence of the green robot inside the nascent IoT sector and technology in general. This translates into a larger number of devices with installed Google services, and obviously more data to grind and feed into their systems.
