Google Aims to Android-Enable Your Home

By

If you're an Android user, you may find that many aspects of your life are controlled by the Google mobile platform: your driving and navigating, your schedule, all your communications, your social life, your gaming, your entertainment and your birds (of the angry variety, that is).

But your home?

Maybe, if Google succeeds with a new business venture called Android@Home, a protocol that will allow home lighting devices and appliances to be controlled wirelessly via a user's Android device.

“From the beginning, Android was designed to extend beyond the mobile phone. With that in mind, we’ve developed Android Open Accessory to help developers start building new hardware accessories that will work across all Android devices. We previewed an initiative called Android@Home, which allows Android apps to discover, connect and communicate with appliances and devices in your home,” wrote Google on its official blog.

Examples of this new technology program will include “Project Tungsten,” a wireless speaker system that can be synced via Android, as well as wireless light switches and other appliances. Florida-based Lighting Science was also named as a partner, and will launch wireless lighting products this year to support Android@Home, reported PC Mag.

“We want to think of every device in your home as a connection to Android apps,” said Google product management director Hugo Barra in his keynote speech at the recent Google I/O conference held in San Francisco.

According to Eric Holland, VP of electrical engineering at Lighting Science, Android@Home will use a new version of a mesh network wireless protocol developed by Google. It will eventually be open sourced, Holland told PC Mag.

“Google reached out to us, but we were already working on something similar,” said Holland. Wireless Science, which will likely be debuting the first Android@Home-powered items, plans five products, including internal lamps and external lighting fixtures: one of them an LED bulb that contains an integrated radio. The products will ship by the end of this year, said Holland.




Tracey Schelmetic is a contributing editor for TechZone360. To read more of Tracey's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]

TechZone360 Contributor

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Related Articles

Can Science Outsmart Deepfake Deceivers? Klick Labs Proposes an Emerging Solution

By: Alex Passett    3/25/2024

Researchers at Klick Labs were able to identify audio deepfakes from authentic audio recordings via new vocal biomarker technology (alongside AI model…

Read More

Top 5 Best Ways to Integrate Technology for Successful Project-Based Learning

By: Contributing Writer    3/19/2024

Project-based learning, also popularly known as the PBL curriculum, emphasizes using and integrating technology with classroom teaching. This approach…

Read More

How to Protect Your Website From LDAP Injection Attacks

By: Contributing Writer    3/12/2024

Prevent LDAP injection attacks with regular testing, limiting access privileges, sanitizing user input, and applying the proper encoding functions.

Read More

Azure Cost Optimization: 5 Things You Can Do to Save on Azure

By: Contributing Writer    3/7/2024

Azure cost optimization is the process of managing and reducing the overall cost of using Azure. It involves understanding the resources you're using,…

Read More

Massive Meta Apps and Services Outage Impacts Users Worldwide

By: Alex Passett    3/5/2024

Meta's suite of apps and services are experiencing major global outages on Super Tuesday 2024.

Read More