Google is giving developers a preview of a new “internet of things” operating system, Android Things, and plans to enable IoT updates directly from Google to improve security.
Google launched the developer preview for the Android Things OS and said the solution already is supported by Intel Edison, NXP Pico and Raspberry Pi 3 hardware so developers can start building projects. Qualcomm also said it will support the platform (full story here).
The rebrands Google’s Project Brillo, which was announced in the spring of 2015, as the company’s foray into an OS for IoT – a stripped-down version of Android designed to support Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Brillo gained a number of significant partners, including automotive supplier Harman, Asus and LG in early 2016, which were announced at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
The Android Things IoT OS incorporates feedback from Project Brillo, such as the inclusion of tools like Android Studio, the Android software development kit, Google Play service and Google Cloud Platform. Google said it will support direct updates to IoT devices for security, which is a major worry with IoT – particularly in light of the ongoing concerns about Mirai botnet attacks based on co-opting unsecured IoT devices. Google indicated it would provide updates to the current preview so developers can support “securely pushing regular OS patches, security fixes and your own updates, as well as built-in Weave connectivity and more.” Weave is Google’s common communications platform for connecting devices to its cloud services.
As part of the announcement, Google said it’s also updating Weave “to make it easier for all types of devices to connect to the cloud and interact with services like the Google Assistant,” according to a blog post by Wayne Piekarski, developer advocate for IoT with Google. Piekarski noted “Philips Hue and Samsung SmartThings already use Weave, and several others like Belkin WeMo, LiFX, Honeywell, Wink, TP-Link and First Alert are implementing it.”
Google is expected to add support for more IoT devices to Weave, as well as a mobile application API for Android and Apple’s iOS. Piekarski also wrote Google is “working towards merging Weave and Nest Weave to enable all classes of devices to connect with each other in a secure and reliable way. So whether you started with Google Weave or Nest Weave, there is a path forward in the ecosystem.”
