Lately, Google has been relatively quiet regarding the internet of things (IoT), however, the latest news to come out of the Google camp is that they will be partaking, once more, in the IoT development competition.
At the recent Google I/O Conference, the company announced its new operating system for IoT. The OS has been named Brillo and is designed to be the “underlying operating system for the internet of things”. This step by Google shows a clear move to expand their Android mobile operating system; a system which is already used by more than 50% of smartphone users in the world. This move will therefore no doubt start a frenzy of competition amongst other big players in the IoT tech developement field.
The aim is that Brillo will make the idea of a fully connected home an actual reality. The OS will be able to run on and connect low-power devices, meaning it will be able to connect anything from a microwave right through to a bin, whilst being able to link in with any of the already existing Google technologies.
This latest move coincides nicely with their acquisition of Nest, a company which designs and manufactures smart thermostats and smoke alarms, and clearly shows Google’s ultimate aim to become the leader in smart home technology and design.
Brillo has been designed to be straightforward; an operating system that is easy to use – bare bones if you will. The system supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as well as low-energy and Android and this is supposed to encourage developers, who will find they can select from any number of hardware platforms and silicon vendors when using the OS.
In addition to Brillo, Google have also announced their plans for Weave, a cross platform common language. Weave will enable all connected devices (Brillo and otherwise) to talk to each other and is a direct competitor to Apple’s HomeKit. Google have stepped up their game by ensuring that Weave and Brillo will be able to work independently of one another, so you can have Brillo without Weave and vice versa.
All the largest tech giants are grappling to become a leader in the internet of things field and with these latest offerings, Google have clearly shown their desire to become such a leader. Brillo still has a few development stages to go through, alongside critical review; however, there are high hopes for this new OS.
IoT has promised much in the past, perhaps with this latest development, consumers and developers alike will finally see the promises come to fruition…