It’s the week of the Google I/O Conference, and we were not expecting a major announcement today, since the keynote is scheduled for tomorrow. But here’s one whether we’re ready for it or not – after being announced back in 2016 and going through several developer previews, Android Things is now finally official with version 1.0 being released today. The catch is that most people don’t even know what to expect from this new platform. But that should be fixed as more information comes out about Android Things 1.0.
So what is Android Things? If you haven’t been reading up on it, this is another variant of the Android operating system, quite like Android TV or Android Auto. The design for Android Things is a bit different, though, as this platform is specifically designed for IoT (internet-of-things) devices, like smart home devices, home cameras, and all other devices that don’t really need a full-blown user interface like find on a smartphone. Android Things is meant to reside in IoT devices, with a special focus on fixing security issues that IoT devices usually have.
One of the biggest causes of security problems on most Android devices, and indeed on IoT devices, is this: device makers don’t usually update the firmware/software on their devices. To resolve this, Google is taking on all the update work itself: every single Android Things-based product will get three years of OS updates, direct from Google, for free. Pretty cool.
The upside for Google with this is pretty obvious. Android Things will help expand the reach of Android, and Google is not going to say no to that. Google just needs manufacturers to start using it, and it will be interesting to see how the search giant markets this in the near future.
SOURCE: Google
