Launched last year with only a few devices shown off at CES 2016, Brillo (Google’s stripped down version of Android for powering IoT devices) is being rebranded as Android Things. The new platform is launching a preview today, with its key feature being familiarity to existing Android developers.
A part of Google’s Internet of Things approach involves placing low-energy Bluetooth beacons in the world that can communicate with smartphones. Starting with version 49, currently in beta, Chrome for Android will be able to read and interact with these beacons. Google has also announced a research pilot that provides gear to university researchers working on IoT.
The Internet of Things is quickly shaping up to a big story at CES 2016. Numerous internet connected gadgets for the home will be announced over the next few days. Many of them are using the Brillo and Weave standards that Google announced last year. The former is basically a stripped down version of Android for IoT devices, while the latter is a language devices can use to talk to one another.
Google’s Sundar Pichai unveiled Project Brillo today, which it describes as the underlying operating system for the Internet of Things. Brillo was built by the Nest, Android, and Chrome OS teams is built on a stripped down version of Android.
Expand
Expanding
Close