Google unveils Android@Home

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the big happening in the tech world is the Google I/O conference. Used to showcase all of the latest and greatest innovations coming from Google’s software platforms, developers and hardware partners, Google I/O is, to coin a phrase, “something like a big deal”. Working with home automation in Perth gave me a full understanding of all the benefits you can get using modern technology at home. The biggest thing to come from the conference so far this year is Android@Home.

Android@Home is a software framework for Android that allows programmers to interact with various connected appliances like washing machines, light bulbs and more. Introduced by Joe Britt, Google’s engineering director, Android@Home uses an open wireless protocol that allows the Android Operating System to connect with any device powered by electricity. An example of this would be an alarm clock application that raises the lights in a room while raising the volume on a stereo system.

Now something as encompassing as Android@Home is going to need partners and two such partners are Lighting Science Group, which is an LED company which will produce the first Android@Home LED light bulb by the end of the year and Hasbro, the toy manufacturer, who plans on making “robotic toys that can sense mood shifts”.

With a company as large as Google with their popular Android OS now leading the charge in home automation programs, and their more than 100 million active user base, I suspect home automation software will see quite the rise in popularity.

About The Author

Kamil M Abdullah has been a self proclaimed techie and bonafide smart phone expert nearly half of his life. Starting with the very first Sidekick(not necessarily a smart phone but close enough) to Blackberry to Symbian to Windows(Mobile & Phone 7) to Web OS to Android, he has used virtually every smart phone operating system. Kamil has also worked with computer programming in Bloomberg's Data Center and Backup Operations on their proprietary software. In his quest for further knowledge in mobile operating systems, Kamil voraciously devours any reading material on the subject he can find. Kamil is also a hip hop head to the fullest, having fallen in love with the art form from the very first "a hip hop the hibby to the hibby the hip hip the hop" and tr808 beat. He promises to use his vast powers and knowledge only for the good of mankind.