Today Google released their developer preview of Android Things*, previously known as Project Brillo*. Android Things is Google’s open-source, Android*-based, Internet of Things (IoT) operating system. This first iteration provides developers an opportunity to test key features of the platform, which include:
- Android developer framework that includes Android Studio and other familiar Android tools to develop, run and debug code
- Android framework APIs to simplify access to peripheral interfaces, support libraries for common hardware peripherals, and Android extensions to support devices with zero or more displays
- Ability to use Google Play* Services on the device, giving access to many popular Google APIs for authentication, cloud and voice services
According to Google, future iterations will incorporate Google’s Weave platform, Google Cloud Platform*, over-the-air updates from Google and the Google IoT Developer Console.
Intel has been involved with Google’s team from the beginning. Intel delivered the first Brillo-compliant starter board, the Intel® Edison Kit for Arduino*, which was featured in Google’s IoT Tech Awards, a global research grant spanning 83 projects selected to experiment with Google and partner IoT technologies. Dr. Max Senges, Google Research Program lead says: “We received very positive feedback from academic researchers, and an overwhelming majority said the experiments laid the foundation for their R&D efforts and they plan to continue to use our products in their research. We want to thank Intel for their contribution and are looking forward to continuing this partnership.”
Deploying Android Things on Intel® architecture combines the power of Android with the performance of Intel architecture to scale IoT projects from proof-of-concept to product reality. Because the firmware is Android-based, developers benefit from working with familiar Android frameworks, languages and tools. Access to Google Play services and over-the-air security updates further simplify and accelerate development and increase security, allowing developers to focus on creating products and the user experience.
Google used the Intel Edison system-on-module (SOM) as a reference device for further development of Android Things. With the launch of Android Things, we added Android Things support for Intel Edison on different expansion boards such as the Intel Edison Kit with Breakout Board and the SparkFun blocks for Intel Edison. Support for the Intel® Joule™ Compute Module is coming soon.
Intel Edison for Android Things is a compute module that works with a variety of expansion boards, which can be tailored to different application domains. The Intel Edison Breakout Board is a small form factor board that’s just slightly larger than the module itself and provides a minimal set of features and easy access to the GPIO. The Intel Edison Kit for Arduino includes a larger expansion board that allows the Intel Edison module to interface and access the open source Arduino shields, libraries and resources. The module can also be used with the SparkFun’s Blocks series for further customization. These expansion options enable quick adoption, ease of use, and are well suited for developers interested in quick prototyping and making fast time-to-market IoT solutions.
The Intel Joule compute module is an advanced, high performance technology that offers high-end computing, large memory and 4K video capture and display. Once validated, developers will be able to use the Intel Joule platform to build out an embedded system or prototype in the areas of robotics, drones, industrial machine vision, augmented reality and more.
“We are only beginning to see the technological revolution made possible by the Internet of Things,” says Sameer Sharma, GM of Intel’s New Market Developments, Internet of Things Group. “I believe Android Things will be a catalyst in the widespread adoption of IoT in both consumer and enterprise applications. The OS will allow companies to quickly bring new, life-changing products to the market.” Excited at the possibilities presented by Android Things, Sharma notes that while “Android changed the way we use and think about our mobile devices, Android Things has the potential to do the same with the billions of connected IoT devices that will come to market, including products for home, building, and industrial settings.”
Visit our page to get started with Google’s Android Things on Intel architecture.