At Google I/O, Android may push deeper into the home.
Android, already the most widely used operating system in smartphones, could soon find its way into refrigerators, door locks and all manner of other “smart” appliances around the home. Google doesn’t host many events—there’s no quarterly launch cycle, like there is with Apple, or the scattershot “Hey we have a new phone!” approach from LG or Samsung.In 2005, software engineer Hiroshi Lockheimer got a call from Andy Rubin, his former boss at Danger Research, the creator of the Sidekick (aka Hiptop), the first truly web-savvy smartphone.
All signs point to a developer preview of Android M being announced at Google I/O and made available shortly after (as was the case with Lollipop last year), so we could find out more about this soon. As well as pushing into home appliances, it could also be extended to play a deeper role in virtual reality, allowing Android developers to build apps for smartphones or VR headsets.
In years prior, the company has used I/O, its annual confab for developers, as a stage for splashy announcements, including showing off its mobile operating system Android in 2008 and its futuristic headset, Google Glass, in 2012—the latter famously demonstrated live by skydivers (video). You can expect Google to run through its usual showcase of Android’s latest and greatest features on stage, and it’s likely the company will shine a similar spotlight on Android Wear and Android Auto. Google wouldn’t let a developers’ conference go to waste without promoting the latest changes to Android, and this year the changes could be significant. Lockheimer was working on Internet TV software for Microsoft, after stops at Palm and Good Technology. “He knew my interest in consumer devices, and specifically wireless devices,” Lockheimer remembers. “He called me up and said, ‘Hey, you know, we’re doing this thing at Google now, we got acquired.
The keynotes are always long, and there’s a significant amount to cover in just two days—which makes sense, because Google is working on everything. There aren’t a ton of details about the rumor, only that Google may be turning an eye toward Google Play Services, looking for methods to optimize this key app that powers most of the APIs and tools behind Android and third-party apps. A new operating system codenamed “Android M” may not release to the public until next fall, along with a batch of new Nexus devices, but Google is expected to offer developers a peek under the hood.
Extending Android to even more devices could help Google draw more people to its online services, and by putting the software in home appliances, Google could gather further valuable insights into people’s behavior. It’s a thrilling time to be following the company, and you’ll want to keep it locked on The Verge when Sundar Pichai takes the stage Thursday at 12:30PM ET. The operating system may introduce several features that are now familiar to iPhone users, including one-tap payment and a fingerprint scanner to unlock devices. Why this matters: Better battery life is something that seems to elude every smartphone release, with the only marginal improvements coming from larger batteries. Google also appears to have released an intriguing talking point, first spotted by 9to5 Google, that shows a new emphasis on Android’s business users: “This opens huge new markets for hundreds of millions of devices to workers at small business, deskless workers, logistics and warehousing jobs,” read one item on the conference agenda shortly before it was taken down.
But according to a report last week in The Information, Google is developing new technology called Brillo that will run on low-powered devices independent of Nest with as little as 64MB or 32MB of memory. That means just about any appliance around the home—the lights, the air conditioner, a Crock-Pot—could be running Brillo and hooked up to the Web, so you could control them remotely from a smartphone or a PC.
Right now, there are a lot of floating theories about what M stands for—Milkshake, M&M, Macadamia Nut Cookie?—but Google might not reveal the name until after the conference, as it did last year. After giving Android a huge visual overhaul with Lollipop, we expect the next iteration to focus on refining Material Design further, squashing bugs, and improving performance. This may be the year the “Internet of Things” at last becomes a thing, especially if Google releases a new development platform that could seamlessly connect Android devices to everything but the kitchen sink. On the eve of Google’s annual I/O developer conference, I visited Lockheimer at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. to talk about the current state of Android and Chrome OS—and why Google thinks it’s logical, rather than inefficient, to have two operating systems. It’s a well-worn path that Microsoft and many other vendors also are treading, as they try to provide software and connectivity for tomorrow’s Internet of Things.
Google is reportedly working on a new platform codenamed “Brillo” that would enable anything from locks to lightbulbs to garage doors to wirelessly connect to the Internet, offering Android users a new measure of control through their mobile devices. Reportedly, Google almost put a reader in the Nexus 6, but the source code revealed it was ultimately removed, likely because it wasn’t ready for primetime. The announcement could steal some thunder from Apple’s highly anticipated launch of HomeKit, a new smart device platform expected to go live with its first compatible products this June.
Android shipped on more than a billion smartphones in 2014—and powers much of Google’s ever-expanding ambitions when it comes to consumer electronics of all sorts. “I had no idea that this is where we would be nine-plus years later,” he says. “Maybe we should have been dreaming bigger dreams, but this has far exceeded my expectations, and it’s kind of really humbling, actually. Now that Apple, Samsung, and PayPal are crowding the field, Google is getting ready to debut Android Pay, which reportedly will allow retailers to accept tap-to-pay transactions in-store. “It’s a very, very important form of data,” says Forrester analyst Michael Facemire. “Not only do they want customers using it, they want to make it incredibly easy for developers to add to their apps as well.” It’s still unclear if Android Pay will replace or supplement Google Wallet, which in February got the blessing of Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile—the very wireless carries that blocked the app from their phones—while acquiring intellectual property from the carriers’ joint mobile wallet venture Softcard. More privacy controls: Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Google is planning to give Android users greater control over apps and exactly what data they’re able to access (location, contacts, photos, et cetera). The darling of last year’s conference was Google’s startlingly low-tech answer to virtual reality headsets: Cardboard, a corrugated cardboard enclosure for a smartphone, with two eyeholes cut out for viewing virtual reality apps.
Android already presents a list of requested permissions whenever you download an app from Google Play, but this approach will reportedly be adjusted to let users “pick and choose what an app can access.” Fingerprints: Last week, BuzzFeed reported that Android M will introduce full-fledged support for fingerprint authentication, letting users log into apps like Gmail and Google Drive with the press of a thumb. I’m trying out cars that have Android running in them.” Even though Android still feels like it has plenty of new frontiers ahead of it, it’s also feeling increasingly mature: At this point, it’s an operating system without much in the way of glaring flaws or major missing features. Google didn’t announce Android 5.0 was called Lollipop until October, and to signal that it’s still a work in progress, Google will probably stick with codenames again this year. With Brillo, devices would be able to communicate with Google’s Nest products, which include a smart thermostat, smoke detector, and home security cameras from Dropcam. “Now with Nest taking a much more visible role, you can probably expect something on the smart home front from Google at I/O,” says Gartner analyst Mark Hung. “Especially with Apple shipping its first HomeKit product next month, I think Google will need to respond.” Chromecast, Google’s smart TV operating system packed into a dongle, quickly gained traction thanks to its $35 price tag.
The Apple Watch may have superseded Google’s release of Android Wear smart watches last summer, so Google may attempt to rejuvenate its wearables line with a few product improvements, including rumors of stronger batteries and smarter fitness tracking sensors. The Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, and Honeycomb versions were released at breakneck speed over a total period of less than two years between 2009-2011. One conference session, spotted by CNET, will hone in on health data generated by Google Fit, an app that rolls up fitness data into one comprehensive dashboard.
Today’s Android upgrades can still be substantial—last year’s Lollipop version introduced an extremely ambitious aesthetic makeover called Material Design—but they arrive at an iOS-like annual pace. “As we’ve grown as a platform, we realize that to some extent predictability is important for the whole industry: developers, manufacturers, operators, and consumers, frankly,” Lockheimer explains. “So we’ve landed with sort of a yearly cadence of big releases, so, for instance, one year we release J, the next year we release K, and then the year after that L, and then this year we’ll launch M, and so you can predict what will happen next year.” But he pushes back against any notion that it’s getting harder for Google to figure out how to improve Android. And its evolution isn’t just about putting it on new types of devices. “The trick is not to think about them in isolation,” Lockheimer says. “It’s really about thinking about these different screens, if you will, holistically. Microsoft unveiled HoloLens, a headset that allows wearers to interact with holograms, and Facebook has been generating buzz with Oculus Rift before the headset is even widely on sale. Google Now is becoming a hub for predictive actions, able to tell you when to leave for your appointment and how much that house for sale across the street costs.
Android TV devices “are selling fairly well, but they’re being returned,” Andrej Kostresevic, CEO of mobile engineering company Nomads, says, citing conversations he has had with TV sales reps. “If you look at some of the remotes for Android TV, they look like a flight control dashboard. The roster of devices running Google’s wearables OS has steadily grown in the last year, though we’re still waiting for the second iteration of Motorola’s Moto 360. A watch, and a phone, and a TV, and a car, and a tablet, how can they coordinate, and how can they actually enrich our lives, and make things that were harder before more useful?” He provides an example: “Before you get in your car, maybe you’re planning your trip, you’re planning whatever restaurant you’re going to, and you do this on your computer, at your home or at your office.
At I/O last year the company showed off Cardboard, a crude but functional VR device that uses lenses to create a 3D effect after inserting an Android phone into it. Google also recently bought Timeful, a calendar app that would create a schedule for you based on what you actually need to get done—it’s probably too early for those smarts to really make their way across Google, but we might see some early fruits of the acquisition. Generally speaking, Android M sounds like it’s going to be work-focused, as evidenced by an accidentally posted event listing that says “Android M is bringing the power of Android to all kinds of workplaces.” It’s an obvious move for Android, which needs to invade businesses the way the iPhone has.
A former Google employee tells Quartz there have been many internal discussions around the topic, and we might begin to understand the company’s vision for its two OSes at the conference. Some lesser known smart glasses makers, like the Osterhout Design Group and Vuzix, which overlay content on the wearer’s field of vision, already run a form of Android. I asked Lockheimer for his thoughts on this trend away from customization for customization’s sake. “As part of my job, I do meet with many of our partners, including manufacturers and operators and so on, and silicon vendors and the whole stack,” he told me. “And I have noticed the same thing, which is that the manufacturers seem to have reached a new type of equilibrium around the customization that they do on top of Android. But a more formalized Android OS for virtual reality, one that provides a strong link to Google services, would benefit the company more than the modified forms of Android that sometimes appear in other devices, said Gartner analyst Brian Blau. But it’s plausible Cardboard will make a repeat showing at I/O this year, given the recent attention on Oculus at Facebook’s F8 conference and HoloLens at Microsoft’s Build conference.
A session hosted by Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group will introduce wearable technology “we hope will blow your socks off”—a description Google says it means “more literally than you might think.” Is Google to unveil a smart sock? I’m talking about 10 years ago, nine years ago.” Material Design—a defining aesthetic not just for Android but for Google products in general—has left hardware makers less inclined to put their own stamp on Android, Lockheimer says. “Manufacturers realize that design has a name, and it has a name because it’s a big, huge investment from Google and the developer ecosystem rallying around this one design guideline. We’ve worked very closely with their design teams and update them on roadmaps and take their feedback, so that they’re a part of the process, so that they feel invested in it. Now the OS falls into the large percentage of Google operations reporting to senior VP Sundar Pichai, along with search, Gmail, Chrome, Apps, Maps, Google+, and more. A couple of sessions focus on helping developers get content from their apps onto Android TV screens, or making their apps more easily searchable there.
As the company sells more devices and extends its software to more use cases, questions about its influence and larger strategy become more important than ever. With Project Fi invites slowly trickling out, I/O presents the company with another good opportunity to demonstrate the pay-for-what-you-use phone service that seamlessly hops between Wi-Fi and two major US networks (Sprint and T-Mobile).
Internet of Things: With mobile devices, wearables, and automobiles already checked off, Google will reportedly next turn its attention to household appliances. Lockheimer, not surprisingly, isn’t talking about any such plan—which, with Android devices selling by the billion and Chromebooks doing well in niches such as K-12 education, doesn’t feel like an urgent matter in any case.
But where they do start to diverge—or maybe specialize is a better word—is as you get closer and closer to the user experience.” Laptop-style Chromebooks, for instance, have always paid attention to keyboard shortcuts; touchscreen-oriented Android devices, not so much. Last month’s announcement of the Works with Cardboard program shows that Mountain View is looking to the future with its answer to the Oculus Rift and Samsung’s own VR project. Still, with the OSes under joint management, it’s easier to share knowledge—which is helpful even in the case of keyboard shortcuts, now that more people are using Android tablets with Bluetooth keyboards. Google Cast: The $35 Chromecast is one of the best devices that Google has ever made, and it’s led developers to quickly embrace the company’s AirPlay rival. Instead, he stayed practical, and said that developing operating systems can’t be done in isolation from the components they use and the devices they’ll run on.
There will probably be some sort of virtual reality gear, which could be as simple as Cardboard or perhaps a Nexus-branded version of the amazing HTC Vive. One year, a bunch of Googlers skydived live into the building; another, Larry Page invited us all onto his island where we could experiment with technology.