{"id":656607,"date":"2013-05-07T17:41:19","date_gmt":"2013-05-07T21:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=643069"},"modified":"2013-05-07T17:41:19","modified_gmt":"2013-05-07T21:41:19","slug":"why-the-time-has-come-for-android-home-to-finally-make-a-splash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/656607","title":{"rendered":"Why the time has come for Android @Home to finally make a splash"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Google\u2019s annual I\/O developer conference being just a week away, lots of people are busy trying to figure out what the company is going to announce this year. I\u2019m gonna throw my hat in the ring with a bold guess: a second take on Android @Home, Google\u2019s internet of things meets home entertainment initiative that never materialized despite being announced not once, but twice.<\/p>\n

I have no inside knowledge on this, I have heard no juicy rumors — so I could be completely wrong. But I do think the timing is right for Android @Home.<\/p>\n

False starts: connected lightbulbs and the Nexus Q<\/h2>\n
\"Remember<\/a><\/p>\n

Remember the Nexus Q?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

First, a bit of history. Google initially introduced Android @Home at its Google I\/O conference in 2011<\/a>. Back then, the company painted the picture of all kinds of household appliances being connected to a home gateway, controlled by Android devices. One of the first devices coming to market was supposed to be an Android-connected LED light bulb. The bulb was supposed to be manufactured by Lighting Science and come to market by the end of 2011.<\/a><\/p>\n

That never happened, and there hasn\u2019t been any official word about the status of the project since. Instead, Google introduced the ill-fated Nexus Q<\/a> at its 2012 Google I\/O conference. The music streamer was meant to compete with Sonos and deliver cloud-hosted whole-home audio – but overwhelmingly negative reception led Google to scrap the project, and give away thousands of units for free.
<\/a><\/p>\n

Third time\u2019s a charm?<\/h2>\n

However, Android @Home is far from dead. Android enthusiasts recently found traces of Android @Home<\/a> in the Android 4.2.2 update. And some casual searches on LinkedIn reveal that the company isn\u2019t just maintaining the team, but actively hiring and adding people to the fold. There are industrial designers<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0software engineers<\/a> \u201cworking on Android@Home cloud services,\u201d managers who\u2019ve been working<\/a> on \u201cNexus Q and other fun things to come\u201d and numerous other people listing Android@ Home as their current area of work. A bunch of them have actually been hired in 2013.<\/p>\n

What exactly are they working on? It\u2019s hard to tell from the resumes alone, and one guy<\/a> even admits:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMy job is so secret, sometimes even I do not know what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However, it\u2019s worth pointing out that quite a few people list Jawbone as a previous employer, hinting at the possibility of additional audio devices. I\u2019ve also heard that Lighting Science is still working on the LED project, so we might actually see Android-connected lightbulbs make a comeback.<\/p>\n

Android @home\u2019s killer feature: speech recognition<\/h2>\n

Android @Home\u2019s bigger vision has always been to connect everything in your home, not just a single lightbulb or a speaker system in your living room. Back in 2011, Android @Home hardware director Joe Britt told me:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn thinking about accessories as devices that surround the phone, we started thinking about how far away from the phone you could migrate. Is a light bulb a potential accessory? Is a dishwasher a potential accessory?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Google's<\/a><\/p>\n

Google’s voice recognition already controls Google TV devices. Will it come to your lightbulbs next?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

One of the key pieces to tie all of those things together could be Google\u2019s voice recognition. The company\u2019s cloud-based voice recognition features have advanced a lot in the last few years, to the point where voice has become one of the main input methods for Google TV.<\/p>\n

The same capabilities could also be used to control your lighting, play your music or even adjust your thermostat. Check out this cool new demo video below, put together by home automation enthusiast Doug Gregory to get a sense of what\u2019s possible when voice and home automation come together:<\/p>\n