In the days running up to Google I/O 2015, rumours emerged that Google would be looking to tap into the Internet of Things with its own platform that would be based partly on Android and motivated by its understanding of the connected devices market driven largely by its home automation products developed by the Nest team. Indeed Project Brillo is alive and well and yes it is the operating system that Google is positioning for the future of the connected devices like thermostats, microwave ovens and the like.
Project Brillo is based on the lower layers of Android like the kernel and a few other components. This is to ensure that it can be able to run with very minimal system requirements.
Connected devices powered by Brillo will be able to communicate with each other using Weave, the communication layer or language, that Google has built for IoT devices. So you’ll be able to create a recipe on your smartphone and get all your smart connected kitchen appliances to pick up from there and prepare the meal. I know, that sounds like it’s straight from a science fiction movie but it is the future we’re welcoming, and it’s here.
Any Android device will be able to recognize and operate connected devices powered by Brillo.
No more details about Project Brillo were shared during the I/O 15 keynote but this won’t be the last time we are hearing about it. We’ll hear more and more about it since the Internet of Things is now a thing. The developer preview of Project Brillo is expected to be out by the third quarter and it is expected to launch in Q4 2015.
