What's Android@Home mean to you?

Home automation - Internet of Things - Arduino - Near Field Communications (NFC) - these may mean nothing to you right now but Google and Android want to make it something.  You only have to watch scenes from classic sci-fi or cartoons like The Jetsons to understand how humankind wants ‘automation’ to be a way forward.

In 2011, for the average person, automation is not much more then timers to make lights come on in the evening or ‘automatic’ door openers - for smartphone users, background services, multi-tasking and fast-swtiching are all things we’re waking up to. So with Android@Home, there are “no NDAs, no fees and no approvals process,” says engineering director (and former Sidekick founder) Joe Britt.

Today it is possible to create your own Home Automation kits - with timers, sensors and an internet connected control unit. Opensource electronics kits based on Arduino provide starter kits for the inspired inventor. That’s right it’s all invention - you take the kits, come up with your own plan and then build them.

This is where the Open Source projects like Android and Android@Home and Arduino bring as benefit to the home user - hopefully the entry level cost for such automation projects will be kept lower - just the costs of parts, electrical and computer knowledge  — and access to the Internet to help everything communicate.

The Android Open Accessory developers kits - is already available for reading in the Android Developers website - it will find a home in Icecream Sandwich v3.1 but could get 'back ported' to v2.3.4 devices.

Read more: http://www.techradar.com/news/digital-home/android-home-what-you-need-to-know-955045#ixzz1MLCgvX7O

Meet the author

Damien Saunders
An experienced management consultant and business leader interested in digital transformation, product centred design and scaled agile. If I'm not writing about living with UCTD (an autoimmune disease), I'm probably listening to music, reading a book or learning more about wine.