Google Enters the Home Automation Market with Android @ Home

If you were looking for a global player powerful enough to enter the Home Automation space and finally create a universal standard I guess Google may be near the top of your list.

Earlier today at Google’s I/O 2011 event, the search behemoth announce a new framework for smart home applications called ‘Android @ Home’.  The combination of new cloud services, software and devices is described as ‘completely open for developers to explore and write their own applications’ and was shown using a touchscreen tablet as a ‘digital light switch’.

Fancy setting your bedroom lights to come on to waken you in the morning right from within your Google Calendar? Well LED lights and switches compatible with Andriod at Home will be available by the end of this year from Lighting Science.

Also demoed was a reference design of the ‘Project Tungsten’ hub, a hardware device that’s always powered on and permanently connected to the Cloud.  Using the new Google Music Beta service (also announced today) the Sonos-like device can serve home audio to a set of speakers or into an existing AV setup.  Another Project Tungsten design was shown reading CDs ID from RFID tags (rather bizarre to have physical media in all this future stuff demo).

More information will doubtless trickle out over the coming weeks and months but the simple fact that Google has arrived in the Home Automation world is exciting.  Of course that’s not necessarily a guarantee of success, Google Wave anyone?

Check out the video demos below…

www.android.com  :  Lighting Science

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