Qualcomm pledges support for Android Things, Google's IoT OS
The Internet of Things is the Next Big Thing™, at least according to pretty much any tech executive, which is the reason pretty much everyone has, in some way or form, jumped on the bandwagon. Google did it some time ago with its Project Brillo, now known as Android Things, which is a separate OS based on Android whose aim is to fix the IoT's many problems, the biggest of which is security. Today, chip maker Qualcomm has announced it will support the OS on one of its processors, bringing LTE connectivity to the platform for the first time.
The Snapdragon 210, one of Qualcomm's entry-level processors, is said to receive support for Android Things "later this year". The processor is intended for cost-effective, large-scale IoT solutions, and the chip maker describes it as suitable for "natural language processing, database queries, image and video analytics", providing businesses a cheaper alternative to using cloud processing for handling their data. Android Things could provide such clients access to many of Google's services, while also being much more secure than existing solutions. While the 210 is mainly intended for corporate use, the company says it plans to extend its support towards consumer-facing devices, targeting at least one of its processors intended for smart home devices.
The Internet of Things is a broad term describing single-purpose, internet-connected devices of any kind, including wearables, connected cars, smart homes, medical devices, and more. While the idea of the IoT is a very good one, its implementations have been mostly poor, especially so in terms of security (examples include thermostat ransomware and botnets comprising millions of IoT devices). Android Things is Google's attempt to rectify that problem, and support from chip makers, especially one as big as Qualcomm, is certainly welcome.
source: Qualcomm
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