Google And Android: Powering The Next Generation Of Internet Connected Things

When thinking about the future of technology it's hard to imagine a future where most things aren't connected to the Internet. Not because it's fashionable, or because many of the largest technology companies are spending big money promoting the concept. Call it a fundamental law of things; if it can be connected to the Internet, it will be connected to the Internet. From golf balls to light bulbs to pacemakers, anything that can collect or display information will.

If you think this sounds like a futuristic dream, think again. Recent advancements in short range wireless power, combined with Android OS, and Bluetooth low energy specification (also known as Bluetooth smart) are opening potentially huge opportunities to connect anything and everything to the cloud.

According to IDC, the Internet of things will change everything and be "a new construct in the information and communications technology world." IDC put the Internet of things technology and services spending at $4.8 trillion in 2012 and expects the market to be $8.9 trillion in 2020 and have a compound annual growth rate of 7.9 percent. IDC believes that the installed base of things connected will be 212 billion by the end of 2020, including 30.1 billion connected autonomous things. Intelligent systems will be installed and collecting data by this point.

"It is important to remember that while the market for the Internet of Things is still in its infancy, there is a long legacy of autonomous wired connected things," said Carrie MacGillivray, IDC Program Vice President, Mobile Services, M2M & Network Infrastructure. "The enabler for increased growth over the forecast period is the pervasiveness of wireless connectivity and ubiquitous access to the Internet regardless of location."

Like most things in the mobile world, Google is leading the charge with its Android operating system along with a massive install base. In BusinessWeek article written earlier this year, Jim Zemlin, executive director of the nonprofit Linux Foundation, explains the opportunity, "Android has conquered the device market from the bottom up. The operating system ran on 75 percent of the smartphones-162 million units-shipped during the first quarter of this year, according to the research firm IDC. While iPhones and iPads come in very few versions and only from Apple , Android-powered mobile hardware of all shapes and sizes and brands has flooded the marketplace."

"The companies that build components have had to scramble to make sure everything they make functions well with all those gadgets. The result is a huge and growing number of hardware makers and software companies becoming expert in all things Android. Every screen variant, mobile chip, and sensor known to man has been tuned to work with Android," Zemlin says. "There's this network effect, so that now anyone who wants to make a custom product can take Android and morph it into anything."

Among the most recent additions to the Android OS, as well as potentially the most interesting capability from an Internet of things point of view, is the new Bluetooth smart specification. According to the Bluetooth SIG: " Bluetooth Smart devices are designed to gather a specific piece of information - are all the windows on my house locked, what is my blood glucose level, how much do I weigh today? - and send it to a Bluetooth Smart Ready device."

Suke Jawanda, CMO of the Bluetooth SIG, elaborates, "The native Android support for Bluetooth Smart Ready technology available in the coming months means Bluetooth Smart developers will have an easy way to connect their devices to and distribute their applications within the massive Android ecosystem."