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Topic: Android

Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

Summary: Will Android will lead the way in a 'smart' revolution?

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

We spend a lot of time talking about operating system market share and usage share, but could Android explode to the point where it make such data irrelevant?

When we talk about Android market/usage share, we're usually thinking about devices like smartphones and tablets. It seems that knowing how many people use a particular thing is important to some people (I'm not sure why, maybe it helps people think they've made the right choice or something). But Android isn't confined to just smartphones and tablets. Chances are that if you have a gadget like a personal media player or an ebook reader or an in-car GPS receiver, it's powered by Android. It might not say Android anywhere, and people might not know that it's Android, but it's there nontheless.

Android is already all around us, and pretty soon the OS is going to be in a whole lot more places. The next device that Android is set to invade is the TV set. Given the operating system's heritage in media it seems like a good fit. It's going to take a long time for people to replace their dumb TVs with Android-powered 'Smart TV' sets, but it will happen (people on the whole seem to keep their TV sets for a lot longer than they do cellphones, tablets and PCs).

The TV is just the start of things in my opinion, and it's the beginning of an in-home Android revolution. As the price falls on low-power computers it becomes feasible to fit make things 'smart' ... smart oven, smart microwave, smart refrigerator, smart washing machine. smart thermostat. Heck, why not go the whole hog and have smart lights and smart doors too?

Smart devices are the next step in evolution for devices that have traditionally been dumb devices. And one of the keys to making dumb devices smart is the a flexible operating system.

Android offers just that.

Note: One company is going to absolutely love it if Android is everywhere ... Microsoft. The Redmond giant already pulling in millions every year from patent deals struck with smartphones and tablets makers.

I can see Android in other places too ... watches (now there's something that needs revolutionizing), cars, binoculars, telescopes, home automation devices, remote controls and much more. Android's power is its versatility, and it is that versatility that allows the platform to be customized and tweaked for a whole variety of applications. It's because of this that I see an explosion in Android usage over the next few years.

Do you see a day when Android is everywhere, or do you think that the whole 'smart' revolution is wishful thinking by electronics manufacturers?

Topics: Android, Google, Operating Systems, Software

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44 comments
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  • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

    Finally! Somebody on this site is starting to understand why Android will ultimately be the top dog without any real threat. Am I okay with this? Yes, the OS is open source so it will never be just one company controlling where it goes.
    slickjim
    Reply Vote

    • The top dog at what?

      @Peter Perry
      I read some are quite excited that Android or Linux will run everything, as though it is some victory of sorts, yet I do not understand why that is of any significance?

      It is not like that will allow customization of televisions or routers by the end user, nor have I seen a refridgerator with a USB or netwok connection that will except a customized command program by the owner.

      So why is what the device is running on of any consequence?
      :|
      Tim Cook
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

        @Mister Spock
        Yes, you don't understand, we got that.
        kirovs@...
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

        @Mister Spock Seriously? Because, no one company will ever corner the market and the base will be modified to meet the needs of the manufacturer.

        Crud, on top of that it will open up jobs in every sector for people who know the system!

        Think about this, my brother works for a company that makes fuel monitoring equipment for companies that have their own fleets and the military uses them as well... Well, Linux made their product possible and now they make 100% of the profit from it! Can you imagine if Apple or MS made this software?
        slickjim
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

        @Mister Spock If the situation were the reverse, and iOS was to be in your coffee maker, you would have to own an iOS phone or tablet to change the start time for your morning coffee, and record your favorite morning show to watch while you drink it. But since its Android, any device can do that, including a fruit-bling phone. Therefore it's good.....SEE? And they have refrigerators that will accept user input at the door and place needed items on a list in your computer, smart phone, tablet etc. to be purchased later. So obviously they needed an OS that could be used in any platform and work, that is not iOS....
        tjmajka
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

    Android attaches itself to everything.
    Return_of_the_jedi
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

      @Return_of_the_jedi Yeah. You can even get a $79 dongle to attach Android to your dumb TV.
      symbolset
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

        @symbolset , Cool, right? Options for consumers. Imagine having options......even ones you don't think you would pick, but just choices. iOS and Apple offer choices too, 16 or 32 gig. Black and even white!?!? I'll stay on the Android train....thanks.
        tjmajka
        Reply Vote

  • Drunk on Android

    Linux is already big in embedded systems. Just a few examples:<br><br> <a href="http://www.openembedded.org/index.php/Main_Page" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.openembedded.org/index.php/Main_Page</a> <br><br> <a href="http://www.lynuxworks.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.lynuxworks.com/</a> <br><br> <a href="http://www.windriver.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.windriver.com/</a><br><br>Kind of hard to imagine this without Google's Android leading the way, huh?<br><br>Oh, and QNX is big in embedded systems too. Especially when safety is critical.<br><br>P.S. Full disclosure prompts me to also say that Wind River operating system products also includes, most recently, the "Wind River Platform for Android". And Intel acquired Wind River not too long ago.
    Rabid Howler Monkey
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

      @Rabid Howler Monkey Sometimes big companies acquire little companies to squelch what the little company is doing. It remains to be seen what Intel intends to do with their Wind River acquisition.
      symbolset
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

        @symbolset Methinks that Intel is bullish on the embedded systems market. And that Wind River provides them an opportunity to participate in that market at a broader level than they might otherwise.
        Rabid Howler Monkey
        Reply Vote

  • Interesting to note that Apple's iOS is already in TV & media/game players

    The AppleTV and the iPod touch to be precise - in addition to smartphones and tablets.

    Also interesting to note that although Apple calls the AppleTV a "hobby", it actually has the largest marketshare of all such TV set-top boxes, soundly demolishing GoogleTV, Sonos etc.

    Then there is the iPod touch which is far and away the number 1 media-player/mini-tablet in the world as well with north of 70% marketshare.

    And of course the iPad continues to stand alone as the Godzilla of the tablet market.

    As such, one wonders if Android will be able to be nearly as "everywhere" as iOS in those markets that Apple chooses to compete in?

    Heck, even in smartphones NPD reports that the iPhone has jumped from 26% to 43% marketshare in Q4 this year while Android has collapsed from 63% to 48%. Seems even in smartphones Android is not as "everywhere" as it used to be.
    Melciz
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

      @Melciz
      You are lying. Almost got me. There is no 2011 Q4 report out yet. It is Oct and Nov, when 4S was launched. Cheap APple fanboy rant.
      It hurts, I see but try to be honest.
      kirovs@...
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

        @kirovs@...
        You don't seem to understand, NPD's figures are for October and November not including the even bigger month of December or the many other countries that were yet to receive the iPhone 4S due to Apple's staggered launch and constrained supplies.

        As such Apple's iPhone marketshare figures should be just as large, if not larger for the whole quarter.

        Why do you have to pollute your comment with insults?
        Melciz
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

      @Melciz NPDs methods of reporting are inaccurate and the activations reported by Google and Apple pretty much show that the market was unchanged.

      As for Apple TV, Roku is larger so better check those stats.
      slickjim
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

        @Peter Perry??
        Actually, Google's activation figures confirm that Android is plateaung while iOS sales have been accelerating.

        Google's rate of 700,000 activations a day sounds large until you add up Apple's iOS estimated sales last quarter (30-36 million iPhones, 11-19 million iPads, 7-10 million iPod touches) which gives an average of between 530,000 and 714,000 iOS devices sales per day.

        Even in the 9 months up to October, Google went from 367% marketshare growth in 2010 to only 28% growth in 2011 while iOS marketshare growth went from -14% in 2010 to 38% growth in 2011 according to NPD.
        Melciz
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

        @Peter Perry
        Oh and according to Strategy Analytics December 2011 report, the AppleTV is indeed number 1 with 32% of the market in 2011 solidly beating Roku, Sonos, GoogleTV etc.
        Melciz
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

      @Melciz Apple has imploded from 99% market share in tablets to 50% in less than a year. Talk about IMPLOSIONS...
      larryvand
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Android is coming to everything ... everywhere

        @larryvand <br>Hardly. You're getting confused by shipments to suppliers versus sales to actual end-users. Only a few months ago, ComScore for example reported in their latest Device Essentials report that the iPad captured 97% of all tablet traffic, so Android, WebOS, QNX and every other tablet OS captured only 3% or roughly 1 million end user sales.<br><br>Even sales of the Amazon Kindle Fire which are widely reported to be far higher than all other Android tablets are only in the range of 1-2 million for last quarter while the iPad is projected to have sold between 11 - 19 million in the same time frame.<br><br>So even a loss-leader Android tablet priced at 40% the cost of the cheapest iPad has barely made a dent in Apple's sales.<br><br>Implosions? Quite the opposite in fact.
        Melciz
        Reply Vote

  • Apple beat Android to the punch on one front - the watch

    The reference to Android on watches was a good one, as quite a few companies make "watch kits" to basically hack (but cleanly) the latest touchscreen Nano into a watch. When I first read about it, it seemed a bit clunky, but the actual end result isn't too bad. Would be nice to see what sort of innovations could happen if someone actually set out to design a "smart watch." Perhaps some vindication for those of us who used to think those calculator watches were cool... Nerds FTW! :D
    Rappstar
    Reply Vote
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