Google Announcing updates to its Internet of Things Platform : Android Things and Weave

With each new generation of Android devices, most companies push incremental changes to their hardware line-up. One innovation that has captured the minds of generations of consumers since the days of The Jetsons is known as the Internet of Things (IoT).

The Internet of Things (IoT) will bring computing to a whole new range of devices. Two important updates for IoT developer platform announced by Google to make it faster and easier. Today Google announced it is releasing a Developer Preview of Android Things, a comprehensive way to build IoT products with the power of Android, one of the world's most supported operating systems. Now any Android developer can quickly build a smart device using Android APIs and Google services while staying highly secure with updates direct from Google.

Image Credit : Android Developers Blog

Furthermore, Google is incorporating several familiar Android development related tools to work with Android Things such as Android Studio, the Android SDK, Google Play Services, and Google Cloud Platform. In conjunction with these updated tools, Google is also updating the Weave communication layer to allow for easier access to cloud content and to even allow for interaction with services like Google Assistant. Eventually, Google will merge its Weave with Nest Weave to take advantage of the existing integrations available through the popular Nest home products and to ease the development transition of existing products.

Google mentions that several popular smart home devices such as the Philips Hue light bulbs and Samsung’s SmartThings already implement Weave, so developing for the platform should be a no-brainer. The Weave Device SDK already supports cloud communication layer code for devices such as the aforementioned light bulbs, switches, and thermostats but will be updated in the future with support for additional appliance types. In addition, the company will provide a mobile application API available for Android and iOS developers – so even smartphones and smartwatches will be able to interact with smart home devices.

Source : Android Developers Blog

7 hurdles in IoT mobile app development

For manufacturers interested in developing connected products for the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile app development represents entirely new and unknown territory. And even experienced mobile app developers find that the IoT poses all kinds of new challenges.

Before embarking on any connected-product project, it’s crucial to understand why IoT mobile apps are different, and how that difference will affect your IoT development process. Here are 7 hurdles that threaten to trip up any IoT mobile app development, and how to sidestep them in your projects.

#1: Misunderstanding the fundamental role of mobile apps in IoT products 

Here’s a simple but difficult truth for many manufacturers to accept: To the users of your IoT-connected products, the mobile app is your product. It’s what they interact with to control your connected products, so in their minds it becomes synonymous with the product itself.

This reality demands that manufacturers make a fundamental shift in perspective. You can’t view the mobile app as an add-on or afterthought to your IoT products - something that can be separated out and worked on independently. Instead, you must design connected products with a holistic, integrated approach. This means keeping mobile app considerations in mind from the outset of the design process through the entire lifetime of your IoT products.

#2: Treating mobile devices as a single, cohesive market

Have you thought about the huge variation in mobile device form factors and screen sizes, in both smartphones and tablets? What about the different operating systems and their many versions? How long will you continue to support particular OS versions? And how will your IoT mobile apps support future OS upgrades and new form factors?

Writing mobile apps that can work with all the possible mobile device variables out there requires skilled software developers - either in-house or outsourced. And when the mobile apps are for IoT products, those software developers will also have to consider factors such as wireless networking and cloud support.

#3: Neglecting cloud and connectivity issues

An IoT product does not exist as an isolated, discrete entity. Rather, its identity has three major parts the product itself, the cloud, and the mobile app interconnected by various networking and communications avenues.

For that reason, every IoT mobile app must be built to recognize and play well with all the cloud and connectivity aspects that are an inherent part of your connected products.

#4: Loading too many features onto your mobile app

If you’re like most manufacturers, you are justifiably proud of your products’ many capabilities. After all, you’ve spent considerable time and engineering budget creating features to differentiate your products and set them apart from your competitors’ offerings. Even a product like a connected water heater, not usually associated with an abundance of whiz-bang features, might have a hundred or more properties in its data model.

But in the IoT, the mobile app not the physical product itself becomes the focal point of interaction for users of your products. As a result, you’ll have to rethink how many features you want to include in your IoT mobile app, to avoid forcing users to scroll through multiple menu layers to find what they need. In the case of a connected water heater, end customers might care about only a dozen or so of the more than 100 properties so those are the only features you should include in your IoT mobile app.

#5: Skimping on the user experience

People use mobile devices for more and more activities in their daily lives, and we’re all becoming savvy about what to expect when we use a smartphone or tablet. One of the things we expect is a great user experience.

Mobile app user experience includes everything from the aesthetics of the app its look and feel, its feedback mechanisms, its buttons and other controls -to how intuitive it is to navigate, how quickly users can do what they want to do, and how easy it is to install, register, and update the app. Cutting corners on any aspect of the IoT mobile app user experience will diminish the perceived value of your connected product and of your company’s precious brand. On the other hand, building IoT mobile apps that people really want to use will enhance your offerings in the eyes of your customers.

#6: Overlooking security

It’s obvious that everyone expects that their connected products, IoT mobile apps, and the data moving among products, clouds, and apps will be secure. Providing this security, however, is not at all obvious. In fact, it’s downright difficult.

Security is also a continuous and continuously evolving specialty. It’s not something you “do” once and you’re done. IoT security must encompass everything about the IoT product, IoT cloud, and IoT mobile app, as well as all the interactions and interconnections among them. At the mobile app level, security issues include access control, user authentication, wireless security, setting up and initiating secure sessions, and encryption of both user data and data generated by the connected device.

#7: Forgetting to consider future unknowns

The state of the art of mobile app development continues to expand, and you’ll want to be able to incorporate new features and capabilities that can enhance your connected products and their use. For example, in the future you might want to add things like geofencing or Bluetooth beacons or voice control or touch authentication to your IoT mobile app.

Providing this level of future flexibility begins with a fundamental application development question: Will you build your IoT mobile app using native code or hybrid code? Using native code requires higher-priced developers proficient in more advanced programming languages, but native code can get you to market faster and makes it easier to update your mobile app. Using hybrid code costs less for the initial programming, but every iteration becomes essentially a custom programming effort.

Putting it All Together

Building a great IoT mobile app is neither quick nor easy. But spending time planning the details of your IoT mobile app, and devoting sufficient budget and skilled resources to the process, can help you overcome the hurdles and earn you untold long-term value.


Source : https://appdevelopermagazine.com/

Blackberry moves away from smart phone - more bring to focus on software and security

It’s official: BlackBerry is no longer committed  to making its maintain hardware.

The announcement was made or as a substitute, it was mentioned as an adjoining – in BlackBerry’s approaching  recent money on hand report. “The company plans to close all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners,” circulating John Chen, BlackBerry CEO, in a statement. “This allows us to minimize capital requirements and enhance overcome on invested capital.

“We are reaching an inflection point with our strategy,” Chen added. “Our financial foundation in strong, and our pivot to software is taking hold.”

The company’s move towards software, security and enterprise mobility plate form (EMM) has been coming and inferred in recent announcements; not least the partnership struck up earlier this month with mobile threat management platform provider Zimperium to give enterprise and government customer grater security for iOS and Android devices.

In July, BlackBerry had to clarify its strategy around its smart phone portfolio after issuing a missive which was later claimed as being misinterpreted by media, fans, and customers alike. Marty Beard, BlackBerry chief operating officer, said that the company was still committed to its traditional keyboard as well as the BB10 platform.

Yet much more of signs were there that BlackBerry had run its course in the hardware plateform. past year, BlackBerry and Google announced a partnership designed towards protecting Android enterprise mobile devices. At the time, Nelson Smith, a contributor for The Motley Fool and a BB shareholder, said that while the company had a bright future in software and security, it was “doomed to fail in the smart phone space.”

With regard to being enterprise focused, this was key. As long past of 2014, when the firm released its square shaped passport phone, the device’s extraordinary features – the 4.5 inch screen, the superior 60 characters per line screen limit –proved it evident that the phone was all of the work and plays jaws .

When it comes to EMM, BlackBerry has among much surer ground in recent times, leaping into the winners’ enclosure in Gartner’s most recent EMM Magic Quadrant. One part of this was evidently down to the company’s acquisition of recent technology, previously a leader in the space on its own, for $425 million this time last year.

Speaking to expert analyst, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha, Chen made it clear – as he has done throughout most of his tenure as CEO – that his focusing strategy when taking over was to tidy up the balance sheets, investing in new technologies, such as Internet of things (IOT) and connected cars, and create new tactics of business models through licensing BlackBerry’s technology and intellectual property.

“Overall, we trust  this is a very fabulous and model as we are getting lots of interest around the universe for bringing BlackBerry brand device to market with the security and user experience.

The Internet of Things will replace mobile phones as most connected device in 2018

Internet of thing sensors and device are expected to exceed mobile phone as the largest category of connected devices in 2018. Growing at a 23% compound annual growth rate from 2015 to 2021 according to an Ericsson report.

Internet of things (IOT) sensors and devices are expected to exceed mobile phones as the largest category of connected devices in 2018, growing at a 23% compound annual growth (CAGR) from 2015 to 2021.

By 2021 there will be 9B mobile subscriptions, 7.7B mobile broadband subscriptions, and 6.3B smartphone subscriptions. Worldwide smartphone subscription will grow at a 10.6% CAGR from 2015 to 2012 with Asia/Pacific (APAC) gaining 1.7B new subscribers alone.

These and insight are from the 2016 Ericsson mobility report (PDF, no opt-in). Ericcson has provided a summary of the findings and a series of interactive graphics here. Ericsson created the subscription and traffic forecast baseline this analysis is based on using historical data from a variety of internal and external sources. Ericsson also validated trending analysis through the use of their planning models. Future development is estimated based on macro economic trends, user trends (researched by Ericsson Consumer Lab), market maturity, technology development expectations and documents such as industry analyst reports, on a national or regional level, together with internal assumptions and analysis.

Internet of things (IOT) sensors and devices are expected to exceed mobile phones at largest category of connected devices in 2018, 23% compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2015 to 2021). Ericsson predicts there will a total approximately 28B connected devices worldwide by 2021, With nearly 16B related to IOT. The following graphic compares cellular IOT, non cellular IOT pc, laptops and tablets mobile phones, and fixed phones connected devices growth from 2015 to 2021.

Global mobile broadband subscriptions will reach 7.7B by 2021, accounting for 85% of all subscriptions. Ericsson is predicating there will be a 9B mobile 7.7B internet user by coming flow year of 2021. and 6.3B smartphone subscriptions by 2021 as well.