This has been changing for some time, with smartphones becoming more central. In the past, most fitness-sensor applications-including those running as apps on smartphones-ran in the cloud.
Google desktop toys for android#
Google announced its Google Fit for Android program, which is a set of APIs for app developers that enable third-party fitness monitors to all talk to apps on your smartphone. The smartphone controls your fitness sensors. It’s also interesting to note that Apple’s in-dash system, which is called Apple CarPlay, also puts the smartphone in control and that’s what compelling about that product, as well.
It’s got a few, simple, widely spaced buttons and a voice interface designed to enable you to play music and send messages without getting distracted and crashing the car.Īs with Android TV, it’s this smartphone centrism that makes the offering compelling. In theory, Android Auto is a lot like Android Wear in the sense that the dash screen and interface is really an interface optimized for the dashboard for interacting with the phone. Google Puts the Smartphone in Control of All Your Digital Toys (The connection is so direct that it’s weirdly not even wireless you have to physically plug the phone into the dashboard.) As the rumors suggested, Google’s big push into the in-car entertainment system is called Android Auto (again, named after the smartphone OS).Īndroid Auto is completely and directly controlled by an Android smartphone. The smartphone controls your car dashboard. Phone centrism is what delivers its promise.
But without the smartphone control, it’s a completely uninteresting product.
Google desktop toys tv#
What’s interesting is that, as with the now-defunct Google TV, an Android TV is technology built into the set itself. You can also simply mirror what’s happening on your smartphone onto the TV.Īny Android phone (or any Android Wear smartwatch) can function as a remote-control device. Android TV is all about the smartphone.įor example, you can push content from your smartphone to an Android TV-powered set as if it were a Chromecast. It’s telling that the company’s latest attempt, called Android TV, is named after the smartphone OS, not the company. Google TV, the company’s previous attempt to control the living room, died a slow death in recent years. In other words, the smartphone is acting like “the computer,” and the Android Wear smartwatch is acting like a peripheral device to that computer. The same is true for smartphone notifications, smartphone messaging, smartphone email and smartphone location.
What became clear at Google I/O is that the Android Wear smartwatch is nothing more than a display interface for an app running on a smartphone. But Google executives have said that over time it will be for many types of wearable computers. The star of the show was clearly Android Wear, Google’s operating system for wearable devices. But what stood out very starkly, and which surprised attendees, was the degree to which Google had suddenly elevated the smartphone to the central controlling device for all other devices. Google announced a very wide range of new products, initiatives and other goodies at the conference. Google has made the smartphone the centerpiece and the control tower for the post-PC world. The Google version isn’t just about popularity or importance, but about who’s in charge. In Steve Jobs’ words, it’s a world in which cars (non-PCs) share the road with trucks (PCs). The Apple version of the post-PC world is one in which non-PC devices like smartphones and tablets are more popular and more important than more powerful PCs. We didn’t know about Google’s version until the company unveiled it at Google I/O developers conference last week. There’s the Apple version of the post-PC world. The post-PC world isn’t a single world, but two worlds as it turns out.
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