May 7, 2018 15:38 EDT
Google today announced that its IoT platform for consumer devices has reached version 1.0 and is now
ready to ship, after going through seven
developer previews since it was first
announced back in December 2016. With this update, the company has expanded hardware compatibility and will offer "long-term support for production devices." Of course, that didn't stop companies such as Deeplocal who has already built a
robot that draws sketches of your selfies, before the tech giant's IoT platform graduated from its preview.
So what exactly is Android Things? Simply put, it is Google's operating system designed to be the brains inside all the smart gadgets, such as connected lightbulbs, thermostats, Wi-Fi cameras, doorbells, even the odd connected planter. That, coupled with SDKs that have been downloaded 100,000 times, and a console that allows for over-the-air updates and all manner of developer wizardry, and any company can start building smart devices.