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awneil
This article appears to be incorrect in stating that, "Android is unusual in ...
awneil
@Selinz: NO! It means exactly that you can *not* hook up *any* of your current ...
Updated: Android targets unity, USB support
Rick Merritt
5/10/2011 11:21 AM EDT
While Google is trying to simplify the complexity of Android releases, it is also aggressively extending the software to support accessories and home automation. In this way the message from Google has changed.
In its early days, Android used to be focused solely on the mobile phone. These days Google execs are quick to note Android is now reaching out to tablets, TVs and a growing set of other devices.
Android will support USB for the first time on the next version of its software for tablets, Honeycomb 3.1, and the smartphone version, Gingerbread 2.3.4. The support includes a new Open Accessory API which includes USB 2.0 support libraries from Google.
Android is unusual in that when working with a peripheral the handset is defined as a device, not a host environment under Linux. Thus Android USB accessories will technically be USB hosts. However, Andorid also offers a USB host mode. The Google USB libraries aim to smooth over the sometimes confusing distinctions for developers.
The device/host situation means Android USB accessories will not be able to get power over USB from Android handsets or tablets. Google is not developing support for USB 3.0.
Google, Microchip and RT Corp. of Japan announced hardware developer kits for building Android USB accessories based on the popular Arduino board. The Microchip board uses a MIPS-based processor and will be available by June for $79, and was demoed in an online video. Robotics developer RT Corp. showed two boards, an Arduino board and a separate sensor board it will sell together for $380.
Google said it will also release support for Android accessories using Bluetooth in the future. A Google manager contrasted the new Android peripheral market to the tightly controlled one maintained by Apple for its iPhone and iPad.
"There will be no NDAs or fees and no approval process to build accessories, so go get started," said Hugo Barra, director of product management for Android at Google.
Separately Google announced Android @ Home, an initiative to
link Android devices to a broad range of home appliances and home automation
devices over Wi-Fi or a new low cost wireless home control network. Lighting
Science (Satellite Beach, Fla.) an LED light and switch maker, said it will
release $35 LED light bulbs as well as gateways by the end of year that can be
controlled wirelessly by Android devices.
Google is expected to release late this year open source code for a 915 MHz wireless mesh protocol that will be a low cost alternative to Zigbee or Z-Wave. It could require as little as 16 Kbytes RAM and 32 Kbytes flash, enabling a bill of materials 30 percent lower than Zigbee Pro. The Google protocol will enable frequency hopping and ride on top of the 6LoWPAN spec from the Internet Engineering Task Force.
The @ Home initiative includes a hardware reference design for controlling home media systems, called Project Tungsten. Google demoed a Tungsten box linked to the Web, controlling a stereo and capable of buying or starting an Internet audio stream based on waving a device with a near field communications link.
"This combination of new cloud services, software and devices enables a whole universe of applications," said a Google developer giving the demo.
The Android @ Home software and details of its wireless network support will be released late this year.
Microchip's $79 Android USB dev kit
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Luis Sanchez
5/10/2011 5:01 PM EDT
That part of the USB device and host relation is tricky. I mean, usually we identify the host as the bigger device and the accesories as the smaller ones. If an accessory is connected to the Android phone, it will be a little odd to remember that it's the accessory the one playing the host and not the phone.
Anyway, it sounds very interesting.
That part of "no NDA and no fees" sounds intimidating for the market. There must be somekind of control out there. Otherwise... what will become of Android? a world of no warranties?
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Frank Eory
5/10/2011 5:42 PM EDT
Why didn't they just use USB OTG in Android? Connectivity of mobile devices to peripherals is exactly what OTG was developed for. It makes no sense that an Android tablet or smartphone must be a USB device, which means the peripheral must be the USB host.
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chanj
5/11/2011 12:56 PM EDT
Android device being a USB device makes sense to me since it shall not allow being drawn power. Yet, how does it work with regular USB device such as keyboard and mouse?
Personally, I am more interested in the 915MHz Open source wireless mesh protocol. What would be the benefit over Zigbee and Z-wave? Cost apparently? What else?
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selinz
5/13/2011 2:02 PM EDT
Presumably this means that we can hook up a portable hard drive, for example, to our phones? Sounds good to me..
As far as the @home, it's about time X10 got a replacement.
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awneil
5/17/2011 2:25 AM EDT
@Selinz: NO! It means exactly that you can *not* hook up *any* of your current USB "accessories" to *any* Android device!
This means that you are going to have to get a whole new set of accessories - just for use with your Android device(s)!
It's hard enough getting technical people to realise this - how on earth are Google going to explain it to consumers?!
It will also vastly increase the design complexity of the devices - as they will have to provide a USB *Host* stack.
Sounds like utter madness to me!
Should be good business for the likes of http://www.vinculum.com though...!
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awneil
5/17/2011 4:37 AM EDT
This article appears to be incorrect in stating that, "Android is unusual in that it is defined as a device, not a host". As I commented earlier, that would be ridiculous!
In fact, it is only the "Accessory" mode in which Android is the Device - there is also a Host mode:
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/usb/accessory.html
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/usb/host.html
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