Google just announced that a hyper-efficient operating system for the internet of things: Brillo. Developed with the engineers from Nest, the new Android-based OS is designed to be very streamlined, so that any connected object can communicate with another. The common standard that makes it all possible is called Weave.




Brillo should help you create a tightly knit network for all of your connected devices. This means your smart lock, your connected light bulbs, your intelligent thermostat, and anything else in your internet of things will be able to talk to each other. Hence the name Weave for the standard. The slide below shows the basic. Brillo is Android-based, simple, supported by as many devices as possible, and very secure.




This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Brillo—thought the Weave detail is new. In fact, the Brillo that Google just announced at the I/O Conference is pretty much what we thought it would be. However, the new Weave standard adds a wrinkle that will probably mean more to developers than the average user. It’s more evidence that Google wants to control the internet of things with the increasingly massive world of Android. And it makes sense.

Obviously, this isn’t the first unifying force for the internet of things. Zigbee and Z-Wave have been around for a while, and we’ve seen systems like Wink that aim to make the internet of things easier for the average user. They’ve come up short. Now, it looks like Google is launching Weave to compete with Apple’s HomeKit, and it sort of feels like the two prize fighters have finally entered the ring.

The whole system should be ready by the end of 2015.