Qualcomm to support Google’s Android Thing IoT platform

Qualcomm announced that it plans to work with Google to add support for the search giant’s new IoT operating system, Android Things, in its Snapdragon processors.

In a statement released Wednesday, Qualcomm said the collaboration with Google will focus on developing both “consumer and industrial applications” and the initiative would help a vast number of developers participate in the IoT opportunity.

“We anticipate Android Things running on Snapdragon processors will offer developers familiar connectivity environments, including cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth; support for a wide array of sensors; camera, graphics, multimedia, and rich UI capabilities; hardware-based security; Google services and cloud integration; test and optimization tools, and more – allowing for rapid development of scalable, cost-effective and security-focused IoT solutions,” Qualcomm said.

Although Android Things is currently in a developer preview stage, Qualcomm noted the platform is expected to be released more broadly on Snapdragon processors next year.

Qualcomm’s announcement came a day after Google launched a preview of the new IoT platform which it said would enable developers to quickly build smart devices using Android APIs and Google services.

In a blog post on the Android Developers’ Blog, Google said Android Things incorporates feedback received on its Project Brillo IoT OS and will include tools such as Android Studio, the Android Software Development Kit, Google Play Services, and Google Cloud Platform.

Google will also offer Developer Preview updates in the coming months to provide the infrastructure necessary to securely push OS patches, security fixes, a developer’s own updates, built-in Weave connectivity and more, the search giant added.

Google is also updating its IoT communication platform Weave to help facilitate cloud connectivity for all types of devices so they can interact with services like Google’s Assistant.

“This is just the beginning of the IoT ecosystem we want to build with you,” Google developer advocate Wayne Piekarski wrote in the blog post.