The lines between digital, mobile, technology and apps are blurring in today’s world. We at Robosoft are keen followers of developments in this arena. Here’s a quick summary of what’s buzzing:
Google launches Android Things
With the growing smart-home industry it was only a matter of time before Google released its own IoT platform for the developers. To heat up the market, Google recently launched Android Things, an Android-based device OS for smart devices and IoT, although it is actually a rebranding of Google Brillo, which was announced in 2015. With the new OS the company hopes to make it easier for companies to develop better smart products. Even though the IoT platform market is quite crowded with RTI, Cisco, SalesForce, IBM BlueMix, AWS IoT, Azure IoT and more, there’s a chance that Android Things might gain more popularity. One of the major reasons for this is its tight integration with the rest of the Google services. This could just be the kickstart that IoT needed to reach masses.
Microsoft surprises with Cortana SDK
After Amazon Echo and Google Home, it was now Microsoft’s turn to develop a stand-alone digital assistant device. But, Microsoft chose to do it differently than its competitors by announcing a Skills Kit and a Cortana Devices SDK instead. This means that Cortana functionality can now be embedded into any device and the first device to do so is a Harman Kardon stand-alone speaker. The Cortana Device SDK is currently in private preview and will be available more widely from the next year. Developers and device manufacturers need to sign up to get access to the private preview.
Can Super Mario Run be the next Pokemon Go?
Beating the recent success of Pokemon Go, Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s first game on a mobile device, is the latest No.1 app on the iOS App Store now. According to a data from Apptopia, the game generated around 2.85 million downloads on the day of its launch. Interestingly, it didn’t gain the No. 1 spot in Japan, which is one of the world’s largest smartphone game markets. However, the price tag of $9.99 attached to the game is playing a crucial role in its domination over the app store and only time can tell if it will be able to beat the records set by Pokemon Go.
