Google is launching a new range of elctrical products that will include light bulbs, dishwashers, thermostats as part of an innovative move into home automation.
Google made the announcement at the annual developers conference in San Francisco this week, the offering coming within an "Android@Home" software platform.
It has been seen as a controversial move by the giant brand, not content with already dominating cyberspace but keen to control physical spaces.
Wireless technology will allow these devices to communicate with tablets, computers and phones for remote control and to record data.
Innovations on display at the conference included light bulbs that can be controlled by Android-powered systems, and a sound system that could be synched to Google's cloud music storage service
The light bulbs are set to hit the market by the end of the year. Developers have been invited to turn them into smartphone-controlled alarm clocks.
Google set up a lighting demo system with Lighting Sciences Group, which developed an LED bulb that work with Android. It uses a new wireless home automation system.
Lighting Sciences Group A19 LED bulb controllable by Android devices. (Image: Lighting Sciences Group)
Google apparently hopes that software developers will create applications that use the home automation system and devices.
Entering the crowded “home automation” market was labeled a brave move by Google, however the company noted that 400,000 Android devices are being activated every day.
