Google Expands Smart Home Ecosystem with New Camera Program
Google has expanded its smart home ecosystem with a new camera program. This initiative brings on-device machine learning capabilities to over 800 million connected devices, transforming the broader smart home market.
The camera program integrates Google Home's camera and intelligence cloud, enabling live view and event history through a unified system. This transition affects a vast number of devices already connected via Cloud-to-Cloud APIs and the Matter protocol.
Google has launched a dedicated program for camera manufacturers, providing hardware reference designs, an embedded SDK, and integration specifications. This allows manufacturers to build AI-powered cameras without developing proprietary machine learning frameworks.
The split compute architecture in the camera program distributes processing between devices and cloud infrastructure. This enables advanced features like Gemini AI Descriptions, improving upon previous Works With Google Home cameras.
Existing device integrations will automatically gain conversational benefits. Users can now control devices and create automations using natural language, without additional development work from manufacturers.
Walmart has partnered with Google to launch the affordable onn Indoor Camera Wired and onn Video Doorbell Wired. These devices offer 1080p resolution and intelligent alerts, integrating with Gemini for Home camera features and the Google Home ecosystem.
Google's camera program expands its smart home reach, benefiting both manufacturers and users. With the Walmart partnership, affordability meets advanced features. Meanwhile, Gemini's rollout continues, gradually integrating improved monitoring data and developer tools into the Google Home ecosystem.
