Google is attempting to put itself at the centre of domestic wireless networks with a new “smart router” that promises to improve WiFi quality and security.
OnHub’s launch comes weeks before Apple is expected to unveil its latest home technology device, with an update to its Apple TV set-top box that will act as a wireless “smart home” hub. The launch also puts Google into competition with many cable companies which offer their own home hubs for watching TV and getting online.
The inclusion of Bluetooth and other methods of wireless connectivity means Google’s $200 OnHub will be able to control the “internet of things” inside the home as more consumers buy connected peripherals such as wireless speakers, thermostats and security cameras.
The project has been developed over the past two years by teams who worked on the Chrome operating system and Google Access, the unit responsible for its superfast fibreoptic-based network.
Google has taken an Apple-like approach to designing OnHub, concealing the antennas that usually protrude from a router inside a cylinder that can be customised with a range of colours and patterns. Google has made other internal improvements to regular routers that it says will make OnHub easier to manage and allow WiFi networks to run faster and over a wider area.
While OnHub will remain part of Google after the internet company becomes a subsidiary of new parent Alphabet, under a corporate shake-up announced by chief executive Larry Pagelast week, no information about browsing or viewing behaviour will be used to tailor online advertising, the company says.
The OnHub device may in time work with peripherals from Nest, the smart-home unit that will become a separate Alphabet subsidiary to Google.
谷歌(Google)正力圖讓本身置身於家庭無線收集的中間。該公司宣布了一款有望改良WiFi質量和平安性的新型“智能路由器”。
谷歌宣布OnHub路由器，比外界估計蘋果(Apple)將推出其最新家庭技巧裝備的時光早了幾周——蘋果行將宣布最新款的電視機頂盒Apple TV，可用作無線“智能家居”中間。這次新品宣布也使谷歌位於跟有線電視公司競爭的地步，很多有線電視公司也供給用於看電視和上彀的家居中間。
谷歌訂價200美元的OnHub路由器包括藍牙和其他無線銜接技巧，象征著它將可以或許掌握家庭內的“物聯網”。現在，愈來愈多的花費者購置了無線音箱、恒溫器和監控攝像優等可銜接外設。
這個項目是由賣力Chrome操縱體系的多個團隊和Google Access用時兩年結合完成研發的。Google Access是谷歌旗下賣力其超快速光纖收集的部分。
谷歌在OnHub計劃上采取了相似蘋果的辦法，把平日凸起在路由器表面的天線隱蔽到一個圓筒中，圓筒可以定制為分歧色彩和樣式。谷歌還在其他方面臨慣例路由器舉行了內部改良，並表現，這將使OnHub更便於治理，使WiFi收集運行得更快，籠罩到更廣規模。
谷歌表現，只管OnHub在公司重組後仍將是谷歌的一部門，但用戶閱讀或旁觀行動的相幹信息將不會被用於量身定做在線告白。上周，谷歌首席履行官拉裏槧奇(Larry Page)宣告了公司的重組計劃，谷歌爾後將成為新建立的母公司Alphabet的子公司。
OnHub今後大概會跟Nest的外設產物互相兼容。Nest這一智能家居部分將成為Alphabet旗下一家平行於谷歌的自力子公司。
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