Is Google’s New Android Management API A Big Deal For Digital Signage?
October 23, 2017 by Dave Haynes
Google recently announced an Android Management API, designed for developers who want to integrate Android device and app management capabilities into their customer solutions, like digital signage. The API currently supports Android devices that are designed to perform a specific purpose use case, like playing out media.
I’ve written a lot about Android, and one of the things that’s been a challenge for any software firms developing and supporting an Android-based player is the rolling, moving target of Android versions. Android signage saw almost frenzied activity about three or four years ago, but has cooled right off as a lot of companies discovered cheap playback devices were cheap for a reason. But there are several companies that have stuck with it, and displaycos like Philips have very good Android hardware embedded right in their commercial panels.
I’ve no idea if this is significant or not, so I need feedback from Android digital signage companies. If you have time, send me a note to fill me (and readers) in.
I’ve also reached out to a couple of companies that have invested heavily in Android. I’d ask Google, but my contacts there are all about Chrome OS, and one of the key contacts, Vidya Nagarajan, shifted this month from signage to Google Cloud (so she’s not involved in signage).
Hi, Dave,
We are one of the digital signage company stick with Android. Android version is more a problem for digital signage hardware because it is almost impossible to upgrade. For software, it is annoying, but depends on how you design the program… we keep up with it all right so far.
Eric