Recently, we've been getting asked about the differences between many different IoT standards. One of the biggest players is Google—and they've been approaching the world of IoT on many, many fronts. Their early investment in Nest placed them firmly at the front of the pack for the current wave of home automation. But Google has also been working on IoT backbones for many developers to use, in three key ways:

• Thread, the IoT network protocol Google helped get started (and whose organizing group has many companies, not just Google)—creating a standard for mesh-based IoT connections

• Weave, the API layer for IoT with a micro-OS (here’s a bit more about the implications, from Verge)

• Brillo, an IoT-optimized variant of Android for embedding in devices (again, a bit more from Verge)

Take a moment to peruse the introductions to each of these services, and consider carefully the implications. If companies are adopting such systems for their connected devices, will they be locked in to doing things Google's way? Are the systems able to be measured to ensure security, stability and speed?