The logo of Internet search engine company Google at the headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.(Photo: Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty Images)

“We wanna go one step further and really broaden the concept of what exactly is an Android accessory. We’d like to think of your entire home as an accessory — or better yet, as a network of accessories — and think of Android as the operating system for your home. We call this vision Android@Home.”

And with that, Google kicked off a demonstration of what promised to be its grand foray into home automation. After it showed off lights, speakers, and central hubs that “discover, connect, and communicate” with one another, it seemed that Google’s I/O Conference in May 2011 had given us a glimpse of the House of Tomorrow that Tex Avery promised us back in 1949. And to prove this was no Apple TV hobby, the company teased its first Android@Home accessory — wirelessly controllable LED light bulbs from the manufacturer LightingScience — would be released by the end of that year.

As you’re already aware, that never happened. In fact, Android@Home has barely been mentioned in the two years since it was demoed. That thrilling prospect of turning on your air conditioner from the road would have to be left to a different company.

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