Last checked at 
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Google Inc launched a Wi-Firouter on Tuesday, the latest move in the company's efforts toget ready for the connected home and draw more users to itsservices.
The cylinder-shaped router, named OnHub, can be pre-orderedfor $199.99 at online retailers including the Google Store,Amazon.com Inc and Walmart.com.
The router comes with in-built antennas that will scan theairwaves to spot the fastest connection, Google said in a blogpost. (http://bit.ly/1LhYhNB)
With the router, users will be able to prioritize a deviceso that they can get the fastest Internet speeds for data-heavyactivities such as downloading content or streaming a movie.
The router can be hooked up with Google's On app, availableon Android and iOS, to run network checks and keep track ofbandwidth use among other things.
Google said OnHub automatically updates with new featuresand the latest security upgrades, just like the company'sAndroid OS and Chrome browser.
The router is being manufactured by network company TP-LINK,Google said, hinting that ASUS could be the second manufacturingpartner for the product.
The product launch comes days after Google restructureditself by creating Alphabet Inc, a holding company to pool itsmany subsidiaries and separate the core web advertising businessfrom newer ventures like driverless cars.
Making products for the smart home is one such venture.
Google last year bought Nest, a smart thermostat maker, for$3.2 billion, aiming to lead the way on how household deviceslink to each other and to electricity grids.
The global market for "Internet of Things", the concept ofconnecting household devices to the Internet, will nearly tripleto $1.7 trillion by 2020, research firm International Data Corpsaid in June.
Technology firms including Intel Corp, CiscoSystems, Samsung Electronics and telecomgiants Vodafone and Verizon are betting heavilyon Internet device-connected homes for future revenue andprofit.
Google has also been working on providing faster Internetwith its Google Fiber service in some U.S. cities.
It also aims to expand the reach of the Internet throughProject Loon, under which it is floating balloons 20 kilometersabove the Earth's surface to beam Internet connection to ruraland remote areas. (Reporting By Lehar Maan in Bengaluru; Editing by SaumyadebChakrabarty)
