emteria OTA updates

OS updates made simple

Providing Android (F)OTA updates throughout the lifecycle of an embedded device poses a substantial challenge for businesses. Modern digital products require regular updates on a regular basis. They should include:

Latest security patches
Critical bug fixes
Functionality upgrades
Added business services

With emteria, all software changes and regular security updates will be evaluated, built and delivered to your devices automatically based on your maintenance schedule and specific product requirements.

Protect against threats

Install essential security patches, bug fixes, and latest improvements just a few clicks.

Comply with legislation

Meet regulatory requirements for (F)OTA updates in your products for EU and USA.

Build sustainable products

Add longevity and regular improvement to your product's core values.

Distribute updates directly from your browser

The Device Hub is a powerful cloud platform that makes the preparation, delivery and management of Android OTA updates for developers and product managers easier.

The cloud infrastructure comes with an automatic CI/CD pipeline for the AOSP to build, sign and upload new releases to emteria's secure (F)OTA servers. From there, you are able to distribute your IoT OTA updates manually or automatically based on your specific schedule or respective group configuration.

Make use of secure update delivery

Keeping security standards high is one of emteria's top priorities. In addition to custom signing certificates used for protecting the final Android OS image, emteria also performs integrity and consistency monitoring for all releases stored on emteria servers.

Each (F)OTA Android package is downloaded via encrypted connection and validated one more time before the OS update is installed on the device. This process guarantees that binary files have not been compromised during data transmission. To allow rapid testing and feature development, while preserving the stability of production systems, emteria offers dedicated release channels for all (F)OTA releases.

Scheduled updates

Updates can be pushed to the entire device fleet according to a specific time schedule to prevent disruption in the operation.

Staged update rollout

System updates are installed on the entire Android device fleet step-by-step to minimize the risk of fleet malfunction.

Delta updates

Incremental (F)OTA updates only contain code changed since the last update to speed up the download and reduce data bandwidth.

Automatic fallback

Mechanism to ensure that the device can automatically fallback to its last working state if an Android (F)OTA update fails.

Rollback protection

Updates with lower version numbers are refused to protect against already patched exploits.

Custom certificates

Signing keys for Android OS to protect your releases and validate that only updates from trustworthy sources can be installed.

Frequently asked questions

What is (F)OTA?

The acronym (F)OTA stands for (Firmware) Over-The-Air. This type of updates is pushed remotely to devices which are installed in the production environment. A good example is smartphones, which receive their updates regularly over a wireless connection. These updates become more and more important in the context of professional Android-based devices. Especially if these run industrial and embedded business applications that are exposed to the Internet.

What is part of an (F)OTA update?

(F)OTA updates are typically used to update the underlying OS, including system applications, drivers, bootloader, and other configuration files like time zone rules. These updates do not necessarily affect applications that the user has installed from other sources. But the application stack can also be part of the (F)OTA update, if required by the specific product.

Which devices need (F)OTA update capability?

Any professional embedded device that may require software update in future or could potentially be interesting for hackers should include the (F)OTA update functionality. Internet-connected devices is probably the most vulnerable category of embedded devices. Impressive examples like the casino fish tank thermometer hack illustrate that even simple embedded devices can be exploited. Therefore, any device connected to the Internet or any internal network should have (F)OTA update capability in order to be patched and protected remotely.

Why are (F)OTA updates important?

OTA updates reduce maintenance costs in the long term. There is no need for a physical presence of a technician to update field-deployed devices. You can act faster and more flexibly on critical situations by rolling out essential security patches, bug fixes, or the latest features as soon as they are ready to be released. Sustainable future-proof products keep up with new developments and understand updates as part of their solution.

How can (F)OTA updates by monetized?

Competitive products understand updates as part of their solution. These operating system updates can be monetized, through an extended service offering. Realize long-term revenue and retain your customer loyalty by providing long term support.

Can an (F)OTA update functionality be implemented subsequently?

OTA update functionality can not be implemented subsequently without immense effort. This makes it crucial to think about it early on in the product development process. We are happy to help you with planning and implementation.

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Bring Android to your hardware

Supported hardware

Basic

Provide regular OTA updates for each device to keep them secure and up to date.

Premium

All features to remotely manage, monitor and control an Android device fleet.

Enterprise

Individual offer that fits your needs, including custom features and changes.

Android Over-The-Air Updates

The fastest and easiest way to keep your fleet devices secure and up-to-date is the remote rollout of Android OS firmware patches over-the-air. Emteria provides the required components and infrastructure to build, deliver and install (F)OTA updates so your products will never get outdated.