Alphabet Inc's Google has launched a spinoff of its Android operating system for home appliances and other machines, following mixed results with Android offshoots for cars, smartwatches and televisions. 'Android Things', which arrives as Google opens its annual conference for developers, could bring its Google Assistant virtual helper to refrigerators and robots and familiar designs to cash registers and vending machines. 'The goal is to enable them to be built faster, cheaper and more secure,' said Venkat Rapaka, a product management director at Google. Google has struggled to extend Android's dominance into other areas over the last four years, technology and financial analysts said