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Wednesday, February 24, 2021
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Google has acquired smart home company Nest for $3.2 billion

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nest-google Google has entered into an agreement to acquire the company behind the smart thermostat and smoke detector, Nest. Recently we heard Nest had went in for another round of funding, but it looks like Google stepping with a $3.2 billion bid to acquire the smart home startup.

CEO of Google, Larry Page, said “They’re already delivering amazing products you can buy right now—thermostats that save energy and smoke/CO alarms that can help keep your family safe” and is happy to be working together to make amazing products in the future.

For now, Nest will stay independent from Google and start working with the company on smart home appliances. Google has been wriggling around in smart home and smart device technology, currently developing the self-driving car and Google Glass.

Nest wants to be more invest in homes and the smoke detector and thermostat are just the beginning, with rumors about a burglar alarm and other smart home products. Google may be interested in building the software behind Nest products, but we wonder how Google intends to make money off this project, apart from the obvious hardware sale.

Google has had a strong relationship with Nest for a few years now, the two co-founders of Google both find the technology interesting and Google has been a big funding partner when Nest needed it, this time it looks like Google wanted the technology for themselves.

At CES this week there have been tons of “smart home” products that have been unveiled, showing how everything from a fridge to a fork can be smart. Nest still seems to stand out as one of the only companies that have vision of what a home needs to be smart, not gimmicky.

The question is what Google intends to do with the Nest purchase, the company are obviously still needing financial help – we wonder if Google are looking to speed up their smart products and make new development strides to further incorporate Google tech in the homes and lives of people.

Nest: Making The Home Safer With Technology

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Innovation has been soaked into a word that means “new” and almost every executive taking the stage for a big product announcement will say their new device or service is the next generation or completely innovative. The problem is all the markets available can be tapped into and the slightest change can make a huge difference.

Take companies like Tesla Motors, MakerBot, Square, Uber and Nest, all they have done is taken something already planned and innovated upon it, making a product that is compelling, easy to use and a true step in the right direction.

Nest is a company devoted to making simple, elegant technology gadgets for the home. They are not looking to make doors that display web-pages or an shower speaker, they are looking at what people already have in their home and improving the experience.

Nest Thermostat

nest-thermostat

Nest started with the Nest Thermostat and looked at the products available before jumping in, checking out what the major problems were with the thermostat. The idea was not to change how a thermostat works entirely, but simplify the process for the end user, while making a much more powerful and productive product.

Nest Thermostat begins to understand the user and will take information from the surroundings, saving energy when the user is not in the house and making sure the temperature is right, with simple controls and an app to change the temperature.

Nest Protect

nest-protect

In many ways, Nest took the ideas from the thermostat and added them to the Nest Protect smoke alarm. Nest Protect has the same elegant design with some impressive functionality, including the ability to sense different types of smoke in different rooms and shows an array of colors as a warning.

Nest Protect also has easy voice functionality and the user can stop the alerts by waving their hands over the Nest Protect. The smoke alarm can also be controlled with the mobile app. Added niceties include the Nest Protect glowing when it is dark and being completely wireless.

The real question is what is next for Nest, the company obviously wants to get into the house and try to fix some issues. We could see an alarm system or perhaps a way to open and close doors without handles. Maybe we will even see Nest branch out into consumer appliances, although we doubt this will happen in the short term.