Nest

Smart driving assistant Automatic now connects your car and home with Nest

First preview at CES 2015 a week ago, Automatic, makers of the popular connected car adapter, today officially announced a new feature to connect your car and home with Nest, the smart thermostat from Google.

The integration enables communication between your car and home through intelligently chosen rules that give the Nest thermostat a more timely understanding of when heating or cooling is needed and more importantly, when it's not.

Nest Notification Center widget Thermos gets a warm update

A couple weeks ago, I told you about Thermos, a widget for Notification Center on Mac that lets you adjust the temperature of your Nest thermostat. At the time, I was quite impressed with the widget, despite the fact that I felt it was a bit limited and contained a minor bug. This is now a thing of the past as Thermos was just updated with new features, and a fix for the pesky bug.

Google’s iOS app picks up Nest integration

Following a recent refresh with Material Design, iPhone 6 support and Maps in search results, Google's main search client for iOS and Android today gained the ability to interact with your Nest smart thermostat, along with other Nest-branded devices for the connected home, using Google Now voice commands.

Replicating some of the functionality provided by Nest's own iPhone application, Google's native search app for the iPhone and iPad takes advantage of voice input and Now cards to help control your Nest hardware.

Just fire up the app and either tap the mic or say "Ok Google" to get started. This is a silent feature upgrade on the backend so no download is required.

Thermos lets you set your Nest thermostat temperature from OS X Notification Center

Thermos is a recently released Mac application that works hand in hand with Nest to allow you to set the temperature of your thermostat right from Notification Center. Additionally, and if you also have Nest Protect smoke detectors in your home, the app will be able to send you push notifications in case smoke or carbon monoxide has been detected by the devices.

Google-owned Nest takes on Apple’s HomeKit, opens up API for developers

Nest Labs, the Google-owned maker of the popular Nest thermostat and smoke detector, has signaled its intention to open up its technology to third-party developers by launching the Nest Developer Program last September.

Since then, Nest has been building a real-time web API for the Nest Learning Thermostat and today, ahead of Google I/O which starts tomorrow, the program has gone active.

The official API allows the Nest to work with all kinds of devices, from smart light bulbs to various home appliances to fitness bands and even cars. "Connect your Nest to things inside and outside of your home, and we'll get even better at keeping you comfortable and safe," says Google.

Contrary to previous assurances by Nest co-founder and former Apple engineer Tony Fadell, Nest devices will need to share some data with Google so the Internet giant could understand your daily habits and intelligently propose new ways of saving energy around the house...

Google-owned Nest acquires Dropcam for $555 million

Smart thermostat-maker Nest announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement to acquire Dropcam. The company, which itself was purchased by Google earlier this year, says that the all-cash deal is worth a hefty $555 million.

For those unfamiliar with Dropcam, it's behind the popular line of Internet-connected home monitoring cameras. Major selling points for the cameras include easy setup, 2-way audio and remote streaming via any PC or mobile device...

Nest Protect smoke alarm returns on store shelves, now just $99

Nest Labs, which Google is acquiring for $3.2 billion in cash, has resumed sales of its Nest Protect after recalling about 40,000 units in April over a safety bug with the smoke and carbon monoxide detector's Protect Wave feature potentially preventing the alarm from sounding.

The company has now disabled Protect Wave on existing devices via a software update while re-releasing a slightly tweaked device at a discounted price of $99 each, down from the previous price of $129...

Nest and Google clarify: recalled smoke detectors returning soon, no ads on thermostats

Contrary to a flurry of reports yesterday, Google was never going to put ads on the Nest Thermostat. Moreover, Nest co-founder and the iPod Godfather, Tony Fadell, has confirmed that recalled thermostats will be returning to store shelves sooner than you think.

Allow me to refresh your memory: soon after it was discovered that a safety bug with a Protect Wave feature could prevent the alarm from sounding, Google's Nest unit has responded by preemptively recalling about 40,000 faulty units.

This should set the record straight and put to rest the ridiculous notion that recalling smoke detectors and not doing ads in thermostats is somehow evil...

Google could serve ads to your Nest in the future

Google has hinted in a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it's envisioning the future in which ads could be served to a dizzying range of devices such as thermostats, refrigerators, cars and more.

Based on a letter Google sent to the SEC in December, which was disclosed Tuesday and picked up by the Wall Street Journal, its advertising content could in the not-so-distant future appear on “refrigerators, car dashboards, thermostats, glasses, and watches, to name just a few possibilities.”

Google shocked watchers after announcing its $3.2 billion acquisition of smart thermostat maker Nest Labs back in January. Immediately, watchers expressed concern over the repercussions of the buy. Nest co-founder Tony Fadell responded by assuring customers in a blog post that Nest won’t share their data with Google...

Tony Fadell on Nest deal, relationship with Apple, Google data sharing, home automation and more

The iPod Godfather and Nest Labs co-founder and CEO, Tony Fadell, sat down with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to talk specifics of the recently announced $3.2 billion Google deal, why he sold to the search monster, Nest's relationship with Apple, the future of controlling household products and a few other topics of interests, here are your soundbites...

Some theories on why Apple didn’t buy Nest…

Google's acquisition of the smart thermostat and smoke detector maker Nest Labs, which came out of the blue yesterday, has certainly set tongues wagging. And when you think of it, the shock and awe didn't stem from the business side of things - it came from buying users of a lovable service in a non-physical space, but whose relationship with the service is part physical.

And to think it all began like a fairy-tale...

Here's a cutesy little startup led by Tony Fadell, a former Apple engineer who used to lead the iPod's development over seventeen generations before leaving Cupertino amid feud with design guru Jony Ive and iPhone software head Scott Forstall to co-found Nest Labs, along with fellow Apple staffer Matt Rogers.

"Starting a business focused on the lowly thermostat seemed like a crazy idea at the time," Fadell wrote yesterday in a blog post. Turned out a lot of people fell in love with his smart thermostat. Just as Nest was about to complete another round of funding, Google swept in and bought the company outright for $3.2 billion in cash.

Sources claim Google was the only serious bidder and Apple was not in the mix. Heck, the iPhone maker didn't even bother to put up a fight. But why? Here are some of the more popular theories floating around (feel free to add your own in the comments)...

And just like that, Google buys smart thermostat and smoke detector maker Nest Labs

The Internet giant Google has announced that it has bought Nest Labs, the maker of a family of iPhone-controlled smart thermostat and smoke and carbon monoxide detector devices for connected homes. Nest will continue to operate independently of Google and won't share customer data with them. Nest was founded by the brilliant engineer Tony Fadell who used to work at Apple where he was charged with the iPod music player project.

Yes, the iPod Godfather now works for Google! The transaction is valued at a whopping $3.2 billion in cash. Google paid quite handsomely to buy Nest, didn't they? Considering Nest raised about $80 million in venture funding, the acquisition qualifies as one of the most profitable exit strategies among Silicon Valley startups.

iDownloadBlog's Jeff Benjamin reviewed the Nest learning thermostat and was impressed with its sleekness and functionality, the $249 price point be damned...