Google has just
purchased Nest Labs, the maker of the Thermostat and Protect Smoke Detector,
for $3.2 billion in cash. According to a Google’s report, Nest will continue to
operate independently according to co-founder and CEO Tony Fadell.
What
exactly is Nest Labs??
Nest Labs is a home
automation company that designs and manufactures sensor-driven, self-learning,
Wi-Fi enabled, programmable thermostats and smoke detectors. Co-founded in 2010
by former Apple engineers Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers. The company introduced
their first model, the Nest Learning Thermostat, in 2011. Nest Labs announced
the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector in October 2013.
It's not yet clear how
exactly Google will use Nest, but the company obviously sees it as an important
part in the coming years. A combination of Nest's home solutions coupled with
Google's language recognition could give Google its strongest path yet into
your home. The thermostat can be remotely set via your smart phone or tablet to
automatically adjust to a specified temperature. It also connects to Wi-Fi to
analyze and compare the outside weather with your indoor environment in
real-time. The thermostat has a sensor with a 150-degree range to detect when
you are not at home, so it can adjust the temperature accordingly, and can save
energy.
Nest CEO says that it
is dynamic as “the conscious home” an environment in which nearly every
formerly mundane and passive device suddenly becomes as advanced and
upgradeable as your smart phone. Nest’s smoke and carbon monoxide detector
offers a similar set of Internet-control functions and color-coded alerts. It
includes voice alarms, and the ability to control the device using hand
motions. For instance, when the battery is low, the device will begin to pulse yellow;
if the alarm goes off, you can wave your hands within 8 feet of the device to
shut it down.
Google Ventures had
already invested tens of millions of dollars in Nest, so the company now has
been on Mountain View's radar for some time. The Nest acquisition gives Google
a way to enter homes on the back of an existing name. As the Nest thermostat
can automatically download software updates, it is like a Trojan horse for
Google to get into your living room.
Also lately, we have
been hearing a lot about Google and robots. Google has acquired companies that
work in this field, like Boston Dynamics but this Nest purchase could become
more influential in the field of robotics than most believe. Calling Nest a
‘Cryptorobotics company’, as one of the theory is that this acquisition
represents a way for Google to bring some more machines learning arsenal to its
robotics projects.
With this deal Google
has acquired a remarkable position in this highly competitive and fragmented
mobile-device space, the Nest acquisition immediately puts Google in the lead
position in the emergent category of smart appliances for the home.
Author :
Iman Majeed
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