Nest, maker of connected home devices such s a smart thermostat and smoke detector, have been acquired by Google. In an announcement, Google says they’ve entered an agreement to purchase Nest Labs, Inc. for $3.2 billion cash. Becoming a big name in an emerging market, Nest offers an increasingly impressive lineup of devices, and an app that brightly connects them.
Though no future plans were detailed, Google is happy to bring Nest on board. Via a blog post, Google CEO Larry Page said “Nest’s founders, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, have built a tremendous team that we are excited to welcome into the Google family.” Nest’s founders were equally delighted saying “We’re thrilled to join Google. With their support, Nest will be even better placed to build simple, thoughtful devices that make life easier at home, and that have a positive impact on the world.”
Nest offers an array of simple devices for the home, automating it where others overlook. Their smoke detector and alarm wisely avoid the screeching turbulence that has become he standard. Their smart thermostat educates users on their usage of energy in the home, bringing a new dimension to power consumption awareness. Google has made their own strides in that arena, with their acquisition here being the first direct-to-consumer product they’ve had.
We’ve heard rumors of a ‘smart thermostat’ from Google before, and it could be that theirs ran afoul of Nest patents, or they just found Nest too good at what they do. This interesting — and sizable — acquisition brings to light Google’s intention on becoming more than a simple mobile hardware and soft company outside of Search. Nest brings a new wrinkle to Google’s future, and is a big stake in the connected home realm. We hope for more big things from the duo soon.
I looked at and was interested in one of these, until I saw the $230 price tag. Replaced all 3 programmable stats in my house for $100