Does this mean my boiler will now target me with ads?
Google gobbles Wi-Fi thermostat maker Nest for $3.2 BEEELLION IN CASH
Nest Labs, which touts sensors and controllers for so-called "smart homes", has been bought by Google for $3.2bn in hard cash. "Nest's founders, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, have built a tremendous team that we are excited to welcome into the Google family," gushed Google CEO Larry Page in a statement, heaping praise on the …
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 01:10 GMT ckm5
Re: What this means
The API will be open but the only way to use it will be with a custom, proprietary runtime and there will be a global query limit of 500 requests.... And installing your Nest now will require a Google+ account.
That said, you'll be able to easily share your data through Circles and your thermostat will be able to discover all your email accounts.
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 12:45 GMT David Paul Morgan
Re: What this means
Google: I've just picked up a fault in the AE35 unit. It's going to go 100% failure in 72 hours.
Google: I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
Google: It can only be attributable to human error.
User: Open the Washing Machine doors, Google!
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 12:49 GMT Nanners
Re: And you couldn't save energy before the Google purchase...
Well, lets examine this. They have build super secret storage facilities that are more secure than area 51. Their data has become uncontrollable and showing "sign of life". They own the most advance war machine company on Earth, and they have been given the U.S. health care system to boot. ...Now they control your house. Google is obviously run by the Alien robot overlords preparing for world invasion. Prepare yourselves now.
Do all evil all the time.
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 08:23 GMT Anonymous Coward
To me, this is yet another sign that the company is becoming the new Microsoft, buying innovation to make it unavoidable you have to get a Google account to do things, and thus agree legally to let them have all the data they cansqueeze out of your life to sell. In that context, the commentard suggesting someone might need insolation isn't far off IMHO, also because Google possibly has your MOBILE number to sell with it if you bought the "extra security" Argument to give them the one thing that wasn't listed).
If you wanted a Nest thermostat, buy it now before Borg II absorbs it.
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Monday 13th January 2014 23:35 GMT ratfox
I should create a company
I don't know why people bother buying lottery tickets when the odds of getting rich are so much better creating a company and getting bought by Google. Just make sure to play to the personal tastes of Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Still, they just bought a company that makes thermostats for $3.200.000.000, which is about 500 times what I expect to earn during my whole life. Please excuse my loser self while I go cry in a corner.
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Wednesday 15th January 2014 14:08 GMT Mark .
Re: I should create a company
Already have it today, I can control my heating anywhere through an Internet connection, with standard British Gas boiler. No doubt we will see more of this kind of thing in the future.
If that's true, I hope this isn't anything like an ipod - no thanks, I don't want every device from fridges to kettles set up so that they're suddenly only compatible with a system from one manufacturer, ignoring every other system that uses open standards. And then even the people that do go along with it find that all their kettles and fridges have to be replaced, because the one manufacturer changes their dongle socket interface.
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Wednesday 15th January 2014 18:31 GMT Ian 55
Re: I should create a company
I am struggling to think what's so clever about this company. Altering the temperature of somewhere according to whether or not there are people in the place is not exactly difficult.
Someone (this bunch?) have a phone program that can let the system know when you're nearby (probably), so the place can be warm if and when you arrive.
But really this is simple control stuff with some nice industrial design.
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Monday 13th January 2014 23:41 GMT SVV
Gee wiz, dontcha just want one?
"Since then the company has expanded into flogging a combination carbon-monoxide detector and "smart" smoke alarm, which phones you when your house is on fire"
<Cheesy ringtone>
<<Hi, this your Nest (tm) smart smoke detector, your house is on fire!>>
I can definitely see enough people rushing out to buy this to justify an investment of $3200000000
Maybe it'll post a message for you on your Google+ account and send an email to all your gmail contacts too : "Hi, I won't be available to answer emails for the next few days as my house just burnt down".
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Wednesday 15th January 2014 13:47 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Gee wiz, dontcha just want one?
"<<Hi, this your Nest (tm) smart smoke detector, your house is on fire!>>"
It'd have to be a bloody smart smoke detector to overcome the usual problem that such devices have, which is that they are much more likely to be set off by burning your toast or even just cooking bacon.
Perhaps a more useful role for this product is in guarding your supply of breakfast pig products from being snaffled by someone else living in the house. Show up to a couple of 'false alarms' and catch them in the act of preparing a sneaky fry up...
<<Hi, this your Nest (tm) smart smoke detector, either your house is on fire or the missus is at the bacon again!>>"
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 10:16 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: rotary dials and glowing temperature readings
So why was the iPod a huge success and other MP3 players less so?
The guy who designed Nest worked on the iPod. I'd say that means people do want rotary dials and nice lights.
Clarity is important and if you're going to have something stuck on your wall why shouldn't be be attractive?
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 00:59 GMT Thorne
Stupid American Patents.
"featuring "innovations" such as a rotating dial with an LED to indicate the temperature"
Is it just me or is this another stupid American patent? A rotating dial with an LED? What new exciting development next? A togglable switch with with an LED?
Stupid damn American patent system.
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 01:15 GMT JP19
More not being evil coming up
I guess the thermostats will soon have microphones for voice control and cameras so they can see if people are there and if they look hot or cold.
They are already web connected so Google can get to see and hear what you do in your homes as well as your computers, fondleslabs, and phones.
And 3.2 billion for a bloody thermostat company? Maybe they see it is another route into people's homes after the flopped powermeter attempt and will be able to use it as a lever to force utilities to cooperate with them on smart metering and smart appliances.
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 01:26 GMT Ken Y-N
In Japan...
Almost all the major air conditioner brands do in fact now have infra-red sensors in them to detect when people look hot or cold. And Sharp's Cocorobo (Roomba-alike) speaks to you and will on command trundle over to the air conditioner to switch it on and off.
"Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to turn down the aircon. Call that job satisfaction?"
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 01:24 GMT Anonymous Coward
Why is this coming as a surprise to anyone?
Google was funding Nest throughout its various rounds of raising venture capital; they even directly-mention this in today's statement regarding the buyout:
https://nest.com/blog/2014/01/13/welcome-home/
In a sense - and I'll admit that this is something of a 'better the devil you know' choice - this is probably preferable to tying your home thermostat directly into the Smart Grid*, but that largely depends on how much autonomy Nest can maintain from Google. I'm willing to bet that that autonomy is going to be quite small now that they have virtually unlimited access to the mothership's cloud services (assuming they weren't using them already), but one can at least hold out hope.
* Yes, I realise that the Smart Grid will, by its very nature, end up encompassing any Nest thermostats in the home, but at least it could conceivably remain one piece of hardware that's not directly-tied to it.
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 10:09 GMT Chris G
Re: Why is this coming as a surprise to anyone?
Just had a look at the products page at Nest, four products; a smart thermostat, a smoke alarm, an expensive blanket and a very expensive water bottle.
Not too sure if the blanket and bottle are smart and can spy on you but either Nest has a truck load of innovative patents ready to roll or Borgle is tax avoiding as mentioned.
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 05:58 GMT solo
And where goes the academic papers on web crawling
And I thought Google would keep improving search algorithms.
It's a glaring but not admitted failure that they have to rely on context (even temperatures) outside a web pages / sites for understanding what ads will suit on a specific page.
Business always finds its way.
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 06:00 GMT T. F. M. Reader
It is a cunning ploy
to make Google+ more popular. Now if you post an update, "I am at home and I feel cold", the thermostat (that won't work without a G+ account) will be able to react. At which point the whole of GMail will be emailed a story (the thermostat has a valid G+ account, after all) of how posting to Google+ made you more comfortable in a very real sense. Some gullible punters will order smart thermostats from Google Play and open Google+ accounts for each new device...
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Tuesday 14th January 2014 07:14 GMT Anonymous Coward
I see the future
Google's recent purchases: gesture recognition, robots, thermostats.
So in the future a robot will recognise you shivering and show you an ad for a jumper / tropical holiday. When you respond to that with a two-finger gesture, said robot will sprint across the room and turn the thermostat up.