Google aquires Nest!

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Google aquires Nest!

SumnerBoy

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Topic # 138702 14-Jan-2014 10:16

http://investor.google.com/releases/2014/0113.html

$3.2 billion!! Expect to see some big things in home automation this year!

hellonearthisman

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Reply # 966857 14-Jan-2014 14:59

Nest make some smart gadgets. Good to see they now have Google backing.
https://nest.com/

jarledb

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Reply # 967190 14-Jan-2014 22:42

Have worked with safety products for 10 years and I have to say that the Nest smoke detector looks like a really cool one. And its available for 230 volt from the UK store.

Look forward to see what they will do next, they obviously put a lot of effort into making usable stuff.

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freitasm

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Reply # 967192 14-Jan-2014 22:46

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On the other hand Google is known for closing down services they deem not needed anymore... If Nest doesn't perform as they want, it's more likely it will disappear than off loaded.

Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure)

jarledb

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Reply # 967515 15-Jan-2014 12:58

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That is true. BUT, even for Google 3 1/2 billion is a lot of money. I doubt they would have bought Nest if they weren't planning to do something proper with it.

Jarle on Twitter - Senson Web Marketing

billgates

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Reply # 967525 15-Jan-2014 13:19

Everyone is getting into home automation these days. Google recently also acquired Boston Dynamics which supply robots to the military. I guess every house will have it's own robot mowing the lawns, vacuuming the carpet and do the dishes.

Do whatever you want to do man.

SumnerBoy

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Reply # 967526 15-Jan-2014 13:20

It is quite addictive - let me tell you!

tehgerbil

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Reply # 967533 15-Jan-2014 13:35

I thought "Cool, Google will be investing in home automation."

But then as Techcrunch have pointed out, what do Google make their money in? Advertising.

Therefore it's not hard to come to the conclusion of the question: Why would they want home automation? -To better target you for advertising? Why else would it be worth 3.2 BILLION dollars?

Imagine this:
You spend 20 minutes catching up on Facebook in the toilet, your phone buzzes.. New email. Advertising for metamucil dings in your Gmail inbox..

k1wi

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Reply # 967536 15-Jan-2014 13:40

I can see people being put off by using this and giving even more of their personal information to Google. If I was thinking about a Nest, I'd be less likely to buy it today. In the same way that I use to use Waze before it was bought from Google, but am apprehensive to today.

I suspect that google and the NSA together should, in theory, have done enough singlehandedly to monetise the internet and move it from an advertising based model to a paid-subscriber based model. However, it won't, because the existing model is so tempting for start ups (build a base and then sell out to whichever google/facebook/amazon/yahoo will pay the most billions, and hopefully retain head of the department...).

mattwnz

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Reply # 967538 15-Jan-2014 13:46

So we will now potentially have google looking in on you in your home, and knowing what you do, when you do it, inside your home. They will also probably be able to tell when you will be home or not. That is pretty scary.
My problem with google is how they initially make things free or very low cost to get people switching to them ,essentially putting other providers out of business. Then they either start charging, like they did with domain email, or they kill off the service like they did with google reader etc.
Really they are an advertising company, so you have to think how they can monitise that. eg. Possibily have a fridge that knows what products you have left, and supermarkets can then send you adverts for or display adverts on the fridge suggesting products and specials.

hellonearthisman

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Reply # 967551 15-Jan-2014 14:11

Google make most of there money from Advertising but the also make a lot of money from others things too.
Google know when you are home, your android phone starts connecting via your Wifi and it's GPS gives hints too. But does that matter?

I like that Google are still thinking outside the box with it's new robot division and these smart devices.
What other tech companies are pushing at future? Apple has stagnated and Microsoft has not come up with anything really creatively new since windows 95.

SumnerBoy

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Reply # 967555 15-Jan-2014 14:13

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Do you really think Google is going to be that interested in whether you have run out of peanut butter? I think it is a little paranoid to think that big companies like Google having access to this sort of data will in any way encroach on your daily life. Unless you're some kind of threat to national security, and then this is the least of your worries!

They already track all your search habits, which is probably far more telling and incriminating than whether your smoke alarm has gone off in the last 24hrs...

IMHO you stand to gain a lot more by Google getting involved with this sort of technology, rather than it being a bad thing.

But then, I have nothing to hide...

SumnerBoy

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Reply # 967646 15-Jan-2014 16:18

That is kind of my point - they are already doing all this, using information that is much more personal (i.e. Gmail). I guess I am just saying that the fact Google is entering the home automation space is no cause for mass panic about personal data etc. There should be far more positives than negatives with such a heavy hitter getting involved.

mattwnz

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Reply # 967661 15-Jan-2014 16:39

SumnerBoy: Do you really think Google is going to be that interested in whether you have run out of peanut butter? I think it is a little paranoid to think that big companies like Google having access to this sort of data will in any way encroach on your daily life. Unless you're some kind of threat to national security, and then this is the least of your worries!

They already track all your search habits, which is probably far more telling and incriminating than whether your smoke alarm has gone off in the last 24hrs...

IMHO you stand to gain a lot more by Google getting involved with this sort of technology, rather than it being a bad thing.

But then, I have nothing to hide...

The problem is more if the data gets into the wrong hands. Thieves could know when you are aren't in your home etc, simply from this data. Then you get hackers who may use that data, look what happened you yahoos email systems, they harvested data and used it for spamming. This sort of thing is why I beleive it was the Australia government refused to deal with some chinese companies on certain telecommunications contracts.

SumnerBoy

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Reply # 967667 15-Jan-2014 16:51

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Yep - I do follow your logic - and I agree that sort of data in the wrong hands could be dangerous. But I would argue there is far more sensitive data (i.e. bank accounts, credit cards, etc) floating around in the Gmail space, which has been accessible by Google for years. The chances of a hacker getting this data is very remote, and then the chances of them using YOUR data against YOU, is even more remote, IMHO.

I am just trying to point out to everyone that is freaking out about Google entering the HA space that it isn't really that big of a deal, compared to what they already have access to.

And in fact, the upside of them getting involved will be potentially very significant, due to the engineering and development muscle they have.

I believe Google acquiring Nest is a good thing for the HA industry. I think we will see some really clever products in the coming 12 months.