Google is knocking at your
front door. It wants to come inside,
make itself at home, and quietly turn all
of your boring home devices into
"smart" connected gadgets that learn
about your patterns and preferences,
talk to each other, collect data about
your habits and make life easier by
assisting with daily tasks.
On Monday, Google announced it was
buying smart-device company Nest Labs
for $3.2 billion in cash. This is Google's
first major foray into connected homes,
and news of the deal ignited a flurry of
speculation about what the Silicon Valley
giant really wants from Nest, as well as
some privacy concerns.
Nest currently only sells two products: a
smart thermostat that learns your
habits over time and adjusts the
temperature accordingly, and a
personable smoke and carbon monoxide
detector that doesn't panic when you
burn toast.
While the devices have been popular, on
the surface they don't seem like they
move enough units to be worth such a
hefty investment, even at $130 to $250
each. It's what's behind the scenes and
inside the gadgets that makes Nest a
coveted get for Google.
Nest makes impeccably designed
hardware powered by clever algorithms.
Its staff comes from major companies
like Apple, Sling and Logitech and is
experienced in machine learning, product
design, artificial intelligence and
robotics.
Nest is a standout in the increasingly
crowded connected-home market. It
may only have two products, but those
devices are considered some of the best
in the field.
Test-driving a $3.2B thermostat
Does Google know too much about us?
The house that Google and Nest built
For now, Nest is expected to continue
operating as its own brand headed by
co-founders Tony Fadell and Matt
Rogers, but down the line Google could
tap the team's expertise to help with its
own hit-and-miss attempts at creating
and selling devices (remember the Nexus
Q? ).
The Nest thermostat uses motion, light,
temperature and humidity sensors to
collect information about what's going
on in the home and uses that
information to control heating and
cooling and predict patterns. The end
result is a customized, more energy
efficient home. Like any good smart
device, it can be controlled from a
smartphone or tablet so your house can
be prewarmed before you get out of bed
or return from work.
"It's amazing to see how they have
taken important but unloved devices and
made them beautifully simple and
useful," said Google CEO Larry Page in a
brief post announcing the deal.
Aside from the financial windfall,
there's a lot Nest could gain from
having Google as its parent company.
Nest has been slow with product releases
so far. The first thermostat came out
in the fall of 2011, and the company
didn't release a new product for
another two years, when it announced
the Nest Protect smoke and CO
detector.
With Google resources, Nest can ramp up
its design process and develop more
projects. New products will come faster
and roll out in more locations globally.
Google also wants to be a player in the
connected home. The trend of
connecting previously "dumb" devices to
each other and the Internet is
sometimes referred to as the "Internet
of things." As regular objects get
connected, they gain the ability to
collect information about mundane
happenings around them. That data can
be used to learn about a person over
time and offer a customized, automated
experience.
At home, that can mean a refrigerator
that knows what food is inside and when
it expires, or security systems that send
your smartphone a push notification
when they detect anything unusual.
Google has cultivated a diverse and
seemingly random set of interests since
starting out as a search engine and
advertising company. It dabbles in e-
mail, smartphones, self-driving cars,
social networking, smart glasses,
television and robots. Nest is the latest
in a string of intriguing acquisitions,
following a handful of robotics
companies.
In the near future, these interests may
not seem so disconnected. Today's
emerging technologies will eventually
blend together. The divisions between
smartphones, home automation, cars,
smart glasses and watches and fitness
trackers will fall away, and our gadgets
and data will work together for a
seamless experience.
All of your devices will communicate with
each other. Where one drops off
another will pick up. Your self-driving
car will share push notifications from
your smartphone, turn it over to your
Google Glass when you park and start
walking, and then a smart home can
take over when you walk through your
front door. (Thanks to GPS on your
phone and car, the house knew exactly
when you were arriving and turned on
your favorite TV show.) Streams of
data from all these devices will be
collected in one place where a company
like Google will analyze it and learn
about you over time, programming
hardware and software to meet your
unique needs.
The Nest Protect is a smart smoke and
CO detector.
A few years from now, you might even
connect your smart devices to your
brain. Dean Aslam, a professor of
electrical and computer engineering at
Michigan State University and a senior
member of IEEE, is working on
miniaturizing single electrode devices
that can be placed in your hair and
read electrical activity from the brain
through a technology called
electroencephalography, or EEG.
"It can read the brainwaves which
determine the state of our minds, like
whether we're healthy or unhealthy. A
lot of information can be obtained
[from EEG]," Aslam said.
He says in the future, smart homes will
pick up on cues from the body and brain
to adjust things like temperature. It if
detects you're in a deep REM sleep, a
home might increase the level of
security. The technology wouldn't be
limited to smart homes and could expand
to include personal heath care systems.
If this is the future, it's no mystery
why Google would want to get into the
business now.
Google owning another tool that would
allow it to gather more data
immediately triggered privacy concerns.
Fresh off of an unpopular decision to
allow Google+ contacts to contact people
in their circles through Gmail, Google
already has users who are unsettled by
the vast amounts of data the company
can collect. Google has access to a
person's data through the Chrome
browser, Gmail accounts, Google search
terms and the many advanced sensors
on an Android smartphone.
That wide reach is actually a good
reason not to worry about a smart
thermostat. Google can collect most of
the same information through an
Android phone. It already knows your
location and your daily schedule.
Samsung's Galaxy S4 Android
smartphone even has a built-in
temperature sensor.
Google has access to much of your data.
Now it wants to put it to use connecting
your home, work and mobile life.cortesy -CNN
front door. It wants to come inside,
make itself at home, and quietly turn all
of your boring home devices into
"smart" connected gadgets that learn
about your patterns and preferences,
talk to each other, collect data about
your habits and make life easier by
assisting with daily tasks.
On Monday, Google announced it was
buying smart-device company Nest Labs
for $3.2 billion in cash. This is Google's
first major foray into connected homes,
and news of the deal ignited a flurry of
speculation about what the Silicon Valley
giant really wants from Nest, as well as
some privacy concerns.
Nest currently only sells two products: a
smart thermostat that learns your
habits over time and adjusts the
temperature accordingly, and a
personable smoke and carbon monoxide
detector that doesn't panic when you
burn toast.
While the devices have been popular, on
the surface they don't seem like they
move enough units to be worth such a
hefty investment, even at $130 to $250
each. It's what's behind the scenes and
inside the gadgets that makes Nest a
coveted get for Google.
Nest makes impeccably designed
hardware powered by clever algorithms.
Its staff comes from major companies
like Apple, Sling and Logitech and is
experienced in machine learning, product
design, artificial intelligence and
robotics.
Nest is a standout in the increasingly
crowded connected-home market. It
may only have two products, but those
devices are considered some of the best
in the field.
Test-driving a $3.2B thermostat
Does Google know too much about us?
The house that Google and Nest built
For now, Nest is expected to continue
operating as its own brand headed by
co-founders Tony Fadell and Matt
Rogers, but down the line Google could
tap the team's expertise to help with its
own hit-and-miss attempts at creating
and selling devices (remember the Nexus
Q? ).
The Nest thermostat uses motion, light,
temperature and humidity sensors to
collect information about what's going
on in the home and uses that
information to control heating and
cooling and predict patterns. The end
result is a customized, more energy
efficient home. Like any good smart
device, it can be controlled from a
smartphone or tablet so your house can
be prewarmed before you get out of bed
or return from work.
"It's amazing to see how they have
taken important but unloved devices and
made them beautifully simple and
useful," said Google CEO Larry Page in a
brief post announcing the deal.
Aside from the financial windfall,
there's a lot Nest could gain from
having Google as its parent company.
Nest has been slow with product releases
so far. The first thermostat came out
in the fall of 2011, and the company
didn't release a new product for
another two years, when it announced
the Nest Protect smoke and CO
detector.
With Google resources, Nest can ramp up
its design process and develop more
projects. New products will come faster
and roll out in more locations globally.
Google also wants to be a player in the
connected home. The trend of
connecting previously "dumb" devices to
each other and the Internet is
sometimes referred to as the "Internet
of things." As regular objects get
connected, they gain the ability to
collect information about mundane
happenings around them. That data can
be used to learn about a person over
time and offer a customized, automated
experience.
At home, that can mean a refrigerator
that knows what food is inside and when
it expires, or security systems that send
your smartphone a push notification
when they detect anything unusual.
Google has cultivated a diverse and
seemingly random set of interests since
starting out as a search engine and
advertising company. It dabbles in e-
mail, smartphones, self-driving cars,
social networking, smart glasses,
television and robots. Nest is the latest
in a string of intriguing acquisitions,
following a handful of robotics
companies.
In the near future, these interests may
not seem so disconnected. Today's
emerging technologies will eventually
blend together. The divisions between
smartphones, home automation, cars,
smart glasses and watches and fitness
trackers will fall away, and our gadgets
and data will work together for a
seamless experience.
All of your devices will communicate with
each other. Where one drops off
another will pick up. Your self-driving
car will share push notifications from
your smartphone, turn it over to your
Google Glass when you park and start
walking, and then a smart home can
take over when you walk through your
front door. (Thanks to GPS on your
phone and car, the house knew exactly
when you were arriving and turned on
your favorite TV show.) Streams of
data from all these devices will be
collected in one place where a company
like Google will analyze it and learn
about you over time, programming
hardware and software to meet your
unique needs.
The Nest Protect is a smart smoke and
CO detector.
A few years from now, you might even
connect your smart devices to your
brain. Dean Aslam, a professor of
electrical and computer engineering at
Michigan State University and a senior
member of IEEE, is working on
miniaturizing single electrode devices
that can be placed in your hair and
read electrical activity from the brain
through a technology called
electroencephalography, or EEG.
"It can read the brainwaves which
determine the state of our minds, like
whether we're healthy or unhealthy. A
lot of information can be obtained
[from EEG]," Aslam said.
He says in the future, smart homes will
pick up on cues from the body and brain
to adjust things like temperature. It if
detects you're in a deep REM sleep, a
home might increase the level of
security. The technology wouldn't be
limited to smart homes and could expand
to include personal heath care systems.
If this is the future, it's no mystery
why Google would want to get into the
business now.
Google owning another tool that would
allow it to gather more data
immediately triggered privacy concerns.
Fresh off of an unpopular decision to
allow Google+ contacts to contact people
in their circles through Gmail, Google
already has users who are unsettled by
the vast amounts of data the company
can collect. Google has access to a
person's data through the Chrome
browser, Gmail accounts, Google search
terms and the many advanced sensors
on an Android smartphone.
That wide reach is actually a good
reason not to worry about a smart
thermostat. Google can collect most of
the same information through an
Android phone. It already knows your
location and your daily schedule.
Samsung's Galaxy S4 Android
smartphone even has a built-in
temperature sensor.
Google has access to much of your data.
Now it wants to put it to use connecting
your home, work and mobile life.cortesy -CNN
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