Google to Acquire Nest

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

by coloneltcb • 13 years ago

684 567 13 years ago

investor.google.com

cocoflunchy• 13 years ago

$3.2 billion?

samsnelling• 13 years ago

Yep. Think of it as 3.2 instagrams.

bandris• 13 years ago

Or 2 youtubes.

tghw• 13 years ago

Given Google's history with acquisitions, as a Nest owner, I'm not thrilled to hear this. Hopefully they let it run as independently as possible.

VLM13• 13 years ago

Google always shuts stuff down. Which is just a big laugh when its an internet application, but not so funny when its your thermostat. Anyone know what happens when GOOG shuts off the Nest system? Hopefully the thermostat reverts to at least a simple dumb mode rather than shutting everything off?

lowlevel3• 13 years ago

Disconnect it from your network before they 'update' it.

smackfu23• 13 years ago

While the Nest Thermostat doesn't require a Wi-Fi connection, additional features like remote control and automatic software updates are only available when the Nest Thermostat connects to the Internet

cloudwalking4• 13 years ago

I doubt Google would shut down a $3,200,000,000.00 acquisition.

rtkwe• 13 years ago

Should be pretty easy to keep a large amount of the functionality online, the one thing that definitely wouldn't work is remote access through nest.com. Just controlling the HVAC system doesn't _require_ any web access, easy test to see what the impact of a hard shutdown by Google is to just disconnect your wireless router from the Internet.

tadfisher• 13 years ago

On the other hand, Android, Inc. was an acquisition with a similar purpose–to break into a new product space–and it grew into a fully-supported division. I don't think Google will treat this as an acquihire situation.

beaner2• 13 years ago

They will have them make the robots produced by the other 7 companies they just bought look pretty and operate simply. At least, that's my hope. Nest team + hardcore robotics teams = potentially awesome stuff.

foobarian4• 13 years ago

I wonder what their play is. One neat thing about Nest is that they are doing what many products failed to do before, and that's to kind of become a platform for the "internet of things." It's a thermostat and smoke detector now, but it could easily soon become more stuff, sensors and actuators, and it could easily all work together toward enabling a smarter home. Yes if you are a hardware/microcontroller geek you can get the same functionality for $100 but you will spend 100 hours on it and it will look vastly inferior to the Nest designs. It is also amazing how much more successful it could be than the million crappy little X10 and zigbee gadgets with their 1960s UX.

Another amazing thing to me is how well and how fast they managed to build prominent industry relationships: you can get rebates from the electric company, they are on Home Depot and Lowes shelves, advertised on NPR, etc.

bentcorner3• 13 years ago

Sure, but do you think the probable future lifespan of a Nest v1 has gotten better or worse after this acquisition?

simonk• 13 years ago

This is more YouTube pricing so I don't see a problem with them keeping this running.

avree• 13 years ago

Can't wait to need a Google+ account to change the temperature in my house.

angersock2• 13 years ago

"We've noticed that you're currently freezing your toes off...would you like to search instead for 'HVAC'?"

Fucking creepy.

sixothree2• 13 years ago

I find this creepy as well. The fact I was considering purchasing one gives me an ill feeling now.

jffry2• 13 years ago

Coming soon: audio ads, broadcast throughout your home via your Nest Protect. Since it knows if you're moving, it can wait and play the ad when it knows you're there, allowing Google to charge a higher cost per impression.

smackfu23• 13 years ago

Sounds silly, but people pay Tivo a subscription fee every month and they pack that thing full of ads.

Karunamon13• 13 years ago

The only ads on Tivo that I can remember is a single line item on the home screen, and this was almost always for some VOD service.

There was also the thumb integration (you could thumbs-up some ads from either live tv or your recordings, which would pull up a new page with info about whatever was being advertised, occasionally a video), but this is about as unintrusive as it gets (a small icon on the top right whenever a compatible ad is played).

Has this changed in the newer revs? I'm honestly curious.

uptown3• 13 years ago

I've had TiVos for as long as I can remember (> 10 years). I've always bought the lifetime subscriptions - beating the monthly fee many times over, and the ads are extremely minimal and unobtrusive.

As far as DVRs go - I'm still convinced they're the best I've seen.

magicalist• 13 years ago

Yes, just like all those ads from that mobile device that people carry with them everywhere, has a screen and speakers, and knows when you're moving all the time instead of just while moving directly in front of the thermostat.

smileysteve• 13 years ago

just like all those ads from that mobile device that people carry with them everywhere, has a screen and speakers

Your sarcasm is lost because Google does plan on monetizing (adding ads) to Gmail for Android.

Or that they do track your location often for deals, google+, etc.

minimax• 13 years ago

"Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to buy Nest Labs, Inc. for $3.2 billion in cash."

Can that be right? $3.2 billion? That's a crazy huge sum.

ActVen• 13 years ago

They have paying customers. It matters.

dangrossman12• 13 years ago

Nest has customers who have paid it, it does not have paying customers. There is no ongoing fee despite every device Nest sells being connected to its servers 24/7/365. It takes no more than ~3 seconds for any changes you make on their web/mobile apps to reach the thermostat, so it has to be at least checking in with a server constantly.

ThomPete3• 13 years ago

And the realistic potential to be in every home around the world.

mbesto2• 13 years ago

Helen of Troy which owns Kaz, which owns Honeywell (one of the largest businesses specific to Nest's thermostat space) has a market cap of $1.7bil - http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=HELE - that's why this sounds crazy.

On the flip side, P&G is a $217bil business - so, not that crazy how big the market is and can be.

EDIT: As larrys points out, Honeywell is a $70bil biz.

smackfu23• 13 years ago

There were articles a week ago about them raising $150 million in a new round of funding, with a valuation of $2-3 billion. So this isn't out of nowhere. Also, they raised $80 million a year ago, at a valuation of $800 million. (Incidentally, Google Ventures led that funding round, so at least some of this purchase price is just Google moving money around internally.)

http://gigaom.com/2014/01/02/why-nest-might-need-another-hug...

higherpurpose• 13 years ago

Sounds like super-higher bubbly valuation to me. They were already valued at 70x their revenues a year ago at $800 million valuation:

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/how-much-is-the-thermostat-co...

scarmig2• 13 years ago

$3000 per thermostat sold.

lutorm2• 13 years ago

They sold a million Nests??

w1ntermute• 13 years ago

A lot better than paying $4b for Snapchat.

uptown3• 13 years ago

Smart buy in my opinion. The connected home has enormous untapped growth potential, and they just acquired a company that managed to take something as mundane as a thermostat and make it cool.

robg2• 13 years ago

At least there's a cost savings angle to an intelligent thermostat.

The connected smoke alarm as a cool object really amazed me - it's where new business models are made.

smackfu23• 13 years ago

Exactly. Walk the aisles at your local home improvement store. Find every product that you interact with that is under $20. You can probably make that amazing for $50-100. And what's that in terms of how much people spend on houses?

smackfu23• 13 years ago

Well, that should resolve their patent issues.

callmeed2• 13 years ago

Elaborate?

smackfu23• 13 years ago

Honeywell sued them. Google must have enough defensive patents to use against Honeywell to make them go away. Terrible, of course, but that's the way the world works.

throwwit• 13 years ago

That had to have been a big headache for them: http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/12/2942861/nest-answers-paten...

bradly• 13 years ago

Seriously not trying to troll, but could someone help explain where Google might see 3.2 billion dollars of value in a company that pretty much just sells a successful thermostat?

lotso• 13 years ago

connected devices

mikegreen2• 13 years ago

Do they have anything else other than the thermostat and smoke detector?

Karunamon13• 13 years ago

Google's tried to get into this "smart home" game before with limited success[1]. I'd assume this may get them a leg up.

[1] http://www.google.com/powermeter/about/

weixiyen• 13 years ago

Yeah I feel like 3b of that 3.2b was for their product designers. Google could probably make these products from an engineering standpoint.

larrys2• 13 years ago

How many product designers do they have?

Would seem to me that if you wanted to simply get at the product designers you could do that for less than 3.2b. The designers are good but they aren't that good. And throw enough money at people and loyalty goes out the window.

jffry2• 13 years ago

Google has a long history of paying to acquire talent. I assume this isn't any different. Nest made an extremely popular in-home device; Google wants to buy that mojo.

ctdonath• 13 years ago

Google's core competency: know everything. Look at anything Google does from that perspective.

Each Nest will feed data (anonymized, of course /cough/) back to Google so they'll know home heating patterns, heck, home usage patterns (it watches activity and proactively & predictively adjusts for when people are/aren't around). Feed vast amounts of that data into the cumulatively large (no adjective does it justice) data mining process and they'll know that much more about [m|b]illions of people & locations.

US$3.2B? In the USA alone that works out to $0.003 per person per day over 10 years (assuming everyone has a Nest device in the long run; optimistic calculation, but sets the ballpark values).

Daishiman• 13 years ago

Integration with Google Now would seem like the logical next step.

corresation3• 13 years ago

The next and obvious step for Nest is home security devices. They clearly have a fairly capable design team, and have already achieved surprising namespace for home electronic devices.

Google does not base their future on ads. They deal in technology and connectivity, and the automation of the home entirely fits within that vision.

lazyjones• 13 years ago

Blinking ads on your thermostat? Web ads targeted at people with high energy usage? Converting all nest.com users to G+? Who knows ...

heurist• 13 years ago

It's an attempt to get in on the internet of things, which is predicted to be the next megatrend.

dclara• 13 years ago

This price should be worth a system instead of a product or a series of products. If they can create a complete system for home management, that will make more sense.

twistedpair• 13 years ago

Smart Grid tech has still yet to make the splash it's capable of. Google has been investing in many alternative energy production projects worldwide. To accurately predict and shape grid demand you'd need a bunch of sensors in the homes, quite like Nest products. I can see it being part of their planned foray into energy projects.

bdcravens• 13 years ago

Nest knows if you're hot. If you're cold. When you've set it to turn off because you're at work. It knows if you're energy conscious or cost sensitive. Etc. There's a ton of behavior in there, making it far more than a thermostat you buy at Home Depot.

acomjean• 13 years ago

I work for a company that does power monitoring on a circuit by circuit level for homes and small businesses. Once you get your device on the internet 24/7 you can get into the automation business pretty quickly.

You can determine a lot about locations looking at their usage. Targeted adds, plus it ads value to their smart phones.

MrZongle26• 13 years ago

Am I the only one who thought "well, good for the Nest guys" followed by "too bad, it looked like a good product"?

vasilipupkin• 13 years ago

yeah, the last thing I need is my Nest thermostat and my Nest smoke alarm sending data about my house to Google / NSA

ericcumbee3• 13 years ago

from http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/13/google-just-bought-connecte...

Will Nest customer data be shared with Google?

Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy seriously and this will not change. ----- is it just me or is that a non denial?

smackfu23• 13 years ago

I don't really see what they have access to privacy-wise that is any more intrusive than a smart-phone with a microphone and a GPS chip.

And if the NSA can target a huge company like Google, I bet Nest was child's play to infiltrate.

reinhardt2• 13 years ago

Is this about principle or you have actual privacy concerns about leaked thermostat / smoke alarm data? Maybe I am being unimaginative but I can't think of why I should care about the latter.

guyzero• 13 years ago

If you actually care about the NSA and aren't just being glib, what's stopping them from collecting this data right now?

sliverstorm8• 13 years ago

Same thing went through my mind when I discovered Google acquired Boston Dynamics.

psbp8• 13 years ago

Yeah, motorola products have completely gone down the toilet after that acquisition. They were so great before with fast updates and a wonderful skin of android, and now they're either non-innovative or way too overpriced for the value.

AshleysBrain• 13 years ago

Like the Moto G?

staticfish• 13 years ago

I think there a lot of things to bash Google on, but the outcome of Motorola is not one of them. The G and X look like great phones and they were all pieces of shit before.

Aaronn• 13 years ago

The Moto X and G are a really GOOD value...

raverbashing• 13 years ago

Let's hope you're being ironic :)

arikrak3• 13 years ago

Yeah, and like Android and Youtube. Sarcasm aside, Google has actually done pretty well with acquisitions compared to other companies. (Say ones that begin with "M" or "Y").

You can see the list in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisition...

ececconi• 13 years ago

You're being sarcastic right? Sorry if it's a dumb question.

periferral• 13 years ago

(sarcasm) - use it!

cabbeer• 13 years ago

Please, no more sarcasm. you've filled this thread with confusion.

mrinterweb2• 13 years ago

sarcasm detector is reading off the meter... sarcasm detector broken

xanth• 13 years ago

!I wish sarcasm punctuation caught on⸮

ajcarpy2005• 13 years ago

If you must use sarcasm, here are a couple of common ways: 1) Yeah...because>(rest of comment) [the ellipsis will clarify that the comment is sarcasm at least some of the time but its reliability is not perfect]

2) end your comment with '/s' [most people know this means the previous comment was meant as sarcasm. it should be the preferred method of communicating sarcasm and the sentiment that the referenced recipient is obviously wrong]

Fasebook4• 13 years ago

Really? $200 for a predictive thermostat, with a lame excuse to stream energy usage data and proximity data (Nest detects humans) out of your home? Id rather pay $99 to tell health insurance companies how often I exercise, live.

You could get the same benefit from a device for $30 of electronics. It's an overpriced gimmick to justify another selling off of your personal data forever in exchange for nothing but some minor convenience. The price doesn't justify the energy savings or by product manufacturing cost. If Google wants to know how much energy I'm using, they can buy the information from the utilities and subsidize my electric forever. I'm not paying to give it to them.

taylorwc• 13 years ago

Does that mean you place no value on aesthetics or industrial design of a beautiful device? Don't get me wrong, I agree that it's overpriced, but I do at least place some value on a well-made device.

wmf• 13 years ago

Realistically Nest is a luxury product and the rest is just rationalization. But luxury gadgets is a legitimate market.

nate_meurer• 13 years ago

The price makes me choke as well. But I think Nest's real value is as a market distruptor, the evidence being Honeywell's lawsuit and furious attempts to update their own products with comparable features.

nikhizzle• 13 years ago

I made the money back heating my house in the bay area in 5 months. The Nest is just much better at using energy efficiently.

ssmoot4• 13 years ago

I could get the same benefit from a device for $30 of electronics, and however many hours of my free-time I decide to put into such a project.

Which would be a lot more than $250 lost, and not a trade I'd be willing to make considering I value my free time with the family a lot more than that.

For me this whole thing misses the point though. Saving money is a sort of minimum expectation. The thing that Nest delivers that the competitors don't is ease of use. The previous 3M and Honeywell thermostats I owned before were not cheap, but their displays were terrible and their UX was the stuff of nightmares.

It took me probably 10 minutes to setup the Nest by comparison and maintenance has been mostly hands-off. It'll tweak the schedule here and there as necessary.

THAT is the value proposition. To throw out the Indiglo monstrosities before it that were inevitably running on some awful schedule because they were too much trouble and came with 50 page instruction manuals in 5 different languages.

I don't have time for that.

So to me, that's why Nest is successful. It might also explain why their smoke detectors are meh to me. Having a nice UX for something I don't actually need to interface with beyond tapping the occasional "ignore" button just isn't very much of a motivation to spend $100.

acdha4• 13 years ago

You could get the same benefit from a device for $30 of electronics.

… in theory but there's no evidence that most people actually see those benefits:

http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/prod_development/revis...

I was going to say that you should start a company to produce that competitive $30 thermostat but then you confirmed that you have no idea what you're talking about:

The price doesn't justify the energy savings or by product manufacturing cost

This might be true if you live in San Diego but in much of the country people pay many hundreds of dollars every month during the winter or summer. If a smarter thermostat saves 10% of that, it pays for itself in less than a year.

Houshalter2• 13 years ago

You are paranoid. That data isn't worth anything, certainly not billions of dollars.

davidiach• 13 years ago

So you are saying that Google bought the Nest guys, not the Nest product?

MrZongle26• 13 years ago

I'm saying that if you're near the top of the food chain at Nest, 2014 is probably going to be the start of many good years financially.

As for the product? Google's Reader product comes to mind.

addflip• 13 years ago

Damn, I really liked my Nest.

MrZongle26• 13 years ago

Well then, you're going to LOVE it once it's tied to your Google+ account! ;)

macspoofing• 13 years ago

I thought "Good for the Nest gu...HOLY CRAP GOOGLE PAID $3.2 BILLION FOR A THERMOSTAT COMPANY"

33272• 13 years ago

Actually believe it or not but this is a very very expensive acqu-hire. First engineer on the IPhone team? Father of the IPOD? given the size of the smartphone industry and given what apple has become because of the iphone one could argue that the dude is worth half a billion.

joelrunyon• 13 years ago

Considering they have revenue & a business model - it's more palatable than snapchat getting offered 3B by FB in cash & turning it down.

jader2012• 13 years ago

I'm trying to think of a tech acquisition that was favorable, or at the very least not unfavorable for the consumer.

It seems like tech (maybe all) acquisitions almost always favor the buyer and not the consumer.

Does anybody have any good examples?

randomdata2• 13 years ago

Android, Inc., also acquired by Google, seemed to work out well for the consumer, I would say.

MartinCron9• 13 years ago

I don't see the YouTube acquisition as being harmful.

Pixar is still making (some) good movies under Disney.

I'm sure there are more examples.

sheldoan• 13 years ago

YouTube

smackfu23• 13 years ago

Has the Instagram acquisition had any negatives for the consumer?

AutoCorrect• 13 years ago

I'd say that's why they buy the companies...

jfb• 13 years ago

Apple buying NeXT.

cloudwalking4• 13 years ago

Here are just a few examples:

- Keyhole (now Google Maps)

- Android Inc.

- Motorola Mobility

- GrandCentral (now Google Voice)

- NeXT

- Siri

In general, an acquired company initially became successful by bringing value to consumers. When that company is acquired, it gets more resources to bring more value to customers.

arikrak3• 13 years ago

A large number of Google acquisitions involve Google making a product free that before cost money. </done-defending-google>

bertil4• 13 years ago

I would argue Hotmail — Microsoft brought scaling and maturity, and kept a stronghold on the net long enough to actually threaten and push Google further. I doubt Gmail would have appeared without that acquisition.

But then again: the dozen other examples cited above are certainly better.

stock_toaster• 13 years ago

You are not alone. I wonder how long it will be until Google+ is required to change the temperature in your house.

aragot2• 13 years ago

Yeah that's where the +1 button is.

jgeorge• 13 years ago

Sadly, my exact thinking. I love my Nest. I do not love Google collecting statistical information from it. Which I am certain they will do, regardless of what they say to the contrary.

Friedduck• 13 years ago

Not precisely my thoughts, but the sentiment's the same. As someone who doesn't trust Google with my information it means Nest isn't a product I'd buy any longer.

If, on the other hand, you're a fan of the Google ecosystem I would expect that it will be a nice tie-in and a great acquisition for them. If they could add something along the lines of Belkin's WeMo devices and maybe Dropcam they could put together a nice home automation dashboard suite.

They're going to need to honor the legacy of Nest's design, though. No one is going to spend that kind of money and settle for an ad-ridden attempt to coerce you to use Google+.

jrwoodruff• 13 years ago

No, my first thought was "wow, good for the Nest guys" followed by "too bad, I really don't want Google Analytics hanging on my wall."

fotbr• 13 years ago

Exactly my thoughts as well. Since I've never been keen on Google's ambitions to rival the various alphabet-soup agencies on what they know about everyone, I guess I can cross that off the list of upgrades I'll be doing when I replace the heater this spring.

RRWagner• 13 years ago

The great meta-data bonus here is just "away". Now Google will have a much better idea of when you're not in your house. Why would I want Google to know when I'm not at home? I love the Nest. It's an exemplary work of UI, UX and engineering. But I've just turned off the network connection, and I won't be recommending it to any family or friends.

MichaelMoser123• 13 years ago

I think it is about the smart grid; the electric grid is supposed to adjust production of electricity to actual demand;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_grid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup

Here you really need a good analytics engine that combines measurements of quadrillion sensors; (actually my gripe is that all these sensors and the networking that connects them also needs some electricity, so where are the savings?)

I guess google is a big public company that has to produce constant growth figures for the stock market, they see the limits that can be squeezed out of adds, so they are looking for different markets; in corporate speak you would say 'leveraging core competences into the utilities market'

You can see this diversification in other areas: once upon a time a lot of people thought that Android is about creating demand for adds, nowadays Motorola is actually supposed to sell phones.

ams6110• 13 years ago

I agree with "good for the Nest guys" but not "looked like a good product" and I don't mean that in a bad way, it may be a very well executed product but I cannot by any stretch of the imagination think why I would want my thermostat or smoke detector to be anything but stand-alone, dumb devices that do the one thing they were designed to do, and do it faultlessly.

rajacombinator• 13 years ago

Pretty much although the exact order was: 1) "holy crap that's a ton of money." 2) "well, good for the Nest guys." 3) "too bad, it looked like a good product." 4) "I wonder why Apple didn't buy them."

GOOG's MSFTian sprawl may be what ends up killing them. This would have been a great fit for Apple ages ago when they could have bought it for cheap, especially given the ex-Apple guys and the Store placement. I guess at these lofty prices they can build better from scratch.

jmduke• 13 years ago

The cynic in me shudders at the possibility of Google adding even more real-world data like temperature preference and lifestyle factors to their massive data portfolio.

The idealist in me is incredibly excited at the possibility of Nest's fundamental strengths being bolstered by Google's coffers.

Karunamon13• 13 years ago

Am I the only one that doesn't get chills up their spine whenever Google breaks into some new market? I see very little possible misuse of temperature preference (of all things...) and very great possible gains.

The more intimately a service knows you, the more personalized and relevant data it can bring.

And another thing, I am really sick and tired of tempering or being told to temper my enthusiasm for some new technology or some novel use of existing technology just because it might be misused. Just about every technology that's wide-reaching enough has abuse potential. That is not an excuse for ludditism! Deal with the abuse instead of hamstringing the tech.

chrisrhoden2• 13 years ago

What about the ability to know when someone is in your home and when someone is not?

If Google records that data (say, to be able to provide you with a handy chart of your energy use and some ways to improve it), the potential I am more worried about is the fact that the data exists makes it possible to subpoena.

lowlevel3• 13 years ago

So.. if you tend to keep your house on the cool side, expect to see more banner ads for slippers, sweaters and housecoats.

dictum2• 13 years ago

I see very little possible misuse of temperature preference (of all things...) and very great possible gains.

That's where the problem lies: the greatest gains should come from features/sensors/products not yet introduced. Of course temperature preference is a very weak data point for privacy, but I can think of a few invasive things a future device could have. I don't know if that's actually possible with a device in that price point, but if a thermostat could know who is in a room, there's a lot of good/evil that could be done with that data.

k-mcgrady4• 13 years ago

After the whole PRISM/NSA/GCHQ scandal I think there were two roads to take: make your internet life as secure and private as possible (I tried this, it was boring and probably futile) or realise that keeping information private is only going to get more and more difficult. If you come to the latter realisation as I eventually did things like this might excite you. The more info Google has on me the more exciting and useful it's products will be. I'm particularly excited about the future of Google Now.

mbrameld2• 13 years ago

The Nest contains some sensors (not 100% sure what type, a microphone and some type of motion sensor would be my guess though) used to determine whether you're home or not for their auto-away feature, so they get a little more than just your temperature preferences.

tilsammans• 13 years ago

I see very little possible misuse of temperature preference

Imagine that the season is changing where you live. You could be expected to start shopping for warm clothes. Google can easily show you ads for pricier warm clothes, and move organic results to page 2. Or Google knows you boiler broke down. And shows ads of pricier service companies instead of the lower-priced local fixer who is now on page 4. The immediate harm is that pricier alternatives are pushed to you, and you don't even know that cheaper alternatives exist, because Google controls your entire world.

mortenjorck• 13 years ago

  Google Analytics 
   └ Audience 
     └ Interests 
       └ Other 
         └ Ambient Temperature Preferences

lstamour4• 13 years ago

lol ... I can see the ads now:

Power outage? Bring 11ºC up to 20ºC. Hotel rooms from $109.

Get an energy audit and stop those 3ºC/hr leaks, save $X/year.

Broken furnace? Call XXX-XXX-XXXX now.

Though ... indoor & outdoor temperature would be a fun addition to Google Now. And imagine if the Google Nest was a mini-server for home automation?

rmrfrmrf2• 13 years ago

Kind of makes me sick of my stomach.

jmedwards• 13 years ago

"You might be interested in: Fire Damage Repair - Specialists In Cleaning Fire Damage‎"

Why might I be interes... OH MY GOD!!

jrs235• 13 years ago

Imagine the value Google will be able to provide advertisers correlating regional temperature preferences/settings and purchasing habits / levels. Homes that set their thermostat to 72 degrees during the winter months in the Midwest = Lexus ads or tropical vacation ads, 64 to 72 degrees = Toyota ads, less than 64 = [some brand or store] ads for bed comforters.

ADD: And then in summer months... setting at 72 or less = Mercedes ads, 72 - 77 = mid income ads, > 77 = Fans and air conditioner ads.

ihsw• 13 years ago

Environment control is an excellent complement to self-driving cars, especially if/when they become ubiquitous.

blacksmith_tb• 13 years ago

The temperature preference can't be too exciting - I can imagine them crunching the data only to discover... most people like 68F or a little warmer! The motion detector is more interesting, since then in principle the device can make guesses about what your schedule implies about you ('works night shift'=='security guard', 'leaves house Sunday morning by 9'=='churchgoer' etc.), but I would have thought that kind of data would leak out of your email and online social.

mrinterweb2• 13 years ago

I can see the google advertisements now. Spending too much on your heating/cooling? Save big at Acme heating & cooling.

reuven• 13 years ago

Better yet, they could add a microphone to the thermostat and smoke detector, and then the content of your speech for analysis.. to be used in advertisements. Yes, I'm talking about AdWords for conversations!

Imagine your thermostat suddenly saying: "Excuse me, but I believe you've been speaking about ice cream. FYI, your local supermarket is running a special for the next 48 hours."

mikegreen2• 13 years ago

$3.2b makes me think there has to be some awesome technology that they own or pipeline, as I can't get excited about the thermostat. It is a great idea, and played with one a bit, but it isn't solving any large HVAC issues - the thermostat is simply an on/off switch for the real working hardware in your basement/outside.

So, what else do they do that makes Google want to pay $3+ billion (pinkie to lip) for Nest?

maxerickson4• 13 years ago

They have figured out how to do marketable home automation devices and how to navigate getting them certified by UL and the like.

agperson• 13 years ago

Argh, I was just about to buy some Nest Protects, but I don't want Google sensors built into my house.

mikeg83• 13 years ago

Agree. sometimes it feels there is no escaping google's watch

deeviant• 13 years ago

So perhaps being able to dissect nearly every aspect of a users online life is not enough for Google, now they want to offer a range of devices that can start recording the minucia of everyday home life.

lowlevel3• 13 years ago

I have a feeling I'll be ripping the Nest off of my wall in no time.

nodata• 13 years ago

Oh come on this has to stop. How much would it have cost Google to build Nest from scratch? Not 3.2 billion dollars.

angersock2• 13 years ago

It's not the tech, it's the install/customer base.

pgrote• 13 years ago

How large is the installed base? It appears to be small for smart thermostats and even smaller for Nest.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/11/02/2877211/smart-th...

sandis• 13 years ago

Would it really take $3.2b to engineer a product similar to Nest and market it to an even wider audience? I'm happy for Nest guys, but the number is a bit ridiculous.

kmfrk• 13 years ago

You also get Tony Fadell, which is pretty damn huge. It’s almost like acquiring a Forstall company.

9999• 13 years ago

I would have been a Nest customer, now I won't be. Oh well.

k-mcgrady4• 13 years ago

The team has to count for something here. It's not just a few geeks who built an app. It's guys with lots of experience building incredibly successful products. Google doesn't have a lot of experience in hardware design. Nest do.

epaladin• 13 years ago

On the hardware design side of things, they did kinda sorta buy Motorola Mobility. It really seems that they've under capitalized on that purchase- and that was 12 billion dollars!

smackfu23• 13 years ago

Wrong question. How much time would it cost Google to build Nest from scratch?

gus_massa• 13 years ago

They failed with Google Video. Well, they manage to build the second biggest video sharing site, with millions of users. But nevertheless they had to buy YouTube and merge it.

badman_ting• 13 years ago

Google offers you 3 billi, you take it. That's what I always say.

evanmoran• 13 years ago

You wouldn't take 3 billion from someone else?=)

bluthru• 13 years ago

Ugh, our industry needs more owners, not less.

molecule• 13 years ago

Coming Soon: Google+ Integration w/ Your Nest Thermostat

badclient2• 13 years ago

No heat for you if you don't upload a profile pic. That will drive up engagement I bet.

sliverstorm8• 13 years ago

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that. Only users who use their real name on G+ are allowed to change the temperature

badclient2• 13 years ago

Someone at google is thinking of ways to use Google Plus to fuck up Nest.

VLM13• 13 years ago

Do you use more or less energy than your friends in your circles? Gamification?

For a couple decades demand shedding devices have been offered for A/C and electric water heaters where you get a microscopic credit to your bill and the electric co can use a stereotypically totally rube goldberg contraption (remember, these systems have been around for decades) to remotely shed some peak load for a couple hours at a time. I could see something like $5 credit on google play or free google music streaming if you sign up for a load shedding program that uses the nest. And occasionally your thermostat drops by 5 degrees for a couple hours even when it "shouldn't".

caprad2• 13 years ago

Has google hired a lot of MBA's recently, because it look an awful lot like they are trying to cross-pollinate their main business lines, to improve vertical integration and uptake.

iamjustin• 13 years ago

It sure does. Hopefully they can find a way to optimize the backwards overflow which is sure accompany these changes.

tsenkov• 13 years ago

Was there anything similar (as an amount of cash in the deal) in the last 10 years? Probably Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's phone division? Is there a list somewhere, that would be interesting to see.

toddmorey• 13 years ago

Please, please Google... don't spam me about starting a Google+ account when I'm just trying to turn the temp down a few degrees. I beg you.

patrickaljord• 13 years ago

And I beg all HN users to stop doing Google+ jokes as they're just as unfunny as they're unoriginal.

ilyanep2• 13 years ago

I'm not convinced they're as much jokes as real concerns by people who have already been burned by this (see: YouTube -- I'm not going to argue about whether or not G+ integration has made these products better, but it's not unreasonable to not want your real-name associated with comments you made under a pseudonym, and to be so annoyingly pestered to do so!)

k-mcgrady4• 13 years ago

Very surprised Apple didn't purchase this. Headed by Tony Fadell, brilliant design, I thought it would fit and be a nice diversification for them. However it will be very interesting to see what Google does with this. If I put away the cynic in me for a moment: the more data Google has on me the better their services are for me. I could imagine the Nest thermostat integrating with Google Now and the location data Google has on me for example to better now my comings and going.

Karunamon13• 13 years ago

^^^^^^^^ So much of this. What I see happening is integration with Now - the system already knows when I leave work and when I leave home, and how long my commute is probably going to be. Instead of a dumb timer, it can adjust the controls based on that information.

smackfu23• 13 years ago

I doubt Tony Fadell wants Jony Ive to tell him what to do.

jarjoura• 13 years ago

Google Ventures backed much of the company. So I doubt the VCs would let Apple make a lowball bid for the company (typical of Apple acquisitions). Plus Apple is never known to leave a company running, instead fully integrating it and all of the employees into some already functioning group (think iWatch).

foobarian4• 13 years ago

I would've been surprised if Apple had bought them. They strike me as a highly NIH outfit.

crucifiction• 13 years ago

Perhaps Google bought them because Apple did try to make a bid. Hence the inflated price...

easyfrag• 13 years ago

Apparently Google was the only serious bidder and Apple was not in the mix. Source: http://recode.net/2014/01/13/google-acquires-nest-for-3-2b/

figital• 13 years ago

There's been a product on the market for several years called "TED" ... something seemed fishy when Google killed the data monitoring service ... http://www.google.com/powermeter/. Still ... you have the power (so to speak) to meter your own appliances. Yes you.

Mine is still in the box :(.

sdoowpilihp• 13 years ago

This will give Google access to a very idiosyncratic data set no other major tech company has. It will be interesting to watch how they influence the product line over the coming years, as well as what they do in terms of integration with other google services.

mmuro• 13 years ago

Bummer.

matmann2001• 13 years ago

Great. Now I'll have to listen to an ad before my fire alarm goes off.

jmuguy• 13 years ago

Hmm, I wonder if this will make a security system (like canary http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/canary-the-first-smart-hom...) more or less likely. I assumed that would be the next product from Nest.

jusben1369• 13 years ago

I think folks are too focused here on Google caring about the temperature in your house. I suspect Nest's hw/sw/design chops will come in very handy when putting together say the experience of a self driving car?

vikas5678• 13 years ago

With all the data google already has on me, as a new homeowner, I think I'm terrified of buying this product. What kind of profile would this allow Google to build on individuals?

ThomPete3• 13 years ago

For once I can understand the pricing and think its in fact cheap.

1) Nest has a realistic potential to be in "every" home if not the actual hardware then the underlying intelligence.

2) Nest has a business model that works. People are paing for it and they love it.

3) Combining Google data with Nest access points I can only imagine the awesome things they can come up with and improve. Perhaps the first glimpse at an intelligent grid system.

4) 3.2 is a steal and given that its cash its a good sale.

notacoward• 13 years ago

The only way Nest will have on in every home is by aggressively enforcing bogus patents against everyone who makes anything even remotely similar. We should cheer for that?

ThomPete3• 13 years ago

I think you are missing the bigger picture here.

It's not about the thermostat its about the ecosystem its part of.

And I did write "every" :)

schwap• 13 years ago

Nest has a realistic potential to be in "every" home if not the actual hardware then the underlying intelligence.

I really don't think so. Many homes haven't even upgraded to a $20 programmable thermostat, let alone a $200 nest.

nostromo2• 13 years ago

I'm happy for Nest but sad for myself, given the smoke detector was my Christmas gift last year.

Previously I would look to YouTube as an acquisition done right. But after the kerfuffle around G+ integration, I no longer feel that way.

If I have to sign in with my G+ account to manage my smoke alarm, it's going directly into the rubbish bin.

If Apple had bought Nest, on the other hand, I'd feel very differently.

daughart• 13 years ago

You don't want your G+ friends automatically notified when you burn dinner? Or will it be targeted ads for delivery pizza?

brudgers• 13 years ago

If you decide to go out to eat, your self-driving car will take you to TacoBell. Only TacoBell.

jonlucc2• 13 years ago

A pizza ad ringing while my dinner is still smoldering would at least make me laugh.

the_watcher3• 13 years ago

I'd still look at YouTube as an acquisition done right. How long has it taken for Google to introduce something that you don't love re: YouTube? At this point, all Google decisions related to YouTube have to be considered independent of the acquisition.

venomsnake3• 13 years ago

Well content ID is one thing that was unneeded and harmful. Also this video is not available in your country. So not that long. Circa 2007 maybe?

signed0• 13 years ago

If Apple bought Nest they would have killed the Android app.

Sanddancer3• 13 years ago

Had Apple bought nest, you'd have to log into your icloud account to manage it, via your idevice, with no other management abilities available. Apple is absolutely horrible at playing well with others.

nostromo2• 13 years ago

I'm ok with that. My issue with Google isn't Single-Sign-On, it's forcing every product into a social-network mold.

Although I'm a happy user of Facebook and Twitter, I think SV's social obsession has largely been fruitless. Social does not improve most products and can actually harm them.

And now I'm worrying about how "social" is going to be slapped on to my fire alarm.

enraged_camel2• 13 years ago

I like that we all have a wonderful opportunity to bash Google, and you turn this around and bash Apple instead. Tsk tsk...

eddieroger2• 13 years ago

With the exception of using iCloud, this is already how I manage my Nest. So?

callmeed2• 13 years ago

FYI Google Ventures participated in 2 of Nest's funding rounds, including leading their series C last year.

I can't say exactly if/how this affects the acquisition but it does feel like some of the money is just traveling in a circle.

dengar007• 13 years ago

Now you can +1 your temperature!

mikeg83• 13 years ago

oh jesus

ChuckMcM• 13 years ago

It's awesome for the folks at Nest, but the first thought through my head was this : I am so starting a smart lawn sprinkler controller company!

interpol_p• 13 years ago

Oh please do. Irrigation systems have the clunkiest, most error prone interfaces I have ever used.

phireph0x• 13 years ago

I had the same thought, as that seems to be an overlooked market. After some research, I found a few: check out Greenbox http://www.greenboxhq.com and Lono http://lonoapp.com for a couple of smart sprinkler startups.

mikeg83• 13 years ago

"To change the temperature of your master bedroom, please create a google+ account."

andyman1080• 13 years ago

Is it known how much equity Faddell had? Is he a billionaire now?

protomyth• 13 years ago

I was hoping Honeywell would buy them an experience a bit (at the division level) of a NeXT-Apple replay. I really am not sure about buying one given the implications of the data from this device being given to advertisers or used in advertising analytics.

ck2• 13 years ago

Do they own patents or something?

Because with a $10 android chip, any Chinese plant could churn out Nest clones in a few months.

smackfu23• 13 years ago

The tricky part is getting it on the shelves at Home Depot or Lowes.

Nest threw a lot of money at Home Depot, if the dedicated end caps I've seen for the last couple of years are any indication.

tanzam75• 13 years ago

Home Depot and Lowes both sell private-label home automation products. They could buy the equipment from the Chinese and slap their own brands on it.

dpeck• 13 years ago

Woohoo, I look forward to it disheartening into Mountain View and only being used to control the HVAC at HQ and be shown off to board members on their quarterly tours.

andrewhillman• 13 years ago

Wow. This weekend I was talking about Nest with my dad and I said Google will end up buying them. Interesting to see that it's an all cash transaction. I guess all cash makes the deal cheaper for Google.

jd007• 13 years ago

what a great way to force g+ on users even more. "too cold and want to increase your temperature? add 3 friends to your circles!"

ehfeng• 13 years ago

Google should have negotiated for a $3.141 billion price.

YokoZar• 13 years ago

The 60 million dollar joke.

spiderPig• 13 years ago

Nice acquisition, but $3.2 bn?? Really? Just unbelievable.

belgianguy2• 13 years ago

smart phone > smart car > smart house > ... ? ... > smart human

I for one see great areas of improvement and possibilities inside the common house. Not that I'd wire up every appliance with a Wi-Fi sensor, but some data can be useful, if only for safety (falling asleep with the oven on: here a sensor could cut the power at a certain condition, or trigger the fire alarm, or ring up the firefighters).

Or you left the house and realise you left some of the lights on, just tell the in-car console to open the domotics app, and tell it to shut the lights off.

And the smart fridge, if RFIDs or its successor ever become cheap enough to be able to be printed on a milk carton, you could have your fridge's contents with you wherever you go, just open the app, look what's about to go off, or have it remind you to get extra supplies when you're near a point of interest.

If they'll let me I'll hook up a Nagios server to my coffee machine.

MartinCron9• 13 years ago

I know this makes me sound like a terrible luddite or hipster or both, but I've been thinking about all of these smart devices and services and how they may have a somewhat infantalizing impact on people.

I recently met with some people behind a startup built entirely around generating meal plans for you. I understand that it's a useful service (for some types of people). But I worry about the implication that we are now a species that can't even figure out what to eat for ourselves.

vdaniuk4• 13 years ago

Please educate yourself on choice paralysis and its implications, learn about the fundamental reasons (cognitive capacity, cognitive bias, etc) and only then worry about our wonderful, adapting, intelligent species.

belgianguy2• 13 years ago

Well, that depends on your point of view. In your case, we let outside factors start having a majority say in decisions we used to make ourselves. In essence, you're fearing that we're handing away control of our lives to data models and analyzing algorithms. Go figure that I often use Google to check the spelling/usage of words/idioms, rather than learning it by heart.

Or in a more poetic form: We're all turning into computers, a bit each day.

But in my view, I see it more as an enrichment of the status quo, meaning making optimal use of (useful, not NSA-like) data-gathering sensors we have at our disposal and the data points we could glean from them. As the data was always there, we (until shortly) never showed interest in it. And a lot of it might very well be uninteresting, but if some of it enriches or simplifies a certain task in our daily lives in a meaningful way, it'd be well worth it in my opinion.

pgcosta2• 13 years ago

We can figure out what to eat. But it takes time. Imagine that you want to personalize your diet. Take certain ammounts of protein, calories, fat, etc... It would take lots of time if you would prepare a weekly plan for yourself. Thats a good Idea.

But I do feel what you'r expressing, like we need an app to do everything.

But I much rather live with these little apps and have lots of good information than to live completly oblivious to everything like my grandads (kind'of. I still have my hippie moments).

lauradhamilton• 13 years ago

As a Nest owner this creeps me out.

Google should NOT have always-on sensors of any type.

pessimizer• 13 years ago

I don't know a lot about Nest, but I understand that requests to the thermostat are made from the phone app indirectly through a central server?

What possible consumer benefit could that indirection have?

edit: The reason I ask is that I'm trying to figure out why an exact copy of Nest except that it didn't leak data and didn't require other people's servers to work wouldn't eat Nest's lunch.

smackfu23• 13 years ago

Main advantage is that you can control it from outside the home, which is a selling point of the Nest. That's actually the main point of the app, since the device itself also has a UI that's probably easier to use if you just want to adjust the temperature.

ceejayoz2• 13 years ago

I used that indirection to turn the heat up for my cat while on vacation, knowing that a big ice storm was coming. Couldn't do that if it only worked on the LAN.

mdda• 13 years ago

Actually puzzled : Why would the cat need it warmer indoors if there's an ice storm? Isn't keeping it at the same temperature enough? Or is the problem because the heating switches off overnight, so you feel that it needs a boost during the day to compensate? Isn't that something that a smart thermostat should cope with?

mesozoic• 13 years ago

The real winners are DST Global and the others who bought round D and got what looks like a 50% return on $150 million in about 2 weeks.

baweaver2• 13 years ago

So will I need to sign into my house with a Google+ account now?

14th• 13 years ago

... I'm glad I haven't bought one yet. Now I need to figure out how to build an open source one.

suprgeek• 13 years ago

$3.2 BILLION All-Cash offer.

Is that Color-level valuation for a Thermostat company?

Or more like Instagram-level... Holy Moly!

cududa• 13 years ago

Nest has great hardware designers (which Google lacks) and engineers. Nest first built a hardware/ software platform that enables them to in the future build other smart appliances and home automation tools. The thermostat was simply the first product.

aaronpeck• 13 years ago

Remember Sparrow?

everydaypanos• 13 years ago

sure

baweaver2• 13 years ago

So YouTube didn't work as a G+ promoter, so now we'll have to log into our houses with it. Well played Google, well played.

pirateking• 13 years ago

I look forward to well designed Nest competitors that support connections and logging to user specified endpoints.

achy• 13 years ago

This might be a minority opinion, but I think more than home data collection (which they probably have a lot of already from phone / computer usage), that this is about acquiring a company that has cache and a 'cool' factor within both the design world and more importantly the market sector of young tech inclined home owners - a hugely lucrative market.

hoopism• 13 years ago

The Nest UI (web and mobile) is laughable horrible. Only has about 2 weeks historical data. Doesn't record what means a temp was adjusted (web? Phone? Nest?). Doesn't do any sort of trending long term or historical analysis. Charts overlay clicking points so you can see some data. Doing my own analysis it ended up using more energy than my manual changes. So I don't even use autoschedule.

callahad• 13 years ago

Time to add thermostats and smoke detectors to all those blog posts about "de-Googling" your life...

cmos• 13 years ago

Nest has built an expensive thermostat that is engaging. It certainly doesn't take $80 Million to do that. So perhaps they also spent their money developing a cheaper version after proving that people like it and more importantly proving it can save money and eventually pay for itself.

I would spend a ton of money putting everything on one chip, getting the cost down to $5 or $10 for the same user experience. Maybe put in a cheaper display if needed. Now this wireless device in the house can pay itself off in very short amount of time, making it a super easy decision for consumers. The current offerings of thermostats are clunky and have horrible user interfaces that require modes and buttons and such to program.. forget about daylight savings time!

If people can buy Nest functionality for $50 then google will have a solid foothold in people's homes. From that they can sell camera's that show up through your google TV device and get into the security market.

The dial on Nest is a universal interface, as the original ipod has shown us, perfect for scrolling through menu's and long lists and for changing volume or choosing music. Might as well put a microphone in so people can ask the internet things.

Still not quite sure it's worth $3.2Billion.. perhaps there was a bidding war?

jpswade• 13 years ago

Great.

Now there's another Google product that will never hit the UK.

jgalt212• 13 years ago

oh, no. there's definitely no bubble.

subndes• 13 years ago

Google now able to collect more data points about your home too!

jyz• 13 years ago

3.2 billion is an insanely large number. But then when you step back and see Snapchat being offered the similar amount, you kind of feel sorry for Nest for selling.

oscargrouch• 13 years ago

a sign that google is horny for the "internet of things" :)

FiddlerClamp• 13 years ago

I'm relieved that Apple didn't buy them. In that case, they'd have certainly either a) discontinued the Android version, or b) created a cross-platform app like iTunes.

pinaceae2• 13 years ago

well, stick in a fork in Nest then.

wonder how bad their financials were when they're already selling.

fucking SnapChat refused a FB offer, but Nest just rolls over and dies.

clarky074• 13 years ago

What you meant to say was that nest isn't run by idiots that are stupid enough to turn down a 3 billion dollar offer.

pinaceae2• 13 years ago

well, but for a moment it seemed that fadell really wanted to build something great and lasting, building his own vision.

turns out it's just another boring let's get rich story.

noonespecial• 13 years ago

In a not-so-strange way this fits well with their recent robotics acquisitions. It really feels like lightning could strike a second time for google so long as they don't middle manage themselves out of it.

ffrryuu• 13 years ago

Bailing out the VC already?

throwaway420• 13 years ago

I wish we lived in a world where Google can be trusted with all of this personal data because they could do lots of interesting things to make lives easier and create more wealth for everybody.

But I have every expectation that this data, if not right away, could someday be sent to the criminal gangs that wear suits and ties that are looking for new targets to loot and plunder.

Just knowing the temperature in your house, cross-referenced with other data about you as well as electricity bills, could be enough for a future police agency to argue probable cause that you're running a drug growing operation and have them do all kinds of raids and intrusive searches and harassment.

This shouldn't be an issue, but Google has earned absolutely zero trust with its obvious non-denials of NSA activity and other negative conduct.

outside12342• 13 years ago

I'm really surprised. I thought Nest was Tony Fadell's vehicle to make it back into Apple.

I am going to sit here with a bemused expression on my face thinking of Tony Fadell at data driven Google. I put it 6 months before he is out of there.

jcampbell1• 13 years ago

The only possible way this acquisition make sense is that Nest has some truly amazing product in the pipeline. It is impossible to justify 3.2 Billion for a team or thermostats. My guess is they wanted to get acquired because some future product make sense to have Google's brand and go to market ability.

venomsnake3• 13 years ago

A friend is currently working for an intrusive home management solution that certain telecoms are to unleash on the unsuspecting Germans. All internet of things stuff, all remote. It will be sold with internet subscription. The root capabilities will be in telco and not the home owner.

I am willing to bet a lot that Nest have either something similar or that google wants to spearhead this market and are scrambling with whatever the cost the know how.

jerdavis• 13 years ago

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Besides the fact that Nest is a great product (But so are Triscuits), why would Google buy them? The Nest _does_ know when you are home. If Google starts to use Nest data to target adds at me, I'm going to rip it out, set it on fire, and mail it to Larry.

forgotAgain• 13 years ago

Google with (new) data sources in my house: hmm.

BIair• 13 years ago

On the face, appears to be a huge valuation for an overpriced thermostat and smoke alarm. But combined with their recent robotic acquisitions I wonder if this signals a move beyond the smart phone, and smart car, to the smart home? If Google engineers want to build the Star Trek computer, surely they want to build the Jetsons home.

bitwize• 13 years ago

Oh great.

You have set a temperature of 65°F. Share your climate preferences your Google+ circles?

outside12342• 13 years ago

When do we start getting ads on the Thermostat? Or ads on our browser asking us why we are spending so much time at home?

benwerd• 13 years ago

Do other large tech companies not realize what Google's up to, are they unable to try to compete, or do they just not care?

pgcosta2• 13 years ago

I understand why this is a good aquisition, but still 3.2B... The valuation was 'only' 2B. That escaleted a lot!

loganu• 13 years ago

It's not a talent acquisition. It's not a move towards more government monitoring. It's not meant to increase G+ sign-ups or sell ads for more efficient furnaces.

It's a play into the growing "connected product" / smart home segment. When you combine google's resources, their current software and hardware products, and the type of products Nest is likely to move on to, you get some strong synergies that Google would be dumb to ignore. A little more discussion on where things could go from here (that doesn't touch on the NSA or government subpoenas) would be really refreshing.

wil421• 13 years ago

So will they shut it down like they did when bought sparrow or bump?

I thought sparrow was great for iOS and OS X. Googles gmail app is not as stable.

Lately I've been concerned about google and privacy this make make me change my mind and just buy a competitors version of a "nest". The price is what has been keeping me away.

michalu• 13 years ago

Yes, now we can have even more relevant ads!!

Luke-Jr• 13 years ago

Maybe Google will push Nest to comply with the GPL terms? They're currently missing the (required by GPLv2) build/install stuff from their source code releases... I've been unable to get root on mine so far :(

ivv• 13 years ago

Theoretically, Google could now be remotely adjusting your room temperature to maximize (or minimize) the effectiveness of advertising. [1]

[1] http://anzmac.info/conference/2013/bestpapers/anzmac2013-364...

rhythmvs• 13 years ago

Well, then we should have a better look at http://www.loxone.com/ and maybe so keep our actual real-life data out of black box data centers.

Fogest• 13 years ago

Nest has a post on their blog about this as well if you're interested: https://nest.com/blog/2014/01/13/nest-google-and-you/

I am not sure why people always say Google makes companies suck. This may be the case sometimes, but it is that way for most companies who buy things if they try to make changes. Just look at YouTube. It has become quite successful, despite some poor decisions.

ericcumbee3• 13 years ago

On one hand google having more information is unsettling but at the same time it could lead to some interesting possibilities. In the summer my nest kicks the AC on at about 4:45 assuming that I will get home sometime around 5pm. But say I go afterwork to have a beer or drink coffee and stay out until 8pm. Nest knowing where my phone is means it could be smart enough to not turn my AC on until I am headed home.

Cub3• 13 years ago

Maybe we'll finally see Android @ Home become a reality

http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/24/what-happened-to-android-at...

regnum• 13 years ago

Good thing the Google founders have grown up and don't need adult supervision anymore.

skizm• 13 years ago

You must now login with your G+ account to turn on your thermostat or smoke detector.

dorfsmay• 13 years ago

So that means you'll have to have a google plus account, older than 13, and use an interface that use a protocol that replaces snmp but that is propriwtary to google, just to change the twmperature?

HorizonXP• 13 years ago

All I can say is that KPo is a beast, and he's totally why Google paid such a large sum of money for Nest.

fudgy73• 13 years ago

$3.2 BILLION?! Was Nest Labs making a profit? Seemed to me like they made cool devices that no one bought.

dangrossman12• 13 years ago

They were shipping 50k thermostats a month over a year ago. Combine a heat-up in home automation interest this year with some very fancy endcaps they've placed in Home Depot (the thermostat and smoke detector, with interactive demo videos), they're probably selling much better today.

keithg• 13 years ago

Finally a tech company with enough good sense to realize that if you get a buyout offer that starts will "b" and ends with "illions", you take the money!

elwell• 13 years ago

"OK Google, flush the toliet."

WWKong• 13 years ago

This proves that the market for "better mouse trap" is huge. Look around the house. Pick something. Anything. Create a better version.

granttimmerman• 13 years ago

Well, I guess that's one reason/excuse why Nest turned me down a summer internship when I applied last November.

sidcool• 13 years ago

Isn't Google trying to spread too thin? I feel so.

kgarten• 13 years ago

I guess in future I'll need a google+ account to adjust the temperature in my house ... :)

eyeareque• 13 years ago

"It smells like you've burned your dinner. Would you like to order Dominos for delivery?"

I love my nest. I hope they do good things with the brand. I'll admit.. I am fearful for what they'll do with it.

abhi3188• 13 years ago

After a look at Google's smart house experiment in London, I think it's safe to say, their next lot of acquisition targets will be home automation companies.

blueskin_3• 13 years ago

Suddenly I no longer want one. I loved the idea when it was a simple way to save on power bills, but I wouldn't have google spy on me even if I was paid money to use it.

sushirain• 13 years ago

Google + Nest + Boston Dynamics + Ray Kurzweil = Domestic Robot?

abvdasker• 13 years ago

I hate to be that guy, but I think if Google's plan really is to tackle tech in the home, it probably isn't going to work out. The attempt to better integrate technology with common household devices and appliances is nothing new [1]. Most of the previous attempts over the last 20 years have have been met with limited success.

The biggest obstacle is and has been that most of the utilitarian devices in homes already do their jobs pretty well. They're also inexpensive. What does Nest/Google have to offer that won't be more expensive and will present some life-changing advantage over a conventional stove/thermostat/garage door opener?

[1] http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/1489021

cleaver• 13 years ago

My thought on the topic, after being shocked at the price, was that Apple must have some home automation products as their next big thing.

3.2B to head off Apple from creating the "iPod of home automation" is still a bargain.

Google to Acquire Nest

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