“In a deal surprising only for its enormous purchase price, Google has announced that it’s buying Nest Labs, the hot maker of tech-infused household devices such as thermostats and smoke alarms, for $3.2 billion in cash,” Robert Hof writes for Forbes. “Nest, which had financial backing from Google’s venture arm, has been lauded for its elegant takes on common household products, and it seems clear that it has no intention of stopping at thermostats and smoke alarms.”
“Internet-connected smart devices continue to proliferate in the home and beyond, it’s likely that they will create, or disrupt, multibillion-dollar markets in much the same way Apple did for smartphones and tablets,” Hof writes. “That’s why a Nest backed by Google, now the second big pillar in mobile devices with its Android software and hardware, could blunt apparent intentions by Apple to move beyond computing and communications devices. While Apple has not announced plans for other devices, it’s said to be working on a smart watch and a television, and many observers believe it’s likely Apple would be interested in offering new takes on other home and consumer devices.”
“While the price seems dear for a company with only two products, those products clearly impressed Brin and Page with their potential. (Page, who took over as CEO with a mission for Google to create more beautiful products, no doubt was also impressed with the design of the Nest devices,)” Hof writes. “But in any case, that goal would seem to present a challenge to Apple, known more than anything else for producing elegant products that people can’t live without. Buying Nest gives Google a way to do the same well beyond the sphere of computing – and do it right away.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Tim Cook: Asleep at the switch, in total command, or somewhere in-between?
While you ponder that, we’re off to peruse the complete line of Honeywell Programmable Thermostats…
Related articles:
Google to buy Nest Labs for $3.2 Billion – January 13, 2014
Tony Fadell introduces Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector – October 8, 2013
Tony Fadell, Father of the iPod: From Apple to Nest Labs, always a designer – July 24, 2013
Apple Store to sell Tony Fadell’s Nest Learning Thermostat, report claims – May 25, 2012
‘Father of the iPod’ Tony Fadell shows off his new project: Thermostats – October 25, 2011
I just disconnected my Nest from the network and will be shopping for a competing brand. I will be calling support tomorrow asking them to delete my account and all stored information. They won’t do it, I know, but I’ll get some satisfaction from it.
There will never, ever, be a Google-based sensor in my home, in my car, in my pocket, in my hand or hanging off my face.
LOL That made my day – I am in the same boat. Except I never got to buy the smoke/co2 unit I wanted….
but now I am glad I didn’t. I’d have had to sell it on ebay. 🙂
Jeff how did you disconnect your thermostat from the network? I think just like you do. I want nothing to do with Google in any form.
re
“those products clearly impressed Brin and Page with their potential.”
Oh yeh, those guys are obviously such GREAT judges of companies to buy and how much to spend. Motorola?
That’s a lot of money for very little product.
This Google acquisition is almost Microsoftian in its reach.
Nest doesn’t work in Europe or Asia and probably never will as the electrical codes and standards are so different.
This would have made no sense for Apple unless it was a talent or patent acquisition. But $3.2 billion for that is ridiculously overpriced.
Plus they’ve just put off a large section of knowledgable – and typically early adopter crowd – who don’t want the world’s largest ad company to further intrude in their private lives.
Yes – I once tried to buy a Nest to work with UK heating systems, but Nest informed me that they’re not compatible. It’s not a question of 110 Volt/60 Hz vs 230 V/50 Hz, but more to do with the method by which US air-conditioning systems are controlled, compared to how the rest of the world’s systems are controlled.
There are people who have managed it after a lot of messing around with custom interfaces, which rather goes against the idea of an elegantly simple product.
Too bad Honeywell has such a crappy website powered by Microsoft’s ASP programming language. Typical joke site. And only one thermostat comes up for a search for ‘iOS”.
http://yourhome.honeywell.com/home/Products/Thermostats/7-Day-Programmable/Wi-Fi+Smart+Thermostat.htm
Glad I didn’t get a Nest!
“Did Tim Cook Blow It….?”
Very unfortunate use of the vernacular.
I’ve use the nest. I’m not terribly impressed. The click wheel is counterproductive to today’s touchscreen, just as the the iPod was made obsolete after the release of the iPhone multitouch UI. I usually just used the app cause the click wheel so weird and usually my phone was already in my hand. I fell like it was overpriced and a hassle to install for my AC guy and the app is not the best User experience. I actually think this Honeywell wifi thermostat is probably a better deal and has stronger penetration with the hvac industry at only $125 with a free iP app is just as good or could be better with some good UX design improvements.
http://t.homedepot.com/p/Honeywell-Wi-Fi-Programmable-Touchscreen-Thermostat-Free-App-RTH8580WF/203356032
The difference between the Nest and Apple…
Using Nest, in order to get my home thermostat to function properly from energy savings mode while away from home, I’d usually have to manually adjust the temperature on my app before arriving home or use the actual nest click wheel if I forget. After a few weeks it would sort of learn my schedule. It was a great feature ahead of its time, but what if my schedule changes, Nest would just keep on the same schedule. Just like the click wheel is now obsolete, so is this process. Do I really need to see the thermostat at all? Apple doesn’t need Nest just as they don’t need the iPod, or an app to control your home environment.
Here’s how Apple will deal with this situation using Siri and any simple wifi or Bluetooth enabled thermostat …
Me: Siri, will you make sure my home is comfortable when I arrive.
Siri: Are you currently at a comfortable temperature now in your car?
Me: Yes I’m perfect.
Siri: In the future, I’ll always have your home temperature set to your comfort level by the time you arrive.
Who knows what else Nest has down their pipeline? Probably security cam next; light switches, receptacles after that, Lutron side of things.
… yes, a Google-connected security cam would be a very tempting proposition. I can’t imagine any downside to that.
Oh wait a minute …..
Cheap Android users would never pay for a Nest device. They would rather steal it or try to hack their Honeywell.
A huge mistake by Google. And they paid many times more then value/potential for their mistake – something that they have a penchant for doing.
Apple does not need Nest as they could sideline it in an eye-blink by entering home automation in a far more considered and integrated way. I think a single internet connected home management server with varied but simple remote BT sensors handling many functions including a thermostat, smoke detection, security, lighting management and more is something that is easily achievable, far less costly overall and elegant in its ease of use.
Something in me says that Tim Cook has something going now that will compete with and probably best the Nest products. And it will work seamlessly, easily and intuitively. This seems too obvious a miss for Apple to let go without having an alternate plan.
iBeacons
Can’t say I agree or disagree with you yet. Are you inferring that it might be easy for a good thermostat company (and fire and CO2 detector) to add an iBeacon chip to their already solid products and that this will communicate with us through our phones and computers? If so, this could be interesting. They wouldn’t have to reinvent the entire widget. And I don’t know that ‘teaching’ a thermostat, rather than just programming it from the start, is a better option.
No.
Apple buys small companies that fit in with what Apple does.
The people at Nest CASHED OUT. Google got taken. 😉
Exactly what I thought. Tell you what. Everybody here get back together a year from now, and discuss how much more successful this Google acquisition has been since the equally brash Motorola one.
Now Google can let the N$A know if your home and which room you’re in with the Next Thermostat and Protect…They’ll probably sell that service too.
And who istyo say apple does not haven their own home automation system in the pipeline for 1/3 the coast .. Developed inhouse?
A wifi coneted thermostat is not really rocket science ….
Ya.. And the author is more in touch with with up than Tim Phil Ivs Eddy and the whole crew!
Give me a break !
No. Nest blew it this winter. The new Nest software was defective forcing Nest to upload a fix. However, during the worst winter cold ever, many people were without heat. Good luck Google.
Damn. I just installed a Nest thermostat to check it out. I like it but now bit sure I can trust it.
Hold onto that IOS app, it won’t last long now that Google owns it.
Google has to buy what Apple could produce. And I’m sure Apple could do it for less that 3 billion in research costs.
Near future:
Today when I did a search on Google, an ad popped up from an insulation company saying my house is too drafty.
Dear google: I am buying a house, show me a list of houses with the lowest utility bills
I’m sorry, while they did a good job at producing a thermostat with a turn wheel, that is a far cry from the complexity of an integrated smart phone, computer, or even a smart watch.
The tech world is littered with gadget makers that suddenly think they are computer gurus.
I think people are giving Nest Labs too much credit for making a simple thing simple. Making complex stuff simple, THAT’S the hard part.
Every time an interesting gadget appears, the analysts scream, ‘OMG! Apple should buy this!’
The Nest stuff was sold on the Apple store, so I’m sure Cook was aware of it. Here’s the question the analysts should ask: Does it fit with Apple’s overall product vision?
When they decided they wanted iOS inside an automobiles, did they buy a car manufacturer? It made a lot more sense for Eddy Cue to talk to the existing car manufacturers and get them to support iOS.
As others have pointed out, installation engineers are the folk who decide what thermostat gets installed for most customers, so perhaps it makes much more sense to talk to the companies that make the thermostats.
Here’s a few possibilities:
iBeacons. Make every thermostat iBeacon-friendly and then the manufacturers can build apps for the iPhone, the iPad, the watch-thingy, or their own small remotes that can travel around the house with you.
Airport. Future Airport devices, Macs, or some future media server become iBeacon stations as well. Now you can control all kinds of devices in your home while you’re away from home.
Another 3.2 billion down the drain. Google will never recover that money. Never.
But as long as the shareholders are happy…
I’m glad Apple doesn’t spend their money on silly acquisitions like these.
3.2 billion?
That’s a LOT of thermostats!
Can’t understand the Nest products until you own them – they are hands-down best in class and as beautiful as anything Apple makes. I find it very cool to be able to check the thermostat from my iPhone, or turn on the AC when I’m 10 minutes away from my house. And most important to be able to adjust the thermostat when I’m lying in bed. It just felt like Nest belonged to Apple and clearly the next big thing is home automation as evidenced by CES. Home automation is a market Apple could’ve owned and they haven’t even entered into it. I had high hopes for the iWatch but Apple is just too late – there are 10 other Smartwatches out there and my Pebble is actually pretty impressive already. Yes I’m an Apple fanboy and I’ll buy anything Apple makes, but Apple is just following other companies into these two hottest markets. I just find it depressing that Apple isn’t innovating like it used to. Even smart TVs that include all the streaming media services have been around for years already. And now an AppleTV is going to come ambling along this year? Oy.
Ah, no.
Too late?
They said the same thing about the iPod, and the iPhone, and iTunes.
I am now convinced the MDN boards are infested with paranoid, conspiracy theorists.