Google Acquiring Smart Home Energy Management company Nest Labs for $3.2 Billion

Internet giant Google is acquiring smart home and connected devices company Nest Labs for $3.2 billion. Nest Labs is best known for designing modern connected thermostats and smoke detector systems. Nest Learning Thermostat launched in 2011 is an automated HVAC controller which learns your habits and helps you save energy. Nest Protect is an internet-connected smoke and carbon monoxide detector which can me remotely monitored.

Google is ready to enter the young and fragmented active sustainable systemshome automation and green tech industry, and leverage its global platform reach to take it by the storm. Google had hinted about its plans for its own home  connected platform Android @Home.

Nest Thermostat | Google
Nest Thermostat | Google

The agreement is currently pending government regulatory approval, which wouldn’t really be a hurdle for Google at this point.

Google CEO Larry Page said,

“Nest’s founders, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, have built a tremendous team that we are excited to welcome into the Google family… They’re already delivering amazing products you can buy right now–thermostats that save energy and smoke/CO alarms that can help keep your family safe. We are excited to bring great experiences to more homes in more countries and fulfill their dreams!”

Nest Thermostat Cooling

Nest will not abandon its brand and would operate independently. Nest Founder Tony Fadell said in his blog post,

“Google will help us fully realize our vision of the conscious home and allow us to change the world faster than we ever could if we continued to go it alone. We’ve had great momentum, but this is a rocket ship.

Google has the business resources, global scale and platform reach to accelerate Nest growth across hardware, software and services for the home globally. And our company visions are well aligned – we both believe in letting technology do the hard work behind the scenes so people can get on with the things that matter in life. Google is committed to helping Nest make a difference and together, we can help save more energy and keep people safe in their homes.”

Open Home Automation Standards proposed by LG, Bosch, Cisco and ABB
Open Home Automation Standards proposed by LG, Bosch, Cisco and ABB

Google has a huge opportunity in the sustainable green building industry. This is an untapped market on a global scale. There are a few competing standards for home automation, smart objects communication and wireless energy management, like ZigBee Alliance, AVnu Alliance, IPSO Alliance and KNX Association. Recently, LG, Bosch, ABB and Cisco also announced partnership on an open standard for connected home appliances.

“In the future, anyone who buys a new refrigerator, washing machine, heating system, or other type of electrical appliance featuring the consortium’s certificate of compatibility can expect that the appliance will interact and be compatible with the other appliances already in their smart home.”

It is expected Google would continue to invest time and resources in developing energy management and connected devices ecosystem which would benefit consumers tremendously in the long run. I look forward to a modern, connected sustainable home of the future developed by Google… I bet they would call it Nexus Home… 😀

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