Why is nest being introduced

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. It was folded into the Google Home division last year, but now, the entire group has a new name: Google Nest. The new name is more than just a rebranding effort. It also includes a new product philosophy and — critically — a new set of data privacy policies for Nest customers. Another is to say that Nest as we once knew it is now well and truly gone. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but the bottom line is that Google is unifying all of its smart home efforts.

This is the latest of many reorganizations for Nest, a company founded by one of the principal creators of the iPod, which enjoyed superstar status in its early years. Since then, however, Nest has had a bumpy road.

The company was initially part of Google, but it spun out as a separate entity during the restructuring as Alphabet in the summer of In the ensuing years, Nest lost both its CEO Tony Fadell and its other co-founder Matt Rogers , and it acquired the Dropcam team to build its Nest Cam line, only to have the CEO of the startup depart shortly thereafter and later publicly disavow his decision to sell to Google.

As pressure mounted from Alphabet leadership to ship more products and turn higher profits, Nest was struggling to find success as high-profile as its thermostat. All the while, the smart home industry was shifting toward voice assistants, with Amazon and Alexa leading the charge, and Nest and Google left with disjointed divisions operating independent of one another.

The mission was clear: the only way to thrive in the current market was to be as competitive with Amazon as possible. And the only way to do that was to bring everything under one roof, with Osterloh steering the ship. Chandra, the vice president of product at Google who is in charge of all Nest and smart home products, says the merging of the two brands is a necessary step to continue chasing the next wave in computing.

Ten years ago or 12 years ago, it was the transition to mobile. Donald A. Norman, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern University, begins and ends his book "Emotional Design: Why We Love or Hate Everyday Things" with a quote from author William Morris: "If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

In "Emotional Design," Norman discusses the positive and negative responses objects can elicit, and he makes some especially interesting observations about the things we think look nice: "The surprise is that we now have evidence that aesthetically pleasing objects enable you to work better [ That doesn't necessarily mean everyone agrees on design, but certain products reach iconic status.

I immediately thought of KitchenAid stand mixers ; Norman references the Mini Cooper and a specific New York Times article that said: "Whatever one may think of the Mini Cooper's dynamic attributes, which range from very good to marginal, it is fair to say that almost no new vehicle in recent memory has provoked more smiles.

All three companies took an everyday item -- a small kitchen appliance , a car, a thermostat -- and gave it tons of personality. How can you not smile when you come across one? When Nest first introduced its thermostat in , most of the smart home devices I saw looked uninspired and boring. Post-Nest, companies started enlisting famous designers to collaborate on smart home products.

Now we have more manufacturers than ever factoring aesthetics heavily into product development just take a look at the design gallery above. It's no longer enough to have a merely functional gadget. If a product is part of the smart home, it needs to look nice too -- and Nest led that trend. Clearly, it paid off. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy , which we encourage you to read. Showing results for. Search instead for. Did you mean:.

Help Sign In. Nest Protect does not meet the standards being introduced in Scotland in February Original Poster: Douglas McClymont Are Google introducing a Heat only detector that will interlink with existing smoke and CO alarms to meet the requirements of the standards in Scotland. I have 4 alarms and will need to bin them if a heat only option is not available by February.

Google are missing a great sales opportunity here. All forum topics Previous Topic Next Topic.