Google’s Acquisition of Hardware Supplier Advances IoT Connectivity

With Google Inc’s announcement of its plans to acquire Nest Labs Inc, the Internet of Things (IoT) received a tremendous boost. Nest Labs makes smart thermostats and smoke alarms that have a high degree of connectivity. The Nest Protect smoke alarm uses six sensors: photoelectric smoke sensor, carbon monoxide (CO) sensor, heat sensor, light sensor, ultrasonic sensors and activity sensor. Besides analyzing smoke and CO levels, the alarm can detect when someone waves and light the user’s way at night.

Introduced in the third quarter of 2013, the Nest Protect works together with the company’s initial product, the Nest Learning Thermostat. If the CO alarm of the Next Protect goes off, the Nest thermostat automatically turns off the gas furnace that could be a possible source of poisonous CO leaks. In addition, the Nest Protect activity sensors improve the energy conservation functionality of the thermostat through its Auto-Away feature.

With Google’s support, the pace of home appliance interconnectivity could advance rapidly.

For more information about Nest products and the sensors in them, click here.