Google Acquires Nest For $3.2 Billion

Google has announced that it is buying the connected device company Nest. Employees were informed by email and that was followed by an official press release. Google has reportedly offered Nest $3.2 billion.

Google’s CEO Larry Page said in a statement: “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!”

The founders of Nest, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, will be joining the Google team. Fadell has expressed his excitement at working with Google, saying “With their support, Nest will be even better placed to build simple, thoughtful devices that make life easier at home, and that have a positive impact on the world.”

Co-founder Matt Rogers, was one of the first engineers to work on the iPhone team at Apple and was responsible for the iPod software development.

Google has been trying for some time now to put together a connected home device but with attempts such as ‘Android At Home’, it’s never been able to pull it off. The benefit of Nest is that it has already developed well-designed and connected home devices. Google will now be able to build on those in the future.

As well as Nest’s expertise and quality products, the company brings to Google 100 granted patents and another 200 which are on file with the U.S. Patent Office, plus a further 200 ready to file. Nest has faced strong competition and some patent disputes from rival manufacturers like Honeywell and BRK. Google will no doubt be a supporting force in helping Nest fend off the competition.

Nest will continue to operate as its own brand and because it was already quite successful and renown by consumers for design, it is unlikely Google will want to interfere too much. There have apparently been some infrastructure issues caused by failed firmware upgrades so Google will no doubt be able to help there.

Of course this acquistion does throw up some concerns over security, with some questioning what will happen once Google have information about your life at home.

To the question ‘Will Nest customer data be shared with Google?’, Nest answered with “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.”

I can’t hep but feel the question was avoided with such a vague answer. People certainly have a right to be concerned, especially  now we know about the NSA’s mass collection of data.

The deal is still awaiting regulatory approval and so hasn’t been completed yet.

[Image via digitaltrends]

SOURCE: http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/13/google-just-bought-connected-device-company-nest-for-3-2b-in-cash/