Search-engine giant Google wants to help make homes smarter and more Google connected, and took another step at that by by announcing its acquisition of connected device maker Nest Labs.
Google announced it will pay $3.2 billion in cash to acquire Nest Labs, a company that develops “smart” home appliances such as thermostats and smoke detectors that can program themselves and be controlled and monitored over smartphones.
“This allows us to accelerate and stay in front of the coming wave of products for what we like to call the ‘conscious home,’” says Nest leader Tony Fadell.
Google’s acquisition follows several previous efforts by Google to get into the connected home business. For example, the company’s Android @Home platform was created to allow users control home appliances from their Android smartphones and tablets. However, the device failed to catch on, CNN reports.
At the International Consumer Electronics Show last week in Las Vegas, the “connected home” garnered a lot of attention as several companies touted new technologies to allow home owners to better monitor and control their homes from anywhere. The market for connected homes is expected to reach $10 billion this year and bloom to $44 billion by 2017, according to GSMA, a wireless industry group.
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Source: CNN Money 01/14/2014
