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Nest Protect can turn off GE's ovens when you burn dinner

And send an alert to your smartphone.

It's hard to figure out how some connected home tech is actually useful, but GE and Nest have nailed it with their latest team-up. The Nest Protect smoke detector can now shut off GE Appliance's connected ovens if it detects smoke and then trigger the oven to send a notification to GE's Kitchen app. If Nest detects that you're away, it'll also tell the app to alert you via smartphone. The goal, of course, is to stop an embarrassment from becoming a disaster if you lose track of your roast.

"Our integration with Nest Protect helps us ensure that our connected oven owners are safer when cooking, especially when the oven is left unattended," says GE Appliances VP Paul Surowiec. The devices also work with Amazon's Alexa and various IFTTT systems, meaning you can operate them with your voice and connect to smart home systems from Wink, Quirky and others.

The Nest Protect system, meanwhile, can detect smoke or carbon monoxide, emitting an alarm and spoken warning, while at the same time notifying you via your smartphone exactly where the problem is located. Now that the second-generation smoke detector is past its earlier issues, having it monitor your oven make a lot of sense. GE says the Nest Protect integration is now available and works with any of its in-built or free-standing connected ovens.