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Nest services go down for the third time in three weeks
Tonight owners of Nest devices are reporting (as show on Down Detector, Twitter and Reddit) that access to their thermostats, cameras and other devices has been cut off by an outage. While that can happen occasionally, this is the third time in as many weeks that the system has had a widespread problem, following similar blackouts on November 27th and November 15th. So far the company's support accounts say only that they've received reports and are investigating -- we'll let you know if we hear any details on a reason behind the recent disconnects or word on when it will be back up. Update: Nest tells us the service is back up, and based on user reports, most had access again within 20 - 30 minutes of this latest outage. There's still no word on the cause, however this bird has been ruled out.
The best smart smoke alarm
By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. It's hard to overstate the importance of having functioning, reliable smoke detectors in your home. From 2007 through 2011, almost a quarter of all home fire-related deaths in the US occurred in homes with nonworking smoke alarms. Although any functioning smoke alarm will alert you to problems if you're at home, a smart alarm can alert you anywhere your smartphone has an Internet connection. For our tests, a former firefighter installed smart smoke alarms in her own home—both hardwired versions and battery-powered models—to find the best one for keeping you informed about your home's status, whether you're there or away. After mounting them to ceilings and walls, blowing smoke at them, fiddling with their batteries and accompanying apps, and generally pushing their buttons, we found that the second-generation Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm is the best smart smoke alarm.
Nest takes on home defense with its Secure alarm system
Nest wants to manage every aspect of your home's security -- not just its thermostats and cameras. The company has announced a slew of products designed to keep an eye on your home while you're away, under the Nest Secure banner. That includes a Google-Home-looking Guard control system, Detect sensors (placed in rooms, near windows and doors) and a Tag keychain that arms and disarms the security hub. The starter bundle will cost $499, with extra Detect sensors running $59. Need an additional Tag for your roommates or kids? Those will set you back $25 each. A bundle with the Nest Cam Outdoor (this is different from the latest Nest Cam IQ Outdoor) will be available at Best Buy as well as Nest's website for $598.
Nest Protect can turn off GE's ovens when you burn dinner
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.
Nest seems to be working on a 'smart crib' loaded with sensors
The hyper-connected home of the future will come with an equally connected nursery. Nest, the company widely known for its WiFi enabled energy-saving thermostat and smart smoke alarm system, has filed a patent for a baby crib that could be "embedded with smart sensors". According to the patent application, Nest's potential crib would do away with some of the paraphernalia that comes with a baby's bed. So instead of buying separate monitors, the crib would be loaded with cameras, microphones, a communication device and sensors to track the baby's movements and even detect "a deviation from the pattern of behavior."
Nest devices get better at knowing when you're home
If you're a Nest owner, you've probably experienced the company's thermostat flipping itself to Away mode while you were still home. Most likely, that's because someone didn't walk past the motion sensor on the tech in a timely fashion. Thankfully, Nest announced two new features that will improve the the gadgets' ability to tell when someone's home. First, there's a new Home/Away Assist that uses your phone's location in addition to the motion sensors and software algorithms inside the household gear.
Almond WiFi routers now control Nest gear in your home
Securifi's Almond routers just got much, much more useful if you use one of them as the center of your smart home. Both the base Almond and the Almond+ now talk directly to Nest's thermostat and Protect smoke detector, giving you network-savvy controls that Nest alone can't offer. Thanks to equally new WiFi triggers, you can have the thermostat adjust the temperature the moment your phone connects to your home network. The routers will even "broker" between two connected smartphones -- if you like it hot but your partner wants it cooler, you'll get a temperature in between the two.
Nest Protect review (2015): Improved safety makes it easier to recommend
There's nothing cool about safety. Yes, safety is important, but it's very rarely cool. The stylish Nest Protect is, at its core, a smoke detector -- the least chic item in your home. Still, when the company that brought us the smart thermostat introduced a smoke alarm, it stood out from its rivals with swanky features like lighting your way in the dark and a companion app. Those were and still are nice, but it's the safety features that make the device a worthy addition to the home. In particular, Nest recently updated the Protect with more precise air detection. This is a welcome turn after the company's wave-to-silence feature in the last model ended up accidentally silencing the device. That experiment in parlor tricks led Nest to halt sales of the Protect, only to put it back on the market with the motion-control feature disabled. As before, the updated smoke/carbon monoxide detector uses a human voice to calmly warn you when the alarm is about to go off. Once again, too, the Protect reminds you that it's there thanks to a helpful night-light feature. At $99, it's more than double the price of other smoke alarms you'll find in your local hardware store. But, thanks to a companion app and its integration with the Nest Cam, Nest Thermostat and other Protects you may have installed, it's a solid investment for anyone who wants to constantly monitor their home, but more importantly, it's a safer solution than what you have on your ceiling right now.
Nest outage cuts remote users off from Dropcams, thermostats (update)
If you're trying to login to a Nest (or Dropcam) account at the moment, you probably can't. The company acknowledged a service problem with the mobile and web app on its Twitter account, but so far there are no details about what's behind the problem. Thermostat owners can still change their temperature the old-fashioned way, by walking up to it and fiddling with the device, but that's probably the kind of experience they were trying to get away from. The same probably goes for those with the Nest Protect smoke alarms, although we're hoping no one finds out for sure before things are back up and running. Dropcam users don't seem to have any kind of direct interface workaround for the time being, so they'll just have to wait until access via the cloud is restored. Update: As of midnight (ET), it appears service is back up, we're able to log in and many readers say it's working for them too. Nest tweeted that service is restored, if we hear anything about what caused things to go down for a few hours, we'll let you know. [Thanks, Michael]
Nest's home security camera comes to the UK
Last month, Nest unveiled two new products that could make your home a whole lot safer: a revamped Protect smoke alarm and a wireless Nest Cam security camera. Both quickly debuted in the US and now, they're available in the UK too. The new £159 Nest Cam is clearly inspired by Dropcam -- the startup that Nest acquired last year for $555 million. The hardware offers some useful improvements though, such as a magnetic base (with tripod mount) that can be easily attached to most home surfaces. It also shoots in 1080p and uses eight built-in infrared LEDs to record and detect motion after dark. You can check the camera's live feed from your phone and "soon" Nest will be launching its Aware cloud backup service (£8 per month) so you can review anything from the last 30 days.
Nest's second-gen Protect is better at detecting fires
Nest's Protect smart smoke and CO alarm has been getting better with age thanks to software updates, but now it's time for a hardware upgrade. Nest has just announced a brand new Nest Protect, with improvements in both the hardware and software department. For starters, it's loaded with what Nest call a "split-spectrum sensor," which is said to be better at detecting both fast-burning and slow-spreading fires than the photoelectric smoke detector the first-gen Protect uses. A new smoke chamber also greatly reduces the chance of false-positive alerts due to dust or bugs. Also, you can now test the device's speaker, horn and its sensors from within the companion app, as well as silence the smart smoke detector's screams from your smartphone when you burn your dinner.
Nest adds Protect smoke alarm data to monthly user report
Nest sends detailed Energy Reports to its loyal users every month, digitally patting them on the back for saving power (and money!). Now that the company sells other products besides thermostats, it's also expanding its "Home Report" (yes, the name was changed, as well) to include more data from Nest Protect and some fire safety tips. The updated format not only tells customers every detail about their energy usage for the past 10 days, it also gives them a recap of the past month, perhaps for the sake of Nest's most meticulous customers. Also, users who have both the company's thermostat and smoke alarm will see a section that shows their Protect's battery, connectivity and sensor status. We have a sample fire and carbon monoxide tip posted after the break, but if you want to see what a full Home Report looks like, the Google-owned company has posted one on its website.
Nest can now talk to Pebble and other home automation products
Nest's thermostat and smoke detector now works with more third-party home automation products, the first fruits of the developer program that the Google-owned company launched in June. First in the list is something you're likely familiar with: Pebble smartwatches, which you can now use to control and check the temperature in your home. Next? A voice-controlled home manager called ivee, which lets you know when a peak energy event starts and ends, as well as lets you use spoken commands to adjust the temperature for you. Then there's Life360, an app that monitors where family members or friends are on a map (with their consent), which automatically adjusts the temp when the last resident in the house leaves or when the first one comes home.
Nest Protect now does a better job of telling steam from smoke
Now that Nest has resumed selling the Protect smoke detector following a recall, it's back to business as usual: The company needs to make sure this isn't just a safer product, but a better one. The Google-owned firm just released a fairly meaty software update, with features that run the gamut from finer user controls to improved accuracy. Most importantly, perhaps, the Protect now claims to do a better job telling the difference between steam and smoke, with the so-called Steam Check feature reducing those kinds of false alarms by 50 percent. Meanwhile, a new "Safety History" shows you a 10-day log of what caused your alarm to go off. Included in that record are carbon monoxide levels, including how long they were in dangerously high territory.
Nest devices start talking to Google, washing machines and your car
Nest's Learning Thermostat and Protect smoke detector are now part of a much, much larger universe. The company has just launched a developer program that lets third-party apps and devices talk to Nest hardware, making it do things that aren't possible through official software. The initiative is kicking off with a whole host of partnerships in place, in many cases with feature updates either available now or due in the near future. Chamberlain's garage doors can now tell your Nest thermostat when you're home, while Mercedes-Benz lets you check the temperature on the road; Logitech's Harmony Ultimate remote can lower the heat in mid-movie, and Jawbone's Up24 fitness tracker can tell Nest when you wake up.
Nest Protect smoke alarm returns with a lower price following safety recall
Earlier this year, Nest recalled the Protect smoke detector after it realized the product's standout feature (the ability to silence it with a hand gesture) made it potentially unsafe to use. In response, Nest halted sales, and disabled "Wave" control on existing devices using the product's built-in WiFi connection. Now Protect is back: The company resumed sales tonight, with the Wave feature still disabled. And hey, the price is lower too -- $99, down from $129. For now, you'll have to silence the device the old-fashioned way -- by pushing a button. That said, a Nest spokesperson told us the company is working on an easier way to silence the alarm, even if hand gestures aren't the way to go (people might silence the device when they didn't mean to). If you wanna buy it now, be our guest; just remember that you're no longer paying for gesture control, but other features, like a built-in nightlight, sleek design, spoken warnings and the ability to control the device remotely using an app. Still a good feature set if you ask us, though it was probably wise of Nest to cut the price. Update: For those of you who already own a Nest Protect, you might be eligible for a $33 refund -- if you purchased it before June 15th, have it paired to your Nest account and had the device connected to the internet after April 3rd. You can find more information about that here.
Nest stops selling Protect smoke alarms, says they can be accidentally silenced
If you're one of the connected home buffs that owns a Nest Protect smoke detector, do yourself a favor and turn off its wave-to-dismiss feature just in case. According to an open letter from Nest CEO Tony Fadell, the company is concerned people could activate that feature without knowing it. Worst case scenario? It gets quietly enabled and doesn't warn people of a fire as quickly as it should. Fadell's missive was a little light on detail, but a FAQ shared by the company explains it a little better. Because of some quirks in its sensing algorithm, "movements near the product that are not intended as a wave can be misinterpreted" as a command to disable the alarm. The Wave feature was one of the Protect's little luxuries -- who likes getting up on a chair to push a tiny button on a blaring alarm? -- so it's a little surprising to see it acting so sketchy. As you'd expect, Fadell was quick with the assurances: Nest hasn't heard of anything like that happening in the wild, and the company is temporarily halting Protect sales until the team has worked out those algorithmic kinks. Meanwhile, Protect owners who have their units connected to the internet can expect the wave feature to be disabled automatically within the next 24 hours. On the off chance that this whole thing leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you can contact Nest for a full refund too.
Nest Protect review: a smoke detector for the smartphone generation
Back in 2011, Nest did the impossible: It made thermostats sexy. Apple veterans Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers applied their iPod-designing expertise to the largely utilitarian world of home-climate control, creating the Learning Thermostat, an appliance aimed squarely at the gadget-obsessed citizens of the smartphone age. And then, earlier this year, Fadell and Rogers took on another traditionally banal (but utterly important) aspect of home life: the smoke detector. The conceit of the Nest Protect was to bring some of the same aesthetics and smart features that made the company's first product a success. The result is a smoke/carbon monoxide detector with mobile device connectivity and a range of expressions that go far beyond the old beeping alarms, as well as a unique gesture feature that lets you silence the device with the wave of a hand. Admittedly bummed at the inability to test the Learning Thermostat in my prewar New York City apartment building, I happily jumped at the opportunity to review the Protect. So Nest sent along two devices, a can of something called a "smoke detector tester" and, thankfully, thorough instructions on how one goes about testing smoke detectors without accidentally burning the house down.
Nest's mobile app gets a full makeover, Protect smoke detector support
Since Nest's hardware and app go together like birds of a feather, new mobile software was inevitable after it launched the Nest Protect smoke detector. However, the startup darling has also taken the opportunity to completely revamp its app, mostly to make it easier to see all the important goings-on in your house. At a glance, you'll now get the temperature you've set on your Nest Thermostat, whether it's heating or cooling, the outside temperature and weather, and a big button to switch between home and away mode -- in lieu of the former, slightly lame method of tilting your phone to landscape. You'll also see an icon for the new Nest Protect smoke alarm, which displays a green ring if everything's a-okay, and yellow or red one for a heads-up or emergency, respectively. Selecting that icon will bring up the full app, showing all the detectors by room name, a green, yellow or red status for both smoke and carbon monoxide and the status of each alarm's batteries and sensor. In addition, it'll show the last WiFi update and time of your last manual test. Finally, the new app will bring a firmware update for the Nest Thermostat itself, with new features like "Quiet Time," to prevent potentially noisy humidifier equipment from waking up kids, for instance, along with tweaks that make the system more efficient. Hang tight if you're anxious to get them, because Nest said the new app and thermostat update will happen in a few days and install automatically.
Engadget's 2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Household
Welcome to Engadget's holiday gift guide! Head back to our hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. If you ask us, gadgets for the home make some of the greatest gifts. After all, your parents may be doing just fine with their smartphones du jour, but now's your chance to give them the intelligent thermostat they never knew they were missing. The picks in this category represent some of the freshest ways to tech up the living room -- seriously, even the vacuums are cool.
