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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 introduces connected smoke and CO alarm
The makers of the highly-touted Nest Thermostat have just announced pre-orders for the next smartphone-connected product for the 21st-century home: the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarm (US$129). Like the Nest Thermostat, the Protect isn't the cheapest product in its category, but it's certainly the most intelligently designed. It comes in two colors -- black or white -- and two models, one that is wired into your home's AC circuitry and another that runs on batteries. Unlike the cheaper models that chirp incessantly when the battery runs down every few months, the Nest Protect battery version runs on 6 AA cells for several years. The wired version features backup batteries for protection even when the power is out. The outside design of the case has a "sunflower" pattern to move airflow through the device, and a glowing light ring shows you the level of fire danger. When an alarm goes off, a voice (English or Spanish) tells you what and where the danger is. If your cooking efforts set off the smoke alarm, a wave of your hand shuts it off without the need for climbing on a chair or waving a towel at it. And every alarm goes to your iPhone so you don't even need to be around to know that there's a problem. Nest Protect even provides notification that the batteries need to be replaced soon so that you can accomplish that maintenance task before it's too late. It's one more step towards a well-designed and very functional home automation and protection system.
Cellphone-packing smoke detector dials for danger
While most smoke detectors will handle the basic job of detecting smoke just fine (providing you check that batt regularly), there's plenty of options out there for those wanting a little something extra, be it added style or additional functionality. Joining those other over-achieving smoke detectors is this new unit from Japanese manufacturer Keisoku Giken, which will automatically phone you at the first whiff of smoke to inform you of its impending demise. Unfortunately, you'll have to supply your own cellphone and service for it (it doesn't appear to support landlines), which makes the device's already hefty 16,800 yen price tag (about $140) even less of a bargain.[Via Textually.org]
