Google infiltrates the home through your thermostat
Google has purchased smart thermostat and smoke alarm maker Nest for $3.2 billion. That billion-dollar price is not unusual for a succesful startup in 2014.
For Google, it’s another foray into an area the tech giant hasn’t really entered yet: the connected home. Tech companies see big opportunities to make products and software for devices that talk to you and to each other.
For Nest, Google offers a chance to scale up quickly and effectively while building products it believes in.
“Nest, thus far, has been kind of the spoiler, the little guy. Nest has made a really nice product but they haven’t been able to scale up,” Marketplace Tech host Ben Johnson says. “Google gives them that. Google, says, alright, you want global reach? We got that.”
But are we about to be handing over even more of our personal data to Google?
“Tony Fadell, the CEO of Nest, says their privacy [policy] hasn’t changed, they’re not going to give all their data over to Google,” Johnson adds. “It’s a long way off. Right now, Nest is going to be focused on building stuff that is great and works in your house and makes your house more efficient. But eventually, Google is wanna give you an ad and have you log in to Google+, that social network we love to hate.”
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