Google recently purchased Nest Labs, the company that makes The Nest “Smart Thermostat,” for $3.2 billion. Nest will maintain its brand name and continue to be led by former Apple designer Tony Fadell.
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Nest Labs develops “smart” home appliances like thermostats and smoke detectors that can program themselves and communicate with smartphones. The company is best known for The Nest Thermostat, which figures out users’ daily habits.
Fadell told Fortune that Google “made a very strong pitch for how we could have all the resources of a large company while retaining the independence of a next-generation Nest. This allows us to accelerate and stay in front of the coming wave of products for what we like to call the conscious home,” Fadell said.
Google CEO Larry Page said in a statement that Nest is “already delivering amazing products you can buy right now — thermostats that save energy and smoke/CO alarms that can help keep your family safe. We are excited to bring great experiences to more homes in more countries and fulfill their dreams!” Page said.
Nest Labs takes customers' privacy seriously
Nest issued a statement assuring customers that its privacy policy “clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy seriously and this will not change.”
Google was already an investor in Nest via its Google Ventures arm. The acquisition follows a series of efforts by Google to break into the connected home business.
