Google Merges Nest and Home Brands, Debuts $229 Nest Hub Max (cnet.com) 28
At its Google I/O developer conference today, the company announced that Google and Nest are combining into a single smart home brand aptly called Google Nest. For now, the newly announced Google Nest Hub Max and Google Home Hub, which will now be called the Google Nest Hub, are the only products that will carry the new name in their official branding. CNET reports: Other products are expected to be rebranded in the future. All of Nest's smart home products will fall under this brand, which includes the company's famous smart thermostats and security cameras, although their names won't change retroactively. Google's smart speakers, including the Google Home; smart displays such as the Google Home Hub; Google Wifi routers and Google Chromecast streamers will also fit under the purview of Google Nest. Several products under the new brand are getting a price cut, including the Google Home Max, which now costs $100 less than before at $299.
As part of the new unified brand, customers with Nest accounts will be encouraged to merge them into Google accounts. You can control your Nest devices with the Google Home app. You won't be able to set up new Nest devices using that app yet, so customers can't remove the separate Nest app from their phones entirely. Nest accounts will be moved to a maintenance mode, where they will still get security updates, but Google will provide new features only to Google accounts. Similarly, companies that had joined the Works with Nest program will be encouraged to use Actions on Google -- a platform that allows third-party developers to create commands for Google Assistant -- to be compatible with the new joined brand. As for the Google Nest Hub Max, it's basically a big Google Assistant smart display with a camera on top that can be used for video calls and home security monitoring. It's coming this summer, and it will retail for $229. The Verge reports: Like the smaller $149 Google Home Hub, the Nest Hub Max has a matte display that adjusts its color temperature to match the room. The 10-inch screen often looks more like a regular photo in a frame than a standard LCD panel. It comes in both gray and white, though the bezel around the display will always be white. Also, it lets Google know when you're home, and it can recognize your face so it can show customized personal information on the screen. [...] The other thing that's bigger is the sound. There are two front-firing 10W tweeters and one 30W woofer on the back. I wasn't able to do a real sound-quality test in the couple of hours I spent with the Hub Max, but I can tell you that it's definitely louder than the smaller Hub, and it didn't obviously distort at high volumes. But a Sonos One or Apple HomePod this is not...
As part of the new unified brand, customers with Nest accounts will be encouraged to merge them into Google accounts. You can control your Nest devices with the Google Home app. You won't be able to set up new Nest devices using that app yet, so customers can't remove the separate Nest app from their phones entirely. Nest accounts will be moved to a maintenance mode, where they will still get security updates, but Google will provide new features only to Google accounts. Similarly, companies that had joined the Works with Nest program will be encouraged to use Actions on Google -- a platform that allows third-party developers to create commands for Google Assistant -- to be compatible with the new joined brand. As for the Google Nest Hub Max, it's basically a big Google Assistant smart display with a camera on top that can be used for video calls and home security monitoring. It's coming this summer, and it will retail for $229. The Verge reports: Like the smaller $149 Google Home Hub, the Nest Hub Max has a matte display that adjusts its color temperature to match the room. The 10-inch screen often looks more like a regular photo in a frame than a standard LCD panel. It comes in both gray and white, though the bezel around the display will always be white. Also, it lets Google know when you're home, and it can recognize your face so it can show customized personal information on the screen. [...] The other thing that's bigger is the sound. There are two front-firing 10W tweeters and one 30W woofer on the back. I wasn't able to do a real sound-quality test in the couple of hours I spent with the Hub Max, but I can tell you that it's definitely louder than the smaller Hub, and it didn't obviously distort at high volumes. But a Sonos One or Apple HomePod this is not...
'Smart'Home (Score:5, Insightful)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/... [eff.org]
Re:'Smart'Home (Score:4, Informative)
Re:'Smart'Home (Score:5, Insightful)
Build something using components that only talk to a hub (preferably not using your WiFi network, else make sure they are on a private VLAN or well and truly firewalled). The hub must be able to work offline. You’ll want to firewall it as well. Of course that means you don’t get the convenience of voice control through Google or Amazon, but a smart home is still useful without that.
One Nest to Home them all (Score:4, Funny)
One Nest to Home them all
One Nest Hub Max to bind them
One Nest to record it all
And with their words betray them
Deep in Mordor where the Linux King dwells
One Nest Hub Max to spy on everyone
And to Red China sell their metadata
Considered response heh heh heh. (Score:4, Insightful)
Fuck off and die. Is that clear enough?
No thanks (Score:2)
I can take my own dick pics and put them on the internet without paying for an expensive hub to automate the process.
Google Home on clearence. (Score:2)
That'll explain Google Home being $50 off and Buy a Home get a Mini for Free at Meijer.
Five articles today of Google Paid Advertisements? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Sorry, I ranked them up because all the other stuff was not actually tech stuff, which I ranked down.
Condolences.
Re: (Score:2)
Weasel Words (Score:3)
If I migrate to Google, will my Nest data be used to personalize Google services unrelated to my connected home experience?
When you actively interact with other Google services using your Nest devices, such as when you use your Nest devices with the Google Assistant, your device data can be used to personalize those services and your other Google experiences, subject to your Google settings. However, when you are not interacting with other Google services, your Nest device usage and device sensor data are used as explained above. This data is used for purposes such as offering features related to the connected home and enabling safety and security across Google services. At this time, this data is not used to personalize other Google services unrelated to your connected home experience. We will continue to work to offer new features and experiences and more integrations across other Google services, and as we do that, weâ(TM)ll be transparent and give you controls to manage your information.
"At this time" and no longer subject to Nest's more consumer-friendly privacy policy.
No thanks; I won't be migrating. Other than a throwaway gmail account where I get mailing lists sent to, I have no part of the google ecosystem and I want to keep it that way.