Nest reinvents smoke detectors. Introduces smart and talking smoke detector that keeps quite when you wave
- by Gopinath
Nest, the leading smart thermostat maker has introduced a smart home device today- Nest Protect, a smart, talking smoke & carbon monoxide detector that can quite when you wave your hand.
Less annoyances and more intelligence
Smoke detectors are around for hundreds of years and playing a major role in providing safety from fire accidents at home. But the technology of these devices is stale and there is no major innovation for the past several years.
With the introduction of Nest Protect, the landscape of smoke detectors is all set to change just like how Nest thermostat redefined the industry two years ago. Nest Protect is internet enabled and equipped with motion- and smoke-detection sensors so that when it starts beeping you can silence it by waving hand instead of doing circus feats to turn off the alarm. Everyone who cooks in a home equipped with smoke detector would know how annoying it is to turn off sensitive smoke detectors that goes off control quite often.
Apart from addressing the annoyances of regular smoke detector, Nest Protect has talking capabilities. It can alert users with clear & actionable instructions when it detects a danger. Instead of harsh beeps it actually speak to you so you know what is happening. It will tell you what smoke it has detected and in which room it is detected. Multiple Nest Protects installed in a home can communicate with each other. Lets say that there is a smoke in bed room, the Nest Protect installed in bed room shares this information to all Nest Protects installed in the home and your kitchen device can alert you that there is a smoke in bed room.
There is an App for that
The internet enabled Nest Protect has an app to view its status and various alerts. When the Protect is running on low battery it alerts you to replace them soon. If there is a smoke at home and you are away, you will get message alerts. The app works on all major smartphones as well as tablets.
Auto shuts down gas furnaces/heaters on smoke
Apart from forming a network with other Nest Protect devices installed at home, they can also communicate with Nest Thermostat if it is installed. When carbon monoxide is detected it can shut off your gas furnace automatically. Also with the help of motion detectors it improves Nest Thermostat’s auto-away functionality.
It looks elegant and costs a lot more than a regular smoke detector
Just like Nest Thermostat, Nest Protect is elegant and adorable. You just fall in love with it the moment you see it. It’s another master piece from the designer of Apple’s iPod. All is good with the Nest Protect, except the price!! It costs whooping $129, which is almost 4 times more expensive than the best selling conventional thermostats available at $30. A single bed room apartment would require at least 3 detectors and it costs around $390 to install Nest Protects compared to 90$ required for conventional smoke detectors.
Though Nest Thermostat is an expensive one compared to conventional thermostats, it offered great savings through its intelligent auto-away feature. Users were able to able to see returns on their investments. If Nest Protect also can provide good return on investment the it will be very successful.
