Nest is welcoming outsider developers to integrate their services or devices with Nest’s products through a new developer program in an effort to make homes smarter.
Nest, which is owned by Google, makes thermostats and smoke detectors that can communicate with the objects around them. For example if your Jawbone UP24 band senses you’ve woken up in the morning then the thermostat will turn itself on.
Nest is furthering the cause of the ‘Internet of Things’ to take home automation to another level, moving beyond apps that remotely control devices to creating a network where objects directly ‘talk’ to each other.
“Other companies make digital control panels and apps that let you turn things on and off around the house. But we want to go beyond simply linking and remote controlling the devices in your home,” Nest founder and head of engineering Matt Rogers explains.
“What we’re doing is making it possible for your Nest devices to securely interact with the things you already use every day. Things like lights, appliances, fitness bands and even cars,” he added.
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Nest already has existing partnerships with Mercedes-Benz, Jawbone and Whirlpool. For example, as you drive your Mercedes-Benz home, your car can let Nest know what time you’ll arrive and adjust the thermostat to start heating or cooling in anticipation of your arrival.
In the USA, a connected Whirlpool washing machine can time the start of a cycle to coincide with a Rush Hour Rewards program, a service that helps consumers earn money back from their energy company by using less energy in peak times. Nest can let Whirlpool know when an energy rush hour is about to happen, and the washer or dryer will delay the start of the cycle until the rush hour is over.
The Nest Developer Program will allocate cash to those who can help create “a more thoughtful kind of home”, or in other words, to think about the minor chores around the house so we don’t have to.