The Nest Protect app-enabled smoke detector will be returning to store shelves soon, the company said today, after being pulled off the market and recalled because of a potential safety issue last month.
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The company, which was acquired by Google earlier this year for $3.2 billion, stopped selling the Nest Protect last month after laboratory testing determined that the Nest Wave feature could potentially malfunction. The Nest Wave allows users to silence false alarms by wave at the detector rather than requiring them to manually press a button, which could be inconvenient for those with high ceilings.
The company has stated that there were no cases of smoke detectors turning off in customer homes, but that it wanted to be extremely cautious with such an important consumer device.
Nest and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have issued a "recall" to ensure that all affected Protects receive a software update to disable the feature. Purchased devices do not need to be returned to Nest and will continue to function normally, albeit with the Wave feature disabled.
Nest told The Guardian that the Nest Protect will be going "back on the market in a few weeks."
Top Rated Comments
I'm calling home automation a FAD! Building regs require smoke detectors are already built in so this and many other home automation products are redundant.
Home automation is a nich market not a fad.The problem is that anything automatic is usually not very helpful. Eg automatic car transmissions make driving less enjoyable but more convenient.
I fail to see anything not related to TV and media that should or could be automated or linked in that would be helpful to have.
Sure build in wifi to things as the tech gets cheaper, printers, weighing scales etc. but the whole idea of an automated home is a fad. Most people don't even have their radiators set right to give balanced heat around the home let alone allow it to be controlled by you coming home etc. most people will buy this stuff and never connect or use it anyway.
It has been around for a long time.
And, yes, I do expect Google to change their minds at a later date and put ads on as many "Internet of things" devices as they can. Including the Nest thermostats and smoke detectors. There's no way to justify that $3.2 billion purchase price otherwise.
If Google would pay my ridiculously high home heating bills, then I would gladly let them install a thermostat that had a tiny screen with (silent) ads.In other words, I think that companies like Apple and Google should give us -- the users who make them money -- kickbacks.
* With Google, I should get a per-ad display fee kickback.
* With Apple, I should get a kickback on all the songs/apps my kids buy in iTunes.
It's only fair :)