Google kills Works with Nest as it prepares for a Google Assistant future

Works with Nest, the platform built to get smart home devices talking to Nest products, is shutting down, Google has announced. The service will close on 31 August and will be replaced by Works with Google Assistant, Google’s services-based developer platform that the search giant is evolving into a smart home ecosystem. As of the end of August, all Works with Nest integrations will stop operating and developers must either transition their products to the new platform or end their compatibility with Nest’s suite of smart home products.

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Here's what happens to your smart home now that Works with Nest is ending - The Ambient

The Nest Thermostat was the golden child of the early DIY smart home. Finally, a polished, good-looking device that could be the centrepiece of a smart home. Sure, it wasn’t the perfect smart home hub we dreamed of, but the functionality it enabled was pretty magical.

Now, with the imminent demise of Works with Nest, our smart home dreams are crumbling, being replaced by a device we have to talk to, or use an app to control, the antithesis of Nest’s original ecosystem. According to Google, moving forward all smart home interactions will have to go through Works with Google Assistantand the Google Home app, which currently only has three triggers for Routines: voice, touch or schedule (it does promise more will come later though).

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How to Survive the End of Works With Nest - Wirecutter.com

We recommend several Nest products at Wirecutter, along with many devices that work with them, and that integration is often crucial to how people use their devices. But the recent news that Google is folding Nest into its smart-home ecosystem and creating Google Nest means that major changes—some good, some painful—are coming. Here is what you need to know about these changes and what steps you can take.

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How I trained my smart home to be a third parent

My tips for using the connected home with children

“Why would I want a smart home?” It’s a common question as connected devices become more ubiquitous and pressure on “normal people” to start buying internet-enabled products mounts. My answer is always, “Do you have a problem you’d like to solve?” Or, “Do you have kids?”

The smart home is manna from heaven for parents. It is literally the third parent (or second) we’ve been asking for since these tiny bundles of joy burst into our lives. As early as 2016, 70% of parents in the U.S. owned at least one IoT device, and more than a third wanted to buy another one because they believe smart devices make them better parents.

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3 Smart Home Devices to Sell Your House Faster - Dwell (VIDEO)

Offering new conveniences, energy savings, safety, and security, pre-installed home automation devices are quite appealing to buyers.

Read the story and watch the video here. 

The Best Smart Smoke Alarm | The Wirecutter

It’s hard to overstate the importance of having functioning, reliable smoke detectors in your home. From 2007 through 2011, almost a quarter of all home fire-related deaths in the US occurred in homes with nonworking smoke alarms. While any functioning smoke alarm will alert you to problems if you’re at home, a smart alarm can alert you anywhere your smartphone has an Internet connection. For our tests, a former firefighter installed every currently available smart smoke alarm in her own home, both hardwired versions and battery-powered models, to find the best one for keeping you informed about your house’s status, whether you’re home or away. After mounting them to ceilings and walls, blowing smoke at them, fiddling with their batteries and accompanying apps, and generally pushing their buttons, we found that the second-generation Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm is the best smart smoke alarm.

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The Smart Kitchen: The Next Big Hope for the Internet of Things - TriplePundit.com

The Internet of Things is a boon for businesses striving to be more sustainable, but at-home IOT is exhibiting worrying signs of stalling. Industry analyst Jan Dawson summed up many people’s concerns when he said the smart home market seems perennially stuck in the early-adopter phase.

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The Best Smart Thermostat | The Wirecutter

We spent more than a month trying five popular smart thermostats—testing the hardware, their accompanying mobile apps, and their integrations with various smart-home systems—and the third-generation Nest remains our pick. Five years after the Nest’s debut, a handful of bona fide competitors approach it in style and functionality, but the Nest Learning Thermostat is still the leader, despite the company’s recent upheavals. 

Read the full review here.

Smoke Alarms: The Smartest Smart Home Product You Can Buy - For TechZulu

Ask any firefighter to name the most important thing a person can do to prevent their house from burning to the ground, and he or she will tell you, “Install smoke alarms.”

As the wife of a firefighter and a former volunteer firefighter, I strongly concur. However, as a mother and somewhat erratic chef, I know how annoying those little plastic boxes can be. From false alarms caused by burning the toast to annoying low-battery chirps that wake up sleeping babies, I can empathize with homeowners who leave a smoke alarm dangling from the ceiling after a run-in with a broom....

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A Home Automation Guide for Apartment Living - HotPads Blog

If you live in an apartment, perhaps you’ve heard the terms smart home and home automation and shrugged them off as the realm of suburban homeowners. Today’s smart home devices, however, are being designed with portability in mind, making them perfect for renters. If you want to lower your utility bills, increase your safety and make your apartment more comfortable, it’s time to tune in to the smart home revolution... Read more here.

Creating a Smart Vacation Rental | Tripping.com

In part 2 of the "Smart Solutions for Your Vacation Home" series, we'll teach you how to protect and manage your vacation rental efficiently and even remotely using smart solutions.

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My Battle With Nest

Post for technologytell.com, read it here.