What Google buying Nest will mean for you
If you have something to sell you should be expecting a call from Google any day now. It seems Google is buying up any start-up it can get its hands on and this week paid $3.2 billion for a company that makes thermostats. (Google spent £17 billion on acquisitions as opposed to Apple, MSN, Facebook, Amazon and Yahoo that have only spent a mere $13billion combined.)
Nest, Google’s new acquisition, is dedicated to making everyday household objects smarter through intelligent design and internet connected features.
The acquisition has brought to light the trend in home and personal gadgets that can be controlled from your smart phone. Whether it’s a Nest thermostat, a Belkin smart plug or the new If This Then That service, which allow you a host of automatic functions to make your life easier, smart lifestyle technology is here to stay.
With Google talking a major step into this industry it may prompt other tech giants to look at the sector to invest. For the man in the street, this should mean the cost of smart products will come down while the choice of products expands. And wearable technology won’t be the only kid on the block with regards to our interactive lives.
If you’re a sceptic of smart products, you may be worried that in ten years’ time you won’t be able to change the temperature in your house without putting your life story on Google+. But don’t worry, Google will be our global government by then and will know how many grains of breakfast cereal we each had for breakfast.