Nest Looks To Weave Together The Smart Home

Google-owned connected home product developer Nest has announced a service that it says will make it easier for smart gadgets and appliances to communicate with each other.

Previously only available in the company’s own products, Nest Weave will now be open to developers looking to connect up their devices to a smart home, greatly increasing the potential reach of Nest products.

Get connected

Weave can be enabled via simple software upgrade, and provides secure communications across all networks in a smart home, including over Wi-Fi.

Security is provided via Weave’s own independent, end-to-end application layer security, and also comes with application-specific encryption keys, so there’s no chance of a hacker unlocking the front door by compromising the patio lights.

“Building a connected product is hard,” said Matt Rogers, Nest’s vice president of engineering. “We’ve been doing it for the past five years and have first-hand experience with the challenges. That’s why we want to make it easier for developers. We’re offering proven technologies like Nest Weave, along with cloud services and the ability to integrate with the Nest app. Developers have an end-to-end solution when they work with Nest, and can use only the parts of the program that meet their needs.”

The company has also announced a new camera API that will allow developers to connect their products to the Nest Cam smart home security device (pictured above) for this first time. Nest has already signed up companies including August, Mimo, Petnet, Philips hue and Skybell for the first third-party products.

All these new products and existing Nest devices will now also be available to buy online for the first time with the launch of the Nest Store, which will give customers the chance to browse and purchase all the current Nest products as well as selected third-party devices.

This includes the third generation of its smart thermostat product, which packs in a larger, more intelligent screen and is able to recognise your usage habits and set up a personalised ‘schedule’ in just a few days, and can be controlled directly from your smartphone.

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