5 Smart Home Tricks That Are Actually Impressive
Going to the effort of setting up a smart home just so you can turn your lights on and off from your phone may not seem like the best use of your time and resources, but with the right gear and apps you can put together some routines that really will impress family, friends, and occasional Airbnb guests. Here are five…
Nest Devices Went Offline Last Night, Disabling Some Key Features
If you own a Nest product, we’ve got bad news: Last night, as you performed your evening ablutions and got ready for bed, Nest devices went offline, disabling some integral features in certain devices. But hey, if you’re a Nest user, this probably isn’t the first time you’ve had to deal with something like this.
Don’t Use a Nest Doorbell to Raise Your Kids
Nest just released a new ad, and let me tell you: there are some issues with the content. So you see this teenage girl in a prom dress ring a Nest doorbell, and a teen couple walk out the front door. The two girls walk to a car, as a low robotic voice beckons the boy and proceeds to give him a fatherly speech about…
The Best Security Camera for Most People
Now that the world is so full of uncertainty, you might consider buying a wireless security camera. They’re cheaper and easier-to-use than ever, and some even have mind-bending features like facial recognition. There are also about a million options to choose from. But worry not. Gizmodo is here to help.
Amazon and Google Are Back to Feuding, This Time Over Smart Homes and Nest
E-retail giant Amazon has declined to feature any future products from Google’s line of smart home products, Nest, and as a result, Nest won’t be restocking those items currently listed on the site once they sell out.
Google Is Absorbing Nest and With It, Your Smart Home
Google is bringing Nest back into the fold. Nest, known for it’s slick thermostats and user-friendly security cameras, was acquired by Alphabet (then called Google) for $3.2 billion in 2014. Since then the company has grown, according to Geekwire it has more than quadrupled its staff, and it’s rolled out a wide range…
Paranoid Suburbanites Will Love the Nest Secure Alarm System
Nest’s next big thing underwhelmed me at first glance. It wasn’t anything different, just a home security system and some sensors. This, from the company that made me believe thermostats were incredible and futuristic. The product’s announcement felt disappointing, but after spending some time with the system, Nest…
Nest's New Security System Makes Me Feel Sad for Nest
Everybody seemed excited about Nest’s big event on Wednesday. New products! Several of them! New direction! Much needed for a company plagued with security flaws, product defects, and loads of other problems. But the most innovative thing that Nest announced was an alarm. Literally, a box that makes a loud noise. It’s…
New Nest Thermostat Pretty
For the first time ever, Nest has redesigned its iconic smart thermostat. The new Nest Thermostat E basically does the same stuff the old thermostat did, but it’s not black and steel any more. It’s all white, like the front half of a classic iPod. Very pretty!
Watch the World's Worst Child Ninja Try to Disable His Dad's Home Security Cam
Because they use wide-angle lenses, home security cameras are able to capture much more of the scene than a conventional camera can. This is the kind of info you might wanna know before you try to secretly turn off one your dad has set up in the living room, as one YouTube user’s son recently tried—and utterly…
How America's Secret Nuke Police Hunted For Dirty Bombs in the 1970s
Bomb threats have been a part of American life since at least the 19th century. But in the 1970s the types of threats shifted dramatically. The people making bomb threats in the US started to claim their bombs had nuclear materials. By 1975, the US started a new task force to deal with the threats, and we at Gizmodo…
Nest Adds a Security Feature It Should Have Had All Along
Nest has finally added support for two-factor authentication to help give its user accounts greater security. On the surface, this is a good idea—and plenty of people have said as much—but it also begs a very obvious question: What the hell took them so long?
Hungry Mountain Lion Mauls Deer on a Family's Porch
Don’t fuck with a mountain lion. Sadly, a small deer in Southern San Francisco learned that lesson the hard way when its neck was snapped on a family’s porch.
Nest's Outdoor Camera Lets You Extend the Range of Your Paranoia
The people at Nest have had a rough year. Following founder Tony Fadell’s exit in June and parent company Google launching its own unaffiliated smart home product in May, many have been wondering what the future of Nest will look like. Now, it appears the company is betting big on ... smart home cameras?
Why I Don't Use a Baby Monitor
Like any person scared shitless about the prospect of keeping a fragile new human alive, as soon as I found out I was pregnant I started googling the important questions. Among them: “What is the best baby monitor?”
A Smart Crib Is a Stupid Idea
Baby products have always been part of a predatory industry that feasts on the paranoia of new parents. But it’s gotten worse in the last few years with the wave of baby-tracking tech. Now Nest—which makes a camera which is one of the top-rated baby monitors—is proposing a smart crib, according to patent documents…
Tony Fadell Quits Nest After Loads of Problems
When Google bought Nest in 2014, it seemed like a good bet. After all, the company put out an amazingly successful smart thermostat and followed up that with the awesomely designed Nest Protect smoke alarm. But after months of reports of shoddy leadership, Fadellis saying goodbye.
These Shitty Memes Are More Embarrassing Than Anything Nest Has Done
Earlier today, Recode obtained some exclusive memes that offered insight into how Google’s employees really feel about Nest’s many, many problems. But while these disgruntled tech workers are busy lamenting the damage Nest has done to the Google name, they’re hurting themselves—and everyone they’ve ever loved—far more…
Making a Stable Walking Robot Is a Lot Easier When It's Just Legs
Getting a robot to balance and walk on two feet is a massive challenge, as the DARPA Challenge revealed. But it turns out it’s a little less tricky when you focus on just the legs, as the Alphabet-owned SCHAFT’s newest bipedal creation demonstrated by confidently walking out on stage at the New Economic Summit going…
