Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Trending
    • Interview: Lewis Thompson, VP Sport
    • En Garde!
    • BUWRU Still on Top
    • Hidden Histories: With The Archaeology Society
    • Beabadoobee Concert Review: Welcome to Beatopia
    • Taylor Swift: Midnights Review – The Stories of 13 Sleepless Nights
    • Claire Concert Review: Claire Cottrill in Concert!
    • Is There Hope For Percy Jackson?
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Flickr
    Seren
    • News & Politics
      1. Local News
      2. UK News
      3. Uni News
      4. World News
      5. Politics
      6. Comment
      7. Business
      Featured

      SABB Election: The Full Result Breakdown

      By Emily ReadMarch 20, 20210
      Recent

      Redevelopment plans and the culture of Bangor

      October 28, 2022

      Immediate closure of Menai Bridge following reports of structural integrity issues

      October 28, 2022

      Racial abuse victim calls for harsher sentencing following nightclub assault

      October 28, 2022
    • Arts & Culture
      1. Books
      2. Games
      3. Film
      4. Music
      5. TV
      6. Creative Corner
      Featured

      Bangor alumni podcast earns Hollywood cameo & BBC features

      By Amelia SmithMarch 7, 20210
      Recent

      Beabadoobee Concert Review: Welcome to Beatopia

      October 29, 2022

      Taylor Swift: Midnights Review – The Stories of 13 Sleepless Nights

      October 29, 2022

      Claire Concert Review: Claire Cottrill in Concert!

      October 29, 2022
    • Lifestyle
      1. Fashion
      2. Food and Drink
      3. Social
      4. Health and Beauty
      5. Travel
      Featured

      Country Highlight: The Netherlands

      By Emily ShoultsMay 6, 20220
      Recent

      Gilmore Garms

      October 28, 2022

      Fleeces and Funk

      October 28, 2022

      Cheerleading: Getting your kit together

      October 28, 2022
    • Discovery
      1. Science
      2. Environment
      3. History
      4. International
      Featured

      Brewing up a Storm: The History of Guinness

      By Emily ReadMarch 20, 20210
      Recent

      North Wales Ramblings

      October 28, 2022

      Hamza Yassin: The Hard Work That Is Making Luck Happen

      October 28, 2022

      Student’s Union Hosts Repair Cafe for Sustainability Awareness Week

      October 28, 2022
    • Sport
      1. Varsity 2019
      2. Varsity 2018
      3. Varsity 2017
      4. Varsity 2016
      5. Varsity 2015
      6. Varsity 2014
      7. Varsity 2013
        • Varsity 2013 Results
        • Varsity 2013 – In tweets
      Featured

      Bangor Muddogs’ American Football: a young woman finding her place

      By Jade HillMarch 23, 20210
      Recent

      Interview: Lewis Thompson, VP Sport

      October 29, 2022

      En Garde!

      October 29, 2022

      BUWRU Still on Top

      October 29, 2022
    • Students’ Union
      1. Union News
      2. Societies
      3. Volunteering
      4. Clubs
      Featured

      INTERVIEW: Be Period Positive

      By Caroline CartmillMarch 17, 20210
      Recent

      Interview: Lewis Thompson, VP Sport

      October 29, 2022

      En Garde!

      October 29, 2022

      BUWRU Still on Top

      October 29, 2022
    • Issues
      • Current Issue
      • This year’s issues
      • Last year’s issues
      • Seren Archive
      • Seren Teams
    Seren
    Home»Arts & Culture»Games»What’s next for Nest?
    Games

    What’s next for Nest?

    Christian James-WatkinsBy Christian James-WatkinsMay 12, 2016No Comments4 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Many of you may have heard of Nest home automation but its recent behavior has been throwing up questions about the future of Google for many tech journalists. In October 2014 they acquired a manufacturer of a £210 home automation hub which could control devices such as lights, alarm and doors. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and as Re/code reported at the time, the deal was an acqui-hire — buying a company for its talent rather than its products or users.

    As you can imagine the company’s technology was integrated into Nest’s own smart-home platform, Works with Nest, but what many buyers did not expect was for Revolv to announce that they will no longer be supporting their hub. In fact the announcement was that the Revolv hub and app would no longer work.

    Arlo Gilbert, an owner of the hub, branded the debacle as ‘the time that Tony Fadell sold me a container of hummus.’ This unhappy customer goes on to explain the multitude of smart devices he has connected together through the smart hub in order to create his automated home before bluntly stating that ‘Google is intentionally bricking hardware that I own.’

    With Google intentionally ‘bricking’ its devices there are concerns over the future of connected device, and whether they may be shut down in an insignificant [by Googles terms]cost cutting exercise. It would be completely unacceptable if Dell announced that when your warranty expires that your computer will automatically power down, so why is Google allowed to make such a brash decision?

    Many are now concerned over buying Internet of Things devices just in case the same is to happen to their hardware. After all the Revolv hub was sold with a ‘lifetime subscription’, and customers were told that their hub would be provided with updates to work seamlessly with other devices ‘for the lifetime of the product’. The best which has been offered by the Nest team is to work with customers on a case-by-case basis to determine the best resolution, which could involve compensation.

    This is not the only news about Nest as they are also losing two key members of staff. Shige Honjo, the director of hardware design and engineering will depart at the end of May, and Scott Mullins, a senior engineering manager will be leaving to work on the next iteration of Googles Glass wearable. These are not the first two staffers to leave as Nest co-founder Matt Rogers said he was “losing sleep” over an exodus of Googlers and Dropcam team members.

    The issue with the exodus of the Dropcam team is the way in which it was handled by Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest Labs. What was going to be a quiet exodus turned into a flame war when he stated that ‘a lot of the employees were not as good as we hoped,’ and that Dropcam was ‘a very small team and unfortunately it wasn’t a very experienced team.’

    The problem with this statement was that prior to acquisition Dropcam was in the middle of a record year of sales, had a 4.5-star bestselling camera on Amazon, was rolling into large brick-and-mortar retailers with huge merchandising support, had innovative new products imminently launching, still had most of its financing in the bank, and our investors and team actively didn’t want to sell.

    Greg Duffy, former owner of Dropcam stated ‘The ~50 Dropcam employees who resigned did so because they felt their ability to build great products being totally crushed. All of us have worked at big companies before, where it is harder to move fast. But this is something different, as evidenced by the continued lack of output from the currently 1200-person team and its virtually unlimited budget. According to LinkedIn, total attrition to date at Nest amounts to nearly 500 people, which suggests that we were not alone in our frustrations.’

     

    Dropcam google Nest Revolv Smart Home Smart Tech
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Christian James-Watkins
    • Website
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn

    Gadgets Editor 2015/16

    Related Posts

    REVIEW: Donut County – A Hole Lot of Fun

    February 28, 2021

    Games to look out for in 2021

    February 7, 2021

    REVIEW: A Short Hike – A Relaxing Getaway

    December 27, 2020

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    MORE INFORMATION
    • ABOUT
    • ADVERTISE
    • CONTACT US
    • GET INVOLVED
    • MEMBERS
    Links
    • Bangor University Bangor University
    • Google+ Google+
    • Undeb Bangor Undeb Bangor
    About

    Seren is Bangor University Students’ Union’s English Language Newspaper

    We have editorial independence from both Bangor University and Bangor Students’ Union. Seren is written by students for students and we’d love you to get involved!

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.