Your smart home is about to get a lot sexier. And safer, too. Bringing style to the aesthetic wasteland that was once home heating and cooling is Nest, whose emphasis on design and automated capabilities has long differentiated it from the rest of the field. That effort continues with changes to the Nest Thermostat, which is now available in three new finishes — white, black, and copper. Nest has also updated its home security systems with new hardware and software.
“We think you should be proud of anything that’s on your wall. It’s your home and your style. It says so much about you,” Nest said in a blog post announcing the new line of thermostats on Thursday. “Since every house has a different style, we first chose the Nest Thermostat’s modern, refined stainless steel to complement any room. Now, in three new colors, it will shine in any setting.”
And while different styles come and go, Nest is banking on the notion that saving energy — and by extension, money — will always be in. Already, the company says, its thermostat has saved users some 8 billion kilowatt hours of energy. Nest is hoping to increase that number by sending more Nests into more homes around the United States and across the world. And that means giving the people what they want — design-wise, of course.
The Nest team also announced improvements to its security cameras on Thursday. A new software update to Nest’s Wi-Fi-connected cameras — both the Nest Cam Indoor and the Nest Cam Outdoor — brings something called Sightline, which “shows you what Nest Cam has seen and lets you speed through days of recorded video in seconds.” By extracting key footage so you don’t have to wade through hours of viewing, you’ll be able to find exactly what you’re looking for in no time at all. Nest has also added person alerts so nobody goes unnoticed — though a tree swaying in the wind won’t trigger any alarms.
