Nest Ends Support for Older Thermostats
Last week, Google announced it would end support for 1st gen and 2nd gen Nest Thermostats. Nest’s first two products, released in 2011 and 2012 will not receive software updates starting in October, the company said. While the thermostats will still work, settings will have to be adjusted manually directly on the devices as the companion apps will no longer support these thermostats. To urge owners to upgrade, Google has offered discounts on the newest (Gen 4) thermostats amounting to $130 off (nearly half the price). Google has also decided to stop selling new thermostats in Europe due to the differences in heating/cooling systems in homes in the market.
The Circana Take:
- Though early owners of Nest thermostats will be inconvenienced by Google’s lack of support for these first gen devices, the company is doing right by offering a discount on current products.
- As a legacy Smart Home brand, Nest is weighing the costs of supporting its oldest users while also innovating with new features and products.
Google Adds More Smart Home Controls
After months of testing, older Google TV and Chromecast devices are finally getting the Home Panel feature which allows users to control their smart home devices right from their TVs. The feature was launched with Google’s TV Streamer device last year and now has been opened to owners of older devices. The update is connected to a larger software update for Google TV devices and will (presumably) extend to all devices regardless age.
The Circana Take:
- Adding Home support to Google’s entire TV ecosystem will help drive usage of its smart home devices. While fewer users access their devices from a connected tv, the ones that do will likely engage with their connected devices more frequently.
- This will also benefit Google Home compatible devices (not just Google’s first party smart home products) as the company looks to expand the Home platform.