Google Nest Software Update Offers Smarter Learning, Auto-Schedule To Save You Money
When you spend $3.2 billion acquiring a company, it's good form (and business) to do something with the newly acquired asset after the fact. That's how much Google paid to absorb Nest and its line of smart, connected thermostats and smoke detectors, and after six months since completing the deal, there's a major software update available intended to make its smart thermostat even smarter.
One of the big features of Nest is its Auto-Schedule function. Using this feature, the thermostat learns the temperatures you like and then sets them automatically. With the 4.3 software update that's now available, Google fined tuned its algorithms to save more energy and make things even simpler.
The result of Google's coding efforts is that you can save up to 6 percent more on your heating and cooling bills simply by having Nest learn new schedules and adapt to changes more quickly.
"So when your schedule shifts -- like when summer's over and the kids are back at school -- Nest can now catch on faster that the temperature adjustments you're making are part of a new pattern rather than just one-off changes," Google explained in a blog post.
Google says that one of the biggest customer requests has been to show the time and outside temperature on the thermostat. Following the 4.3 software update, that information becomes available, along with the basics of what Nest is up to. Just push the ring once to see the weather, outdoor temperature, and humidity. Turn the ring and you'll see a quick summary of pertinent information, such as how much energy you used yesterday and what's next on your schedule.
The 4.3 software update is rolling out now and will be applied automatically to Nest devices. You can check Energy History or push the ring to display the weather to find out if you've received the update yet. If not, Google says to hang tight.
One of the big features of Nest is its Auto-Schedule function. Using this feature, the thermostat learns the temperatures you like and then sets them automatically. With the 4.3 software update that's now available, Google fined tuned its algorithms to save more energy and make things even simpler.
The result of Google's coding efforts is that you can save up to 6 percent more on your heating and cooling bills simply by having Nest learn new schedules and adapt to changes more quickly.
"So when your schedule shifts -- like when summer's over and the kids are back at school -- Nest can now catch on faster that the temperature adjustments you're making are part of a new pattern rather than just one-off changes," Google explained in a blog post.
Google says that one of the biggest customer requests has been to show the time and outside temperature on the thermostat. Following the 4.3 software update, that information becomes available, along with the basics of what Nest is up to. Just push the ring once to see the weather, outdoor temperature, and humidity. Turn the ring and you'll see a quick summary of pertinent information, such as how much energy you used yesterday and what's next on your schedule.
The 4.3 software update is rolling out now and will be applied automatically to Nest devices. You can check Energy History or push the ring to display the weather to find out if you've received the update yet. If not, Google says to hang tight.
