Please see update at the end of this news post
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Nest labs is said to be interested in home security and may even acquire Dropcam, the makers of connected-camera to boost the project.
The news was first reported by The Information citing information from several people close to Google. The Information also reported that the outcome of any talks between Google and Dropcam is not yet clear.
Dropcam which makes cameras that can stream video footage to smartphones and computers and has what is called Dropcam service which is a cloud based Wi-Fi video monitoring service. Dropcam says Cloud Recording (CVR) automatically saves videos on a rolling basis so you never miss a thing and you can review footage from last week or month.
They also have a web-only beta service called Activity Recognition where you can get notifications about your family members sitting or your pet passing through the room. Dropcam is said to learn these types of motion patterns allowing you to set or customize the notification alerts you receive.
It would be interesting to see this service integrated with Google Glass.
You can see why Google’s Nest division might be interested in Dropcam. Thermostats, smoke detectors, and home security, this is the Internet of things in a connected home. Google certainly has the means of making this happen and there seems to be a bigger picture here, think of Nest labs, Dropcam and the work on a cloud Wi-Fi network. A whole new direction that seems quite the opposite of what Google and Apple do.
It should be noted that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reportedly planning to announce a new software platform for a “smart home” system. The announcement is expected next week at the The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
[Update]
As expected, Google’s Nest Labs has acquired Dropcam. The deal is said to be worth about $550 million in cash.
Nest Labs, which was founded by ex Apple engineer and creator of the iPod Tony Fadell, is a smart home startup that makes digital thermostat as well as smoke detectors, was acquired by Google for $3.2 billion.
So now Dropcam will be part of Nest and all that apply to Nest will apply to Dropcam. privacy policy, business model and yes ads. In the blog post, the founder of Nest Matt Rogers said:
Once the deal closes, we’ll incorporate Dropcam into how we do business at Nest. That includes how we handle everything from customer support to customer privacy. Like Nest customer data, Dropcam will come under Nest’s privacy policy, which explains that data won’t be shared with anyone (including Google) without a customer’s permission. Nest has a paid-for business model and ads are not part of our strategy. In acquiring Dropcam, we’ll apply that same policy to Dropcam too.
