American automation giant Nest has announced it’ll be bringing its smart home appliances to the Australian market.
“Nest is focused on creating a home that takes care of the people inside it and the world around it,” said Maxime Veron, Director of Product Marketing at Nest.
“To date, Nest’s hardware, software and services have been available for purchase in just twelve markets, yet they’re used by millions of people in more than 190 countries. Today we’re excited to be entering our first market in Asia Pacific region through our partnership with iSelect.”
It’s a move that could put pressure on both Linksys and D-Link, who have grown the smart home and networked security category into a major earner However, the impact of Nest’s arrival is likely to be somewhat-tempered by their unconventional distribution strategy.
Rather than retail the range through JB Hi-Fi or Harvey-Norman, the Alphabet-owned brand are selling direct to customers online through comparison website iSelect.
iSelect will be selling the Nest brand through their new Life Admin online store. The idea here is that iSelect will be able to pair up and recommend specific Nest products to specific insurance or telco deals on the site.
“At launch, Nest customers will have access to exclusive energy and telco offers from Optus, Sumo Power and Mate Communicate. Further iSelect offers across home loans, home & contents and health insurance will be available exclusively to Nest customers over the coming months,” said iSelect’s Managing Director & CEO Scott Wilson.
According to him, “Nest products will enable us to drive our core product offering through exclusive offers and partner innovation. They will also give our customers better value, underpinning our promise to help customers ‘Always get it right’.”
“Together, iSelect and Nest will help Australians make their homes and small businesses safer, more efficient and more affordable through the use of Nest connected devices. ”
In the U.S., the Google-owned brand offer everything from smart thermostats through to a range of security cameras. However, in Australia, the company will keep things straightforward to start with with just two core products on offer.
Locally, they’re ranging the Nest Protect smoke alarm and two flavours of their Nest Cam security camera.
The Nest Protect uses voice and phone alerts to warn you about dangerous smoke or CO levels, and their location and promises to be constantly check not only for fires but also on it’s own battery-lives.
It comes accompanied by the indoor and outdoor variants of the company’s Nest Cam. The Nest Cam comes capable of recording 1080p live video and summarising recordings into three-hour snapshots of key movement activity.
Alongside the hardware, Nest are also offering a subscription service called Nest Aware. Priced at $14 a month, customers get “advanced cloud algorithms” that are said to give your camera smarter alerts and the ability to store 30 days of continuous video in the cloud.
The Nest Protect arrives at $189 while the Nest Indoor Cam and Outdoor Cam are set at $319 each.
