Despite being one of the biggest and most well-known smarthome companies out there, Nest actually only has three products, a smart smoke detector and a smart thermostat as well as the home monitoring cameras it got with its acquisition of Dropcam. The Google-owned company can’t possibly hope to maintain its top position without expanding into new areas which is why Nest is apparently looking for engineers to work on a new product called “Nest Audio.”
Smart home gadget maker Nest is looking for someone to lead what they are calling Nest Audio, fueling speculation that they are moving into speakers and other audio products. The company declined to comment on the new division or job listing. Co-founder Matt Rogers once told me that the company looks for household items that need to be reinvented. So far that has been the thermostat and smoke detector but simply releasing a boombox or Sonos-lookalike doesn’t fit that mold. A Nest Audio product is likely something that integrates into the Internet of Things – perhaps a home automation system that listens to you while “speaking” data and playing music. This is a new frontier for Nest. The company has so far utilized little audio in its products. Instead, Nest has so far recruited a couple of audio companies to join Nest’s world of Internet of Things through the “Works With Nest” developer program. “Google will help us fully realize our vision of the conscious home and allow us to change the world faster than we ever could if we continued to go it alone. We’ve had great momentum, but [Google] is a rocket ship,” said co-founder Tony Fadell when Google bought the company.