Nest Can Now Connect All Your Smart (and not) Devices With Weave

If you have ever looked into the idea of a smart home, you are probably already well-familiar with things like Nest, Z-Wave, smart home hub, Phillips Hue and others. If not, here’s the summary.

A smart home is usually defined as a residence that has a number of connected appliances that can be controlled remotely, communicate with one another and turn of and off according to a schedule. So, if you fancy the idea of your blinds closing when you enter the house or your favourite TV show playing automatically at 6PM on a Wednesday, you may be on the market for a smart home yourself. If so, feel free to take a look at our post on Just How Smart Will Our Homes Become or Houses Speak: What Does Your Smart Home Say About You.

The latest news in the smart home industry comes from Nest, the smart thermostat. Having announced its two protocols (“languages”, used to connect smart devices), Weave and Brillo, earlier at this year’s I/O, Nest Weave is now official since this Thursday. The new communication protocol is meant for the Internet of Things and lets various smart home appliances communicate wit Nest and one another , with no Wi-Fi involved.

Developers and manufacturers should be able to incorporate Nest into their devices as of 2016, the biggest benefit of the protocol being the aforementioned lack of need for an Internet connection. Putting into more everyday terms, with Weave you will be able to turn on the light or get music playing remotely even if the Wi-Fi is down.

Weave is built on the cloud API and “Works With Nest” program. The ultimate aim of the protocol is not only to connect and control devices, but save the time used for scheduling and managing them as well. Nest devices should be able to learn about residents’ habits and make informed decisions based on that. For instance, if the one of the Nest devices notices that you are not home, it should be able to turn off the lights.

Weave can also be used to communicate with the so-called “dumb” devices, that come with no Wi-Fi support. With Weave being a mesh network, gadgets can connect directly to each other, without reporting to the hub individually.

Among other announcements, Nest has launched its new camera API, letting developers tap into the Nest Cam, so that third-party devices can benefit from Nest Cam’s motion and light sensors.

Users will be able to take a sneak peak at one of Weave-enabled products with the smartlock (made in collaboration with Yale) in 2016.

Looking to smarten up your hime or apartment? Take a quick look at our selection of smart home gadgets.