Nest

Technologizer reports: [edited]

Tony Fadell took an idea he had for a new gadget to Apple. It was a pocket-sized hard-disk MP3 player. Apple was impressed – and, just over a decade ago, released Fadell’s creation as the iPod.

While Fadell was working on his house, he had a new brainstorm. Why not take the thermostat – one of the most boring devices on the planet, and make it interesting?

Inspired, he co-founded a company called Nest Labs. It’s announcing its creation, the Nest, which it plans to ship in November for $249.

Unlike most modern thermostats – the Nest is a sophisticated piece of consumer electronics. Inside the metal ring you spin to control it is a round color LCD. It’s also got Wi-Fi and embedded motion detectors, allowing it to have a sense of what’s going on around it.

It can pay attention to its surroundings and turn down the heat automatically when it notices you’re not around.

As you adjust the temperature, it can pay attention, learn, and start to adjust it itself to mirror your habits.

It allows you to control it remotely over the Web or using an iOS app.

When you set it to a particular temperature, it tells you how long it’ll be until it reaches it.
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