The home automation market heated up after Nest Labs released its thermostat in 2011, and now the company wants to keep things cool with a smart smoke detector called Nest Protect: Smoke + Carbon Monoxide.
The new smoke alarm promises to not only save your life should tragedy strike, but also to stop the whole house from going to Defcon 1 whenever you singe your Sunday bacon. The new smoke detector also talks, lights your way to the bedroom, and sends mobile notifications to your smartphone or tablet via the company's Android and iOS apps.
Nest Protect is slated to hit store shelves in November starting at $129, but you can pre-order it from Nest.com starting Tuesday.
A smart smoke alarm
Perhaps the niftiest (and most important) feature of Nest Protect is that it talks. Rather than relying on beeps, the alarm shouts vocal alerts to let you know there's a fire, and if you have your whole home rigged with Nest Protects, the smoke alarm network can even tell you which room is ablaze. Nest says vocal alarms are key since children—not to mention overworked parents—can sometimes sleep through a screaming smoke alarm. Human voices, on the other hand, are harder to ignore.
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