Google has improved and simplified the pricing structure for the Nest Aware subscription service after customers reported confusion about how the service works.
Nest Aware now offers 30 days of event history at $6 per month, while Nest Aware Plus offers 60 days of event history and 10 days of 24/7 recording for $12 per month. So you may want to factor that into your outdoor security camera and home security camera purchasing decisions.
The previous plan charged for each camera, but Nest’s new pricing structure rolls all cameras, speakers, and displays in your home into a single price. Google also introduced “event-based” recording, which records only when the camera detects motion or sound.
This type of recording reduces the amount of data used, and pings the user with a push notification so that the clip can be watched as it happens, or reviewed at a later time. The “event-based” recording will be included alongside the existing 24/7 recording option.
Smart speakers, smart displays, and even the Nest WiFi point now serve double duty. In addition to their original respective functions, you can enable these devices to listen for sounds while you’re away. Noises like smoke alarms will send an alert to your phone. You can check the recording or listen live to determine your next course of action. As an added privacy feature, the devices will also light up when something is being recorded.
Before this update, Google Assistant could not call 911. Now, the service will let you use the Home App to call 911, even if you’re away. That means you will be connected to emergency services closest to your house, something your mobile phone will not do. If you are at home and can’t reach your phone, you can say, “Hey Google, call 911,” to any smart speaker included in your Nest Aware subscription to have the service contact emergency services on your behalf.
Google is also adding the “Home Feed” early next year. This feature of the Home App brings all of your notifications and alerts to a single screen. You can access all video and sound clips from one place and view a synopsis of the entire day without moving across a half-dozen screens.
The new Nest Aware subscriptions launch early next year in all 19 countries where Nest Aware is already available. Some features, like sound detection and emergency calling, will at first only be available in the United States, but will later be available to all Nest Aware customers.
Take a look at everything announced today at the Made By Google 2019 event.
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