Nest's indoor security camera just got a lot smarter.
The company has added native support for Google Assistant to its $299/£299 Nest Cam IQ Indoor. The device, which has a 1080p HD security camera and microphone, already had the necessary hardware to support such a feature. Now, effectively, it doubles as a smart speaker. You just have to grab Nest's free software update in order to start barking Google Assistant voice commands at the camera.
Google Assistant is built directly into the Google Home, Google Home Mini, and Google Home Max speakers. It's also built into most Android devices and available for iOS via the Google Assistant app. But Nest Cam IQ Indoor is the first Nest product to offer built-in Google Assistant. Keep in mind Alphabet recently announced it would fold Nest into its Google hardware team, instead of operating it separately.
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Alphabet has kept Nest as a separate division from Google for at least two years, but by joining them, it's making it easier for Google to add artificial intelligence software like Google Assistant into Nest's products, like the Cam IQ Indoor. Nest claims your Cam IQ Indoor will be able to perform most of the same functions as the Home speaker, except it can't make calls, tell you the news, or play music.
It will, however, respond to the "Hey, Google" or "OK, Google" wake phrases and can perform basic Google searches, tell you about the temperature and weather, add appointments to your calendar, etc.
