How Nest aims to own your smart home

Alphabet, the mama-bird parent company of Google, is hoping 2016 is the year Nest leaves the, well, you know what.

Nest, which makes thermostats, smoke detectors and security cameras that connect to the Web, has operated pretty much independently since Google bought the company in 2013. And that was before the company formerly known as Google pulled apart its various divisions to turn them into individual companies.

So while the pieces of Alphabet will begin the new year figuring out how to brand their websites or set up marketing plans, Nest can hit the ground running with its audacious but often understated mission: making the smart home a reality for you and me, and not just the muckety-mucks in Silicon Valley.

For Nest, the key to owning the smart-home market involves more than just selling you a thermostat or smoke detector (although it would very much like for you to buy those, too). Its ambition rests on making sure all your Web-connected products can communicate and interact with one another. For example, if your Nest security system senses someone lurking, it can tell your Internet-connected lights to switch on. The dream is digital, domestic nirvana.

"It's not about whiz-bang party tricks," said Greg Hu, who heads the Works With Nest program, the software initiative that wants to create inter-device harmony. Instead, it's about creating interactions that can save you money or keep you safer, he said.