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News from Nest? Press conference scheduled for June 17

The makers of the popular, Google-owned smart thermostat have a press conference planned for later this month.

Ry Crist Senior Editor / Reviews - Labs
Originally hailing from Troy, Ohio, Ry Crist is a writer, a text-based adventure connoisseur, a lover of terrible movies and an enthusiastic yet mediocre cook. A CNET editor since 2013, Ry's beats include smart home tech, lighting, appliances, broadband and home networking.
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  • 10 years product testing experience with the CNET Home team
Ry Crist
2 min read

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When Nest speaks, we listen, and the makers of the breakout connected thermostat have something to say, with a press conference planned for June 17 in San Francisco.

The event comes hot on the heels of next week's Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, and also last week's Google I/O conference, where the search giant and Nest Labs parent company announced Brillo, a new Android-based smart-home platform and potential rival to Apple HomeKit. Nest is almost certain to play a central role in Google's Brillo-powered smart-home ambitions -- don't be surprised if the announcement on the 17th reveals more about the Nest's future as an anchor point for the connected home.

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Nest Labs

New hardware is another possibility. The Palo Alto-based Nest Labs debuted its marquee thermostat in 2012, then refreshed the design for a slimmer profile in 2013. A Nest 3.0 might tweak the design further, add in new functionality -- or come optimized for Brillo's debut, planned for the end of this year.

Nest is no stranger to making news. After Google spent $3.2 billion acquiring the brand in early 2014, Nest Labs went on to spend $555 million acquiring Dropcam, a popular connected camera. Later in the year, Nest Labs snapped up the Revolv smart-home hub, too, perhaps tipping its hand to the thermostat's ambitions as a potential smart-home centerpiece.

The company has also generated a steady stream of publicity by way of the Works with Nest initiative, which certifies third-party smart-home gadgets to sync up with the thermostat and enhance its functionality in exchange for an implicit spot on its connected coattails. New product integrations are another possibility, though Nest Labs hasn't thrown an event like this one to announce any of the existing ones. If anything, they'll probably be an add-on to something at least slightly more significant in scope.

Whatever the news is, we'll be sure to let you know all about it on the 17th -- stay tuned.