Nest to deliberately brick old smart hubs
Nest, a home automation firm owned by Google's holding company Alphabet, is planning to drop support for smart hubs from Revolv, a firm it acquired in October 2014, effectively bricking these devices for owners.
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On May 15, Nest will pull the plug on the $300 smart hub. The app will not work, and the device will no longer work.
Arlo Gilbert, CEO of medical app company Televero, and self-confessed home automation nut, is far from happy about the move, and is pointing the finger at Nest/Google.
"That's a pretty blatant '**** you' to every person who trusted in them and bought their hardware," writes Gilbert. "They [Revolv/Nest/Google] didn't post this notice until long after Google had made the acquisition, so these are Google's words under Tony Fadell's direction."
Gilbert is also frustrated that he was never emailed about the planned shutdown, and only found out by accident when he visited the company's website. For other users, it's likely that their hubs will go dark and they won't know why.
He also drew parallels with other tech companies:
"Imagine if you bought a Dell computer and Dell then informed you that when your warranty ends your computer will power down.
"Imagine if Apple put out a new policy that not only won't they replace the device for defects, but they will actually be bricking your phone 12 months after purchase."
Kyle Wiens, CEO of tech repair firm iFixit, called the move "preposterous."
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