Home automation company and Alphabet subsidiary Nest has announced today that they’re expanding to Australia. It’s not a standard launch for them, with Nest announcing their products will be exclusively available through Australian online comparison company iSelect.
Nest’s launch in Australia is their first foray into the Asia Pacific market. The launch includes their range of safety and security products and services, which includes the Nestcam range and Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm to our shores.
At the Australian launch of Nest, Maxime Veron, Director of Product Marketing at Nest said
Nest is focused on creating a home that takes care of the people inside it and the world around it. To date, Nest’s hardware, software and services have been available for purchase in just twelve markets, yet they’re used by millions of people in more than 190 countries. Today we’re excited to be entering our first market in Asia Pacific region through our partnership with iSelect.
Nest has always had the tag line of ‘We make products that are beautiful, thoughtful and easy to use’, and that’s quite obvious with their products when you look at them, or use them.
So, products and services! The Nest product range coming to Australia includes their cameras, as well as the Nest Aware service which adds smarts to your Nest Cams, and the Nest Protect.
The Nest Protect is launching at $189 incl GST. What is a Nest Protect? It’s a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm that alerts you to a fire wherever you are in the world (with a data connection) that there’s a problem back home. It eliminates the problem of annoying false alarms by letting you silence the Nest Protect from the Nest app on your phone rather than clambering up a chair to hit a reset button or fanning smoke away.
The Nest Cams are coming in both the indoor and outdoor models. There’s no word on the recently released Nest IQ Cam but these are a start. The cameras will be available priced at AUD $319 each incl GST and include 24/7 continuous live video feed through the Nest app, as well as 10-day or 30-day continuous video history available when you subscribe to Nest Aware which starts at AUD $14 incl GST.
The cameras are quite strikingly designed, with an aesthetic that seemingly fades into the background. Specs? We got specs:
| Nest Cam Indoor | NestCam Outdoor | |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
| Price | $319 | |
| Camera Sensor | ⅓-inch sensor 3–megapixels |
⅓-inch, 3–megapixel sensor with millions of colors |
| Zoom | 8x digital zoom | 8x digital zoom |
| Field of View | 130°diagonal field of view | |
| Live Video | 24/7 continuous live video Check in any time using the Nest app on your phone, tablet, or computer |
|
| Recorded Video | 10-day or 30-day continuous video history available when you subscribe to Nest Aware | |
| Video | Up to 1080p (1920 x 1080) at 30 frames/sec, H.264 encoding | |
| Night Vision | 850 nm high-power infrared LEDs IR cut filter |
8 high–power infrared LEDs (850 nm) with IR cut filter |
| Audio | Microphone Speaker |
|
| Talk & Listen | Hear what’s happening at home and talk to people who are there. | Talk and Listen |
| Lights | LED status light | RGB LED status light |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHz) 802.11a/n (5GHz) |
US: Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4GHz and 5GHz Europe and Canada: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, 2.4GHz |
| Bluetooth | Phone or tablet with BLE recommended for camera setup | Bluetooth Low Energy |
| Weather Resistance | Indoor Use Only | IP65 ratingNest Cam Outdoor can withstand dust, rain, and snow. |
| Power | Plugs into a standard household power outlet for continuous video streaming and alerts AC adapter input: 100–240V AC, 50/60Hz, 0.2AAC adapter output: 5V DC, 1.4A Camera input: 5V DC, 1.0APower cable connector: USB micro-B |
AC adapter input: 100–240V AC, 50/60Hz, 0.2A AC adapter output: 5V DC, 1.4A Camera input: 5V DC, 1.0A |
All the devices are controlled through the Nest app, available in Google Play and the iOS app store. The app is supremely easy to use, and setup for devices is quite easy.
The notable absence from this launch is the product that made Nest’s name, the Nest Thermostat. Nest has omitted any mention or details for a launch of the Nest Protect in Australia, but we’ll be talking to them about that though never fear.
The Nest range is going on-sale through iSelect but there appears to be a Nest Australia website that’s cropped up which should have local information about the products shortly.
It is still cheaper to buy them from Amazon… too expensive!
I just want the Thermostat. Can anyone recommend an alternative?
Finally.. hopefully the nest protect is Australian regulation compliant.
Also how do you justify the cost vs arlo pro