Tag Archives: Nest

Stay entertained and informed from home

While spending more time at home, you might find yourself re-watching your favorite classics, doing game nights with the family and catching up on the TV shows you've been missing. From staying informed on the latest news to tuning in to weekly podcasts or finding what to watch, here are a few ideas to keep your whole family entertained while at home:

A faster way to news and entertainment

Many of us are turning to our TVs to stay up to date and entertained while we stay in. To access fresh news and fun entertainment quickly, you’ll now find three new rows from YouTube right on your Android TV home screen:

  • COVID-19 Newsgives you the latest from authoritative publishers and local health authorities to help you stay informed.
  • Stay Home #WithMe features videos that invite you to cook, listen to live music and work out, so you can stay connected, even if you’re home alone.
  • Free movies from YouTube highlights movies you can watch for free with ads, so that you can find something new.
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Stay informed and entertained with three new rows from YouTube on the Android TV home screen.

Create your own Watchlist in Search

When you’re deciding on a TV show or movie to watch, there are a lot of options out there. And figuring out what content is available across all your subscriptions can be time consuming and overwhelming. You can already find TV and movie recommendations in Search and today we’re adding a new Watchlist tab on mobile, so that you can keep track of what to watch next.

Browse through personalized recommendations by searching “what to watch.” Then, simply tap “Watchlist” in the preview window for any show or movie to add it to your list. You can navigate between your recommendations and the “Watchlist” tab so you won’t lose track of what’s already been saved. You can also add content to your Watchlist whenever you search for a show or movie. To quickly access your full watchlist, search for “my watchlist” or tap on Collections in the Google app.

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Keep track of what to watch next with the new Watchlist in Search.

Entertainment deals you won’t want to miss

Google Play also has a collection of special deals including offers on apps for movies, TV and comics and fun ways to learn something new. If you’re looking to game with friends, you can #PlayApartTogether and explore these multiplayer games. For a throwback option, we’ve compiled a few retro arcade games to bring back childhood memories. In the U.S., we’ve also extended the free trial for Google Play Pass to 30 days to give you and your family more time to enjoy games and apps without ads or in-app purchases.
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Browse games to #PlayApartTogether with family and friends.

If you’re looking for apps on your big screen, Google Play is adding more collections to Android TV. Your favorite streaming apps are now organized in one row under “Stream the shows and movies you love.” You can also pick up a new hobby or skill with TV apps under “Learn new things.” If gaming on the TV is more your style, you can now find games to “Play with your remote” and “Play with your gamepad.”

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Find games and apps in Google Play’s collections on Android TV.

We’re offering gamers in 14 countries free access to Stadia Pro for two months, which includes instant access to nine games, including GRID, Destiny 2: The Collection and Thumper. If you’re already a paid Stadia Pro subscriber, you won’t be charged for the next two months.

Get a little help using just your voice

And whether you want to catch up on your favorite podcast or you want to spend some quality time with family or roommates, Google Assistant and Nest have got you covered. 

  • Game night:If you’re looking for trivia or quiz games to play, just say, “Hey Google, let’s play a game.” Or if you already know what you want to play, say, “Hey Google, play Are You Feeling Lucky.”

  • Kick back with a podcast:Search interest in “podcasts” hit an all-time high, worldwide. Ask Google Assistant for a particular podcast by saying, “Hey Google, play [podcast name]” or it will pick one for you if you say “Hey Google, find me a podcast about cooking.” If you have a Nest Mini, Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max, the Ambient IQ feature will adjust the volume for you.

  • View your home movies easily:Watch videos and slideshows you’ve made in Google Photos using Chromecast. From the Google Photos app you can send videos and pictures to your TV by tapping the cast icon. With a Google Nest speaker you can simply ask, “Hey Google, show my 2018 summer vacation video on my TV.”

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Ask Google Assistant to cast your family photos and videos to your TV.

These updates and features are already available or coming this week. Check them out to keep the whole family entertained at home.

Sustainable living tips for life at home

At Google, sustainability starts at home. We strive to build sustainability into everything we do. Today, we shared that we matched 100% of our energy use with renewable energy purchases for the third year in a row. On Earth Day and every day, we are committed to helping everyone build a more sustainable world, and part of that means making it easier for everyone to make environmentally friendly choices. According to Google Trends, over the past 90 days search interest in “How to live a sustainable lifestyle” has increased by more than 4,550%. To celebrate Earth Day while many of us are finding our new normal while sheltering in place, I wanted to share some of my favorite simple sustainability tips.

Save the planet, save some money

If I told you that putting your groceries away in the right place, freezing your leftovers, using the dishwasher (instead of washing dishes by hand) and turning down your water heater just a few degrees could help protect the environment, you might think that sounds too simple. But our greatest impact on the planet comes from just three things: food, water and energy usage. If we each make a few small changes, we can all make a big difference (and save money while we’re at it). Our Your Plan, Your Planet tool has more simple tips you can use in your home.

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Advice from Nest and Assistant


Nest Thermostat owners have saved over 50 billion kilowatt hours of energy since we first introduced the device, which comes to $3 billion in energy bill savings. In honor of Earth Day, the Google Assistant can help you save even more. Just say “Hey Google, give me an Earth Day tip” for simple ways you can save energy, like changing the temperature on your Nest Thermostat by just a few degrees until the leaf symbol pops up, so you know you’re saving energy.


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Get the buzz on bees from today’s Doodle

See what all the buzz is about in today’s interactive Earth Day Doodle, made in collaboration with The Honeybee Conservancy. Guide your bee to pollinate flowers while learning fun facts about bees and how they help the planet. Even while social distancing, there are several things you can do to help, like supporting your local beekeeper, planting a pollinator garden or creating a bee bath.


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A little “how to” help 

Recently, we’ve seen a spike in “how to” sustainability queries related to food, recycling and composting. If you’re in the U.S. or Canada, you can ask your Google Assistant how to recycle specific items and you’ll get local city and town specific answers. You can also check out our curated YouTube Earth Day playlist where you can learn how to compost, fix old clothing or turn those leftovers into a new meal. 

“How to freeze” has been a particular popular question. Here are a few of the answers I found particularly helpful:

  1. How to freeze milk? Place the milk in your freezer in its original plastic container or glass freezer-safe container. Make sure to leave room to allow the milk to expand, so remove some milk if needed. When you're ready to use the frozen milk, allow it to thaw in the fridge.

  2. How to freeze eggs? To freeze whole eggs, you simply mix the eggs together and pour the mixture into either an ice cube tray, or a freezer-safe container or bag. If you will need to use individual eggs, it would make more sense to make sure each ice cube tray holds only one egg so that you can easily separate them.

  3. How to freeze broccoli? Broccoli—florets and stems—must be blanched for effective freezing. If you freeze it raw, you'll wind up with bitter, drab green, shriveled stems. Blanching or steaming preserves the bright green color and tasty flavor. You can either blanch in boiling water for three minutes or steam for five minutes.

Enjoying planet Earth from wherever you are 

With travel plans paused, national parks temporarily closed and a collective effort to stay socially distant, the world feels a bit out of reach right now. While there’s no substitute for the real thing, virtual vacations are a great way to experience our planet from wherever you are sheltering in place using Google Earth. 

If you’re seeking natural beauty, explore the most enchanting forests, striking waterfalls, or unusual lakes around the globe. For those interested in the other creatures that share our planet, learn about the kākāpō, sea turtles or humpback whales. For anyone interested in a more scientific journey, learn about the ecosystems of the world, understand the impact of keystone species on their habitats, or learn how to be a scientist in your backyard—all you need is your smartphone.

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I hope these tips are an easy way to get started. At Google, we know that individual actions collectively can make a big difference, and we’re happy to support everyone on their journey to a more sustainable life.

Made by Google, manufactured with clean energy

It's not just about what products we build, but how we build them. When designing Google hardware, like the Nest Mini or Wifi, we’re always thinking about how to create products that leave people, the planet and our communities better than we found them. 

Earlier this year we shared our initial sustainability commitments for Google hardware which demonstrate how we’re thinking about sustainability every step of the way--from design to manufacturing to shipping to reuse.

We’ve made even more progress toward these commitments. One hundred percent of the Nest products launching in 2019 are built with recycled plastics. Shipping those products, along with all other Made by Google products, from us to you, is now 100 percent carbon neutral. 

But we want to work toward a world where everyone has access to renewable energy, including our suppliers and their communities. 


As a part of this, we’ve committed to invest approximately $150 million into renewable energy projects in key manufacturing regions. Our investment commitment, alongside partners, aims to catalyze roughly $1.5 billion of capital into renewable energy. With these investments, we expect to help generate renewable energy that is equivalent to the amount of electricity used to manufacture our Google consumer hardware products. So when you buy these products, you know you’re contributing to bringing new renewable energy to manufacturing communities.

A commitment to advancing access to clean energy has long been a cornerstone of Google’s overall sustainability efforts. In September, we made the biggest corporate purchase of renewable energy in history. This purchase includes 1,600-megawatt (MW) of wind and solar and 18 new energy deals. Together, these deals will increase our worldwide portfolio of renewable agreements by more than 40 percent, reaching 5,500 MW—which is equivalent to the capacity of a million solar rooftops. 

The goal is to continue to integrate sustainability into our products, operations and communities, and push ourselves to do more, faster. We encourage others to join us in this pursuit.


The Google Assistant is coming to Nest Secure

Let’s face it: getting out the door can be hectic sometimes. Between rushing to beat the traffic, making sure you’re dressed for the weather and running through your to-do list, there’s a lot to juggle—and we could all use a little assistance streamlining our routines.


Starting today, we’re adding a feature to Nest Secure to do just that: the Google Assistant will be available on your Nest Guard, so you can ask it questions like, “Hey Google, do I need an umbrella today?” before you set your alarm and leave the house.* Nest Guard is the brains of your Nest Secure; it contains a keypad and all the smarts that power the system. It’s usually placed in a spot with lots of traffic (like the front doorway) making it useful as you come and go.


Here are some of the ways the Google Assistant on Nest Guard can help you plan your day and keep your home safe.


  • Get real-time information: Ask for traffic conditions, your flight status and the weather before you leave for the day, so you’re prepared for what’s coming.
  • Control smart home devices easily: In addition to arming Nest Secure with your voice, you’ll now be able to initiate a Routine (for example, “Hey Google, I’m home” to turn your lights on and your Nest Thermostat up as you walk in the door), lock your Nest x Yale Lock or announce who’s at the door with Nest Hello ( Familiar Face alerts require a Nest Aware subscription and are not available on Nest Hellos used in Illinois).
  • Manage tasks: Set reminders, create calendar appointments (“Hey Google, add a meeting to my calendar”) or add items to your shopping list (“Hey Google, add milk to my shopping list.”)


The Google Assistant on Nest Guard is an opt-in feature, and as the feature becomes available to our users, they’ll receive an email with instructions on how to enable the feature and turn on the microphone in the Nest app. Nest Guard does have one on-device microphone that is not enabled by default.  


We’ve built Nest Secure around you and the way you live, so you won’t be able to disarm the system using your voice. With the Google Assistant built in, your security system is now even more helpful.


Empowering first responders in local fire departments

Firefighters are on the front lines everyday protecting our communities and acting as first responders in emergencies. To support these heroes, Nest and the Leary Firefighters Foundation have teamed up for the third time to award two $25,000 worth of new technology and equipment to fire departments in need.


To qualify for the grant, fire departments had to be nominated by members of their community. This year, we saw over 14,000 deserving nominations and ultimately chose the Hobart, Indiana and Dunkrik, Maryland Departments for their dedication and service. These local first responders don’t have access to the newest lifesaving tools that their counterparts in big cities might have. And since no two communities are the same, no two fire departments have the same needs. That’s why we ask them what they need to serve their neighbors faster and even more effectively. The Hobart FD elected to use their grant for tablets to help them communicate more quickly, and the Dunkirk FD is using their grant for thermal imaging tools that will help them detect hot spots and avoid tragedy.

The Nest + Leary Firefighters Foundation Grant: Year 3

It’s especially exciting to announce our support for these fire departments during Fire Safety Week, which serves as a helpful reminder that we all need the right tools to keep ourselves, our families, and our homes safe. Nest Protect, our smoke and carbon monoxide alarm, is one of those tools. Nest Protects talk to each other, so if your basement Protect alarm goes off, all your other Nest Protects will tell you there is a smoke or carbon monoxide problem in the basement. It can be your first line of defense so that you don’t have to call the fire department.


But for those times when you do need to call for help, we are grateful for the hard work and vigilance of our local firefighters.

Making your connected home even smarter with Google Home and Nest

We’ve spent the last year working with partners to bring thousands of new devices on board to work with the Google Assistant. As of today, there are more than 200 million devices in people’s homes, made up of over 10,000 smart devices from over 1,000 brands—including Nest, LG, ADT, August, Simplisafe, Vivnt and VIZIO—that work with the Google Assistant. We’ve also expanded our offerings in categories like home security and entertainment, so that almost anyone with a TV can make their home smarter with the Google Assistant. In fact, you probably have the devices you need already.

A thoughtful home should work with all types of devices, giving you the flexibility to set your home up in a way that works best for your family. Millions of TVs, set top boxes and security systems that are in homes today can be controlled with the Assistant. And with home view on Google Home Hub, we’re putting more control at your fingertips, so you can manage all of your connected devices from a single screen. Now you can control smart lights, pause the TV, monitor Nest camera feeds, adjust thermostats and more—all on one screen.* And with the redesigned Google Home app, you can control any of your connected devices while you’re on the go.  

Here are some more ways that we’ve improved the smart home experience:

  • Lighting: Hundreds of smart lights work with the Google Assistant on Google Home, and now you can start your smart home with our newest bright idea: the Smart Light Starter Kit. The starter kit includes Google Home Mini and GE’s C-Life bulb. They come pre-linked, simplifying the setup process. The kit is yours for $55, and you can find it at the Google Store, Best Buy, Target, Lowes and Walmart.com. Additional C-Life and C-Sleep bulbs can also be easily added. It’s our way of making the smart home accessible for everyone—the kit is affordable, a breeze to set up, and the perfect addition to any home.

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  • Entertainment: Chromecast, our very first Made by Google product, makes it possible to stream your favorite shows, music and movies from more than 2,000 apps. But you probably have more than one brand of devices in your living room, so now we’re making everything work together—you can control your VIZIO TV, DISH Hopper DVR and more, from your Google Home, Mini, Max and Hub. With DISH, you can play, pause and record content, search for shows or actors, change channels and control the volume without lifting a finger.
  • Energy: Nest thermostats have saved over 24 billion kilowatt hours of energy in millions of homes worldwide since we launched the Nest Learning Thermostat in 2011. Now we’re bringing you the Nest Learning Thermostat in three new finishes: mirror black, brass and polished steel. There are now seven color options to choose from in total, so you can find the one that matches your personal style best.

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  • Home security: With security products from Nest, August, ADT, Simplisafe, Vivint Smart Home and more, you can have peace of mind whether you’re at home or on the road. You can even see your Nest Cam’s feed right in the new Google Home app, just in case you hear something go bump in the night.
  • Household chores: We’ve added even more appliances from GE, iRobot and other brands that can help you take care of everything from starting the washer to vacuuming your home. And with Google Home Hub, cleaning is as easy as, “Hey Google, clean the kitchen.” Your Roomba will take off and tidy up for you.
  • Fun: To bring more fun to the home, we partnered with Disney and OtterBox to create a custom base accessory for Google Home Mini in celebration of Mickey Mouse’s 90th anniversary. Plus, anyone with a Google Home Mini can have fun with a growing list of Disney experiences—just say, “Hey Google, play Mickey Mouse Adventure” to get started.

Now, when I say “Hey Google, good night” my doors lock, selected lights turn off, my alarm system arms, my heat sets to 66 degrees, and the Google Home Hub quietly plays cricket sounds to lull us off to sleep. That’s the difference between a smart home and a thoughtful home. And that’s the kind of home we want you to have.

*Compatible smart devices required