Lightsabers and flying cars might not exist yet, but you have to admit, science fiction gets it right sometimes. Just look at the smart home. Today, building a hi-tech smart home is no longer just a far-fetched, futuristic imagining of a visionary storyteller. And Google and Nest are spearheading the drive to make every home at least a little smarter.

Nest thermostats, for example, have opened up new possibilities for how smart home tech can be integrated together. And, since Google acquired Nest in 2014, Google’s products work seamlessly within the Nest framework for a perfectly coordinated symphony of home convenience, security, and energy efficiency.

Read on to learn how smartening up your living space can enrich you and your family’s life, and then enter this contest for a chance at winning the grand prize, which includes enough goodies to build your own domestic ecosystem. There are also second and third place prizes to be won!

A snapshot of smarter living with Nest and Google

If you’re a long time reader of the Best Buy Canada Blog, I’m sure you’ve read a lot about smart home technology by now in articles such as Leonard Bond’s comprehensive breakdown of Works with Nest, or Elliot Chun’s smart home series. But, if you’re still wondering what exactly a smart home is and how it can complement your day-to-day life, allow me to paint a picture of what life can be like in an AI-enabled home. And by simply entering this contest, living in a tech-enhanced home could soon be your reality:

Nest Smart Learning Thermostat

You pull up the driveway at the same time you do every day. It’s late Fall and Jack Frost is starting to make his presence felt with cold winds that let you know that it’s the beginning of a long winter. You hurry to the front door to escape the icy chill and step into cozy comfort. Your energy-efficient Nest Thermostat has learned what time you usually come home and turned itself on a few minutes before you arrive—no more waiting for cold rooms to heat up!

Voice-controlled Google Home answers questions, plays your music, and controls other smart devices, including Nest

 

 

As soon as you’ve settled in, you go to the kitchen to get dinner ready. It’s cheat day, you’re craving carbs, and everyone in the family loves Italian food, so you ask your voice-activated Google Home to tell you about a recipe for a tasty pasta dish, request some good cooking music, and set a timer to ensure your pasta is perfectly al dente, all without lifting a finger.

Just as dinner is ready to serve, your smartphone vibrates with a notification: your Nest Cam IQ in the front yard has detected someone you know in the driveway. Seconds later, your Nest Hello video doorbell rings. It uses facial recognition to identify the person and transmits the message to Google Home to tell you that your mother is at the door.

As you take your mother’s coat, your partner arrives with your hungry toddler fresh out of daycare. The four of you sit down to dinner and you ask Google to dim the lights and play some nice background music. After dinner, you and your other half head out to the movie theatre for date night while your little one and Grandma stay in to watch a Disney classic.

Nest Cam IQ records in 1080p and boasts a wide-angle lens to capture the entire room

At the theatre, before the movie begins, that familiar feeling of separation anxiety hits you right on time, and you wonder if everything is okay at home. Plus, you’ve also got a niggling feeling that you left the cooker on. With Nest Cams in the nursery, living room, and kitchen, as well as outside in the front and back yards, you open the Nest App to view the Full HD live feed on your smartphone.

Live feed on the Nest App of your kitchen’s Nest Cam IQ

 

While baby plays happily in the living room, you can see Grandma is reading nearby with a blanket over her shoulders. You adjust the room’s temperature from your phone so they’ll be nice and cozy. Then you switch over to your kitchen Nest Cam. It has a perfect view of the entire room with its wide angle lens, and you zoom in on your range. It’s off. Priceless peace of mind! Now, you can relax.

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This scenario only scratches the surface of how a smart home ecosystem can make your life more convenient. Nest and Google have been working tirelessly to make premium smart home products accessible to everyone. Installation is a doddle, and, as you can see, every individual item works together and can be controlled with your voice or from an app on your smartphone. There’s lots of goodies to be won in this contest, and if you’re wondering what other gear you’ll need to make a smart home platform work seamlessly in your house or apartment, remember this general rule of thumb: If you have a smartphone, you can have a smart home. It’s as simple as that.

HOW TO ENTER:

You can only submit one entry for this contest. Browse Best Buy’s smart home catalog, and in a comment below this article, tell us one smart home product that you would like to add to your daily life and why.

WHAT YOU CAN WIN:

We will randomly draw three winners. One person will win the grand prize, one person will win the second prize, and one person will win the third prize. The prizes are shown here, and also in the Rules and Regulations posted below.

Grand Prize 2nd Prize
 

  • Nest Temperature Sensor
  • Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat 3rd Gen
  • Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera
  • Nest Cam Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p IP Camera
  • Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Indoor 1080p IP Camera
  • Nest Cam Wi-Fi Indoor IP Camera – Black
  • Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell
  • 2 x Google Home Mini
  • Google Home
  • Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera
  • Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Indoor 1080p IP Camera
  • Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat 3rd Gen
  • Nest Temperature Sensor
  • Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell
  • Google Home

 

3rd Prize

  • Nest Cam Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p IP Camera
  • Google Home Mini

This contest runs from October 15th until October 28th.

Remember, you can only enter once. However, you probably know someone who would love to add some incredible smart products to their home, so please share this contest and they too will have a chance to win one of these prizes.

Win Google and Nest Smart Home Goodies Rules and Regulations

Good Luck.  

We frequently have many contests running at Best Buy, so check out the “contests in progress” page for more great contests to enter.
Kevin McElligott
Kevin McElligott
Kevin cut his teeth as a journalist writing articles for trade publications in Dublin. He moved to Vancouver and honed his craft first as a copywriter, and now as an Editor at Best Buy. He enjoys cooking when he has the time, playing soccer, and just recently ran in his first marathon. Fitness is important to him, and he needs the exercise thanks to his fondness for donuts.
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1307 COMMENTS

  1. The Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera would be perfect to monitor what’s happening around our home.

  2. I would like to add a Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Indoor 1080p IP Camera to make my home more secured and giving me peace of mind

  3. The Smart Learning Thermostat 3rd Generation would be so great for our household and save on those cold mornings when someone (my husband!) forgets to set our manual thermostat! Thanks!

  4. I would realistically use the Philips Hue White Ambiance A19 Wi-Fi Smart Light Bulb – 2-Pack as I have a big front room and the light switch is pretty far from the couch. I would love voice activated lighting.

  5. I would like to have a Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera so I can monitor what goes on around my house.

  7. I’d love to win the Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera as it would be great to put outside our door to see who is coming and going. Since crime has increased in our neighbourhood, we’ve been robbed twice. this would put us at ease.

  15. I like the look of the Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat 3rd Generation and think that it would be best for our home and should help to reduce costs.

  17. I would love to have the Nest Wi-Fi Thermostat. Our present one is ancient and works poorly. I know we could save $$ with a proper system.

  19. I like the video doorbell. I never thought I would need something like that until I’ve seen it in Best Buy. I wish I could win so I can finally make our house a smart home.

  20. I would love to add an Outdoor Security camera to our home so that I can feel a bit safer in my home when I hear the neighborhood thieves outside at night.

  21. I really like the Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell & Google Home Mini. This way I know who is at the front door and I can converse with them. It would also be compatible with my Nest thermostat.

  25. I would love to have the Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Hub, our current garage door died late in the summer and we need to get something new.

  26. I would get Nest Cam Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p IP Camera to keep for keeping an eye on my property as it’s on a busy street

  27. Oh wow! I’ve been looking at the NETGEAR Arlo Pro Wireless Security System with 4 HD Cameras – White recently, and now this amazing contest has come up! My husband and I love to travel but never feel 100% safe leaving our children home with the animals. We have an old system but to be able to actually see what is going on around the house would be amazing. We want to feel safe and content and with the Netgear Arlo Pro, we could feel better about going out! Thank you for this chance!

  28. We have had so many car break-ins in my neighbourhood lately. I would love to have the NETGEAR Arlo Pro Wireless Security System to catch the people on camera who are doing this and for us all to feel a little safer in my neighbourhood.

  30. I would love to have Nest smart wi-fi smart learning thermostat 3rd Generation because its simply the most advance and smartest technology in the world. It makes our house safe, comfortable, smart and energy efficient. It saves us hundreds of dollars in a year in our energy cost. Its simply a must have product for every household.

  31. I would love to buy Nest Wi-fi Smart learning Thermostat 3rd Generation because its simply the most advance and smartest Thermostat in the world. It makes our house safe, comfortable, smart and enery efficient. It helps in reducing our energy cost substantially by using its smart technology and following our pattern of temperature we want to maintain for our house at diff time of days. Its simply a must have product for every household.

  32. I would love to buy Nest Wi-fi Smart learning Thermostat 3rd Generation because its simply the most advance and smartest Thermostat in the world. It makes our house safe, comfortable, smart and enery efficient. It helps in reducing our energy cost substantially by using its smart technology and following our pattern of temperature we want to maintain for our house at diff time of days. Its simply a must have product for every household.

  34. I would like the Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat 3rd Gen for the wonderful features that allows you to have perfect heating on a schedule that suits your patterns. It is a great way to save on heating costs.

  36. I would love to have the Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Indoor 1080p IP Camera just for the extra set of eyes and the piece of mind that that would bring.

  37. The nest cam IQ Wi-Fi for outside home security is a priority for me. Work shift, can be aware of what’s going on at home.

  39. I would love to add a smart thermostat. We are always fiddling with the temperature in here, it would be nice to have it automated a bit to take that hassle out of our lives! 🙂

  40. I’d like to get the Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell for the added security of knowing who is at the door before opening it.

  41. I would love to have smart blinds throughout my home. We are forever having to adjust the blinds and this feature would be great for home security when we are away.

  42. I would like the Nest IQ camera so that it can smartly distinguish between people using AI. AI/Machine learning is the future.

  45. I’d like to have the Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Indoor 1080p IP Camera as i am always out of the house for work, at least i can monitor what is happening inside my home and ensure that my dogs are well taken cared of 🙂

  46. I like the Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera as I think it would be a good supplement to our door bell to see who is there.

  47. Nest cam IQ is what I’m waiting on. It is a not a prevention but will certainly work as a deterrence. Couple with other google products it’d make a compelling home automation system for any home.

  48. I would love any of the nest cameras but for sure the Nest cam IQ Wifi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera. We were robbed this past summer and this would definitely come in handy!

  50. I’d love to have a Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat 3rd Generation to help save on electricity costs.

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