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. I would like the NETGEAR Arlo Pro 2 Wireless Indoor/Outdoor Security Camera system to be able to view the front entrance of my house!

  5. I’d like the NETGEAR Arlo Pro 2 Wireless Indoor/Outdoor Security Camera system, to monitor and secure my home.

  6. Would love the Nest Smart Thermometer. Would probably save me a ton of money in the long run having it, especially during cold winters.

  7. I would love to get 2 of the Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera so one can monitor my cars at the front of my house and one for the cottage for when were not there

  10. Swann Wireless 4-CH 1TB Security System with 2 Bullet 1080p Cameras – White. I’d like to keep an eye on the exterior of my home so this product looks good to me. Its wireless, has audio, good range, and digital storage of activity to see live or recorded.

  16. This a prize tailored made for me. I really want to smart outfit my home! The product I would want the most is the nest home thermostat but I really want them all please

  17. i would like to win the Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera. We have had a number of break-ins in our neighbourhood in the past few years, and I think that that having outdoor security cameras would help keep us safe.

  26. The Wifi Smart Plug Mini looks interesting. There’s a couple hard to reach plugs that could be useful for.

  30. Let my wife and son see who is present before opening door
    D-Link Wi-Fi Outdoor 180 Degree 1080p IP Camera – White

  31. I’d love to have an indoor and outdoor security camera. Its terrible that we now need these type of things, but we need to protect ourselves as much as possible.

  36. Oh, gosh. This is hard – there are so many cool things. I think, in the end, I’d love the Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Indoor 1080p IP Camera – it would be great for when my fiance and I go away for the weekend, to give me more peace of mind at home, knowing my home and fur baby are being looked after and that I can check in at any time! 🙂

  37. Nest Thermostat would be great. I am a senior and need it cool at night to get a good sleep and to save little on the heating bill. It would be great for the temperature to start up about 20 minutes before we get up this winter.

  39. I’d love the Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera so I can keep track of my daughter while she’s playing outside!

  40. Google Home Mini is the smart device I would love because while I am in the kitchen cooking, it would be easier to say out load the music I want playing

  41. Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell, because I have seen how these can keep your property safe from intruders!

  44. The Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell would be brilliant to have because I never know if it’s neighbours, solicitors, teenagers playing pranks or postal carriers ringing the doorbell downstairs. Especially when it’s late at night!

  45. I’d like to win the Nest hello video doorbell because my current doorbell works intermittently and needs to be replaced.

  49. I would love the Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell. It would be great to let the delivery person know they could leave the package at the door. It would be nice to see whose at the door when we are away on vacation. It would be great to see who is visiting. It would be great smart home addition.

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