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

  2. Nest Temperature Sensor so I can monitor the basement for freezing when I am working out of town.
    Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera so i can monitor the garage and yard again while I am out of town for work

  3. It would be nice to have the echo show because I know the home is smart but there is no way other than finding your phone to have a glance at the status of everything.

  5. I would love a Nest Outdoor IQ camera for my house to feel safer for my daughter as she plays in the backyard. I am always there with her, but if I ever have to run in for a second, this would make me feel better.

  7. Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat 3rd Gen

    Definitely would love to have one of this, living in one of the coldest city in Canada! Would help save a lot of energy.

  10. Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat 3rd Gen. Because being warm and saving money is my favourite type of being warm.

  11. I would love to add an indoor camera to our setup. It would really help us keep an eye on our one year old and dogs.

  12. I would add the Nest IQ Camera to my smart home. This camera is one of the best on the market and would add essential security to my home.

    Thank you for running the contest!

  14. Smart lock and door bell camera as an added feature to my current security features would provide additional security for my family. Upgrading to IQ cameras would be sweet too.

  16. I’d love the Nest Cam’s to make sure I can keep an eye on my house and make sure our puppy is ok while we’re out!

  17. Would love a Yale + nest smart lock. I’ve been looking at them for a while. Already have a nest cam outdoor at our front door so having the ability to unlock remotely would be awesome.

  23. The NETGEAR Arlo Pro 2 Wireless Indoor/Outdoor Security System with 4 Full HD Cameras & Solar Panel sounds like a great addon for any security minded home owner.

  24. I am looking to put a Nest Outdoor IQ Camera on my garage to deter people from breaking and entering. Or a Nest IQ camera in my living room to make candid clips of the little moments of my baby growing up and learning new skills.

  26. Google home: assistant that can answer all the questions about my day, schedules, news, things i want to do. And also can control other smart devices by voice.

  28. We’d love a ring video WiFi doorbell as we’ve got no Bell and it would be great to see who’s there from anywhere in the world.

  29. Nest Smart-Learning Thermostat – great way to ensure everyone is comfortable, and keep heating costs down when no one is around

  31. Living in one of the oldest houses in my city, I’m seeking a much better and smarter thermostat control – like the Nest Learning Thermostat. This would be my first pick to improve the comfort and economy of heating this 135 year old historic house which is currently protected by two Nest cams. Additionally, this would be great for VBS the environment.

  32. I would like the Nest protect carbon monoxide and smoke detector. It’s great to hear if there’s an issue at home while your home, but even better to know something’s amiss when you’re not there.

  33. It’d be the Nest Hello Doorbell. Allowing us to look at visitors/potential intruders and having daily recordings would be very useful. Thank you!

  35. I would be great ful if I won a nest doorbell and indoor camera… I have multiple.other nest products and would like to continue upgrading my system… And outdoor iq would also be sweet.

  38. I would love a Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell so I can answer my door from anywhere and keep track of package deliveries as well as see if anyone I know has come by by using it’s facial recognition features.

  39. I would like a nest indoor cam or outdoor. I’ve been looking at baby monitors with video and the indoor nest cam has all the best features. Way better than any baby monitor and pretty much the same price as what a decent monitor costs

  40. I would like a Nest Hello Doorbell so that it hooks up the rest of the Google Home I have set up. This will add additional security to my home and be able to see who is at the door before I answer it or when I am away.

  42. Would love a ring doorbell – seems like a good way to secure the front of your house and to check who is at the door before they ring the doorbell.

  43. I would like to add the Nest Hello Doorbell to my smart home automation project so that it works well with Google home and 8 get better security in being able to see who is at the door before I answer it or unlock it.

  44. I would like to add the Nest Hello Doorbell to my smart home automation project so that it works well with Google home and 8 get better security in being able to see who is at the door before I answer it or unlock it.

  45. I would like to add the Nest Hello Doorbell so that I can see who is at my doorstep and connect to my other Google smathome devices. This will allow me between safety and security.

  47. I would like a Google Home so that I can control things around the house when I’m cooking in the kitchen.

  48. Wood love a nest smart thermostat, I’ve been adding smart products to my new home and would love to upgrade!

  49. I work out of town and my wife runs her own Dayhome (childcare), so having a he security cameras and video doorbell would be a huge help and terrific peace of mind to know all is safe and sound.

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