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:
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!
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.
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.
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 |
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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. |
Nest Thermostat would be a great addition to those extra cold winter days, so I can ensure we arrive to a nice cozy warm home!
I’d love a pair of nest thermostats. We have two separate thermostats across our condo unit, and its pain to constantly have to manually sync the temperature across the devices. My partner and I also travel frequently; it would be great to control the indoor climate while we’re away to save energy.
Outdoor camera to monitor our backyard.
I would like to win a nest doorbell for added security.
Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell
I know it’s not out yet but I need that sweet Google home hub on my kitchen island. I finally can show the family how to interact with all our smarthings without having to use an app on there phone !!!
Nest Hello Doorbell, it has some very cool features such as face recognition and auto replies which would be great as we are upstairs live’ers.
Nest hello doorbell..
Nest cam to capture moments you wish you could replay
Nest Hello door bell. It has very cool features such as face recognition and auto replies, would be great as we are upstairs live’ers.
I’m interested in the Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat because I have a constantly changing work schedule. I’m interested if it would be able to learn my patterns when I can’t even make sense of them.
I would love a Nest Hello doorbell cam. The added security of video, and knowing who’s at the door.
Nest Can.
Although great for security, the main reason I’d like a Nest Cam is to help me keep an eye on my Dad who suffers from a neurological disease.
Thanks for the chance, and good luck to everyone.
The first smart home equipment I’m interested in would be the security cams and nest hello doorbell combined to make it feel a little safer … Some items have disappeared from the backyard over the last year.
Sign me up for Nest Secure to complete my Google home ecosystem! Cams in place. Home assistant check. Ooh one touch arm and disarm is what I need to improve security. Thanks.
Arlo Pro, or NestCam. I’ve had a vehicle breakin recently and would really like to beef up my home security setup.
Sign me up for Nest Secure to complete my Google home ecosystem! Cams in place. Home assistant check. Ooh one touch arm and disarm is what I need to improve security. Thanks Best Buy.
Nest Hello.
A great view past my door.
A Nest security camera would be a perfect addition, keeping a watchful eye on our house.
Google home would get me started on the home automation for sure.
Nest Protect is sweet. The door bell and outdoor camera would make my home a true home.
a Google home mini in the nursary. to play lullabies to baby.
I would love to have a setup where my home figures out that it’s hot outside and automatically closes the blinds to help keep things cool
That outdoor camera would be great coupled with the audio on the doorbell. I’d be telling everyone to Stay Off My Lawn, from the comfort of my own couch.
I would like a smart home system to have the water sensor in the basement we had a water pipe fail in the house we had to totally redo the whole house and the renovation cost over $100,000 also we have teenagers so the camera outside would be great to see when the kids are coming and going at night time
Nest cam for sure.
Would be a great addition to check security outside (break ins)
As well as seeing whos coming and leaving the house. So I can kick the kids friends out.
A nest x Yale lock is one smart home product that would change my life. I work long hours and have friends stop by to take my dog for a walk. I have probably given out around 10 keys for my house. I’m all about the keyless smart lock!
The Hello doorbell will make life a lot easier when working in the garage and you want to see if it’s a waste of time answering or not!
Actually anything in that catalog would make my old house shine! The Nest Doorbell would be amazing to have! Often working with headphones, I would be sure not to leave the pizza delivery guys waiting in the Canadian winter cold!
Google Home Max to get the functionality of Google Home with great sound quality!
I’d love to add a Nest thermostat to our smart home system. With the cold weather approaching, I want to be better able to manage my heating bills and the Nest thermostat will help me with that goal!
I’d love the Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat 3rd Gen. I’m in need of a new thermostat but I want a smart thermostat to hopefully save a bit of money on my electricity bill
I’m a big fan of Nest products. Once installed they seem to operate in the background – not just another intrusive technology.
I’d love to coming my lock, detectors with done video!
Nest outdoor camera and lock would be fantastic for piece of mind.
Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Indoor 1080p IP Camera would be the best device for me and my dog (insta: @cosmo_theliondood) . I have a very stressful and demanding job and being able to checkup with my dog on-demand would really help me ensure he’s ok.
I have a nest thermostat and love it. It would be great to add the hello door bell or the security cameras to help with security and piece of mind while I’m away.
Google products are always a peace of mind. They are hassle free and works best always.
My nest thermostat reduced my bill and also have the nest smoke alarm. I can control it from aby where, wifi killed all my blond spots, home let me control my all smart bulbs and the door.
I hope to have all the smart equipments made by Google as those will make my home secure and I will be home even away from my home.
With temperatures dropping, a Nest Smart Thermostat would be great for coming home to a nice and toasty-warm home after a long subway commute from work!
The Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell would be the perfect addition to our home. It would be extra convenient, help for piece of mind and keep an eye on those deliveries that get left on the front door.
I do have a nest thermostat and google home and now I need a Nest Cam IQ Wi-Fi Outdoor 1080p Security Camera and a Nest Hello Wi-Fi Video Doorbell so I can leave my home for a long vacation peacefully.
I am all about getting the nest x Yale smart Lock. Having kids and groceries in your arm pulling out your keys suck.
Controlling things with the google home mini is great would love to add a smart lock, doorbell, and outdoor cameras to the mix!
I would love to get Nest Outdoor camera(s) because there’s recently been a rise in break-ins and theft in my neighborhood so it would add extra security in addition to my existing home alarm.
Thanks,
Tony
The thermostat, nothing beats waking up in warm house and saving money!
I am most interested in security cams. My families safety is most important and the added security would give my wife and I great comfort.
The August lock so I don’t need to dog for my keys in -40 weather would be nice.
The Nest outdoor can and the Hello door bell would be ideal for monitoring and peace of mind around our home.
Would love the August door locks. No more needing to delivery keys when someone needs to pop in quick. Just easy access from the app. Plus getting in without having to dig for my key in -40 weather would be a nice plus
I’d like to get the Nest Cam IQ outdoor version, would be useful at home.
The Nest x Yale smart lock would be a nice addition to my home, definitely a step up from the classic deadbolt.
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