In an early move to leverage its relationship with Google, Nest has announced its latest indoor security camera, the Nest Cam IQ, will integrate the Google Assistant. With the Nest Cam IQ’s microphones and speaker, users will be able to ask the camera anything they could ask a Google Home or any other device running the Google Assistant.
The Nest Cam IQ isn’t a smart speaker, notes the Verge, so it can’t achieve the volume of a Google Home or other smart speaker. Its small microphone and speakers are designed for talking to whomever it is that’s poking around the owner’s living room while they’re not home.
Music playback would therefore probably sound like garbage anyway, so it’s no great loss that the Nest Cam IQ won’t enable it. But, the Verge notes it seems users should be able to control the camera itself with voice commands to the Google Assistant. Yet, unknown reasons, this capability isn’t part of the initial Nest Cam IQ package.
Meanwhile, at least this version enables the Google Assistant to broadcast live video from the Nest Cam IQ onto the user’s Chromecast — a capability at which the search engine giant hinted during its most recent I/O event back in May.
Other Assistant upgrades teased at the event included camera input that allows users to ask the Assistant about real-world objects, keyboard input for the Assistant when accessed via a mobile app and Google Home support for U.S. and Canada phone calls, as well as Spotify and other streaming services.
Alphabet is Google’s parent company and owns all of the Google subsidiaries unrelated to its search engine and advertising functions — its “Other Bets” projects, which the company wished to value separately from its core business. “Other Bets” include self-driving technology company Waymo and Verily, which specializes in digital health and medical devices, in addition to Nest.
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