谷歌推出新款入門級Nest恒溫器,旨在吸引想搭上智能家居“潮流列車”的人群。
10月12日,搜索引擎巨頭谷歌發(fā)布新款Nest恒溫器,為其不斷擴大的聯(lián)網(wǎng)設備產(chǎn)品矩陣再添新丁,谷歌已經(jīng)發(fā)布的聯(lián)網(wǎng)設備還包括Nest音頻智能音箱與多種聯(lián)網(wǎng)安全攝像頭。
Nest恒溫器標價129.99 美元,共有雪白、沙褐、炭灰、霧綠四種不同顏色。
與售價249美元的高端產(chǎn)品——Nest Learning恒溫器相比,新款恒溫器的配置顯然更加基礎。
Nest Learning恒溫器支持更復雜的機器學習技術,能夠通過監(jiān)測、學習用戶日常活動習慣對室內(nèi)溫度進行自動調(diào)節(jié),而新款設備則不支持這種技術。不過用戶在使用新款Nest恒溫器時可以自行創(chuàng)建時間表,設置自己出門時的室內(nèi)溫度。如果不想花太多時間考慮自己日程的話,用戶也能夠直接從系統(tǒng)預設的時間表中挑選。
谷歌希望將最新款Nest恒溫器作為一種能源開支節(jié)省方案推向消費者,該設備配備有所謂的“省錢大師”(Savings Finder)功能,可以通過一些微小調(diào)整來幫助用戶節(jié)省開支,比如夜間在用戶可能睡著的情況下適當降低室內(nèi)溫度,在確保用戶不被凍醒的情況下,降低室內(nèi)供熱所需消耗的能源。
谷歌負責Nest恒溫器項目的產(chǎn)品主管魯奇?德賽表示,對大多數(shù)不熟悉智能家居設備概念的人而言,成本、操作簡易性是其在做出購買選擇時最關心的問題。
考慮到這一點,谷歌新款Nest恒溫器在設計時便致力于將產(chǎn)品做得盡可能簡單,新款設備上配有一塊顯示屏,能夠用大號字體顯示用戶家中的溫度,還可以顯示室內(nèi)的暖氣、通風或空調(diào)系統(tǒng)是在進行供熱還是制冷。
新款Nest恒溫器還配備有距離傳感器,“當用戶靠近時會神奇地自動喚醒。”德賽說。
為了說明這款設備操作簡便、新手也能夠輕松駕馭,德賽還以Google Home應用程序為例介紹了其溫度設定及設置修改方法。她表示,現(xiàn)在大家都想通過應用程序來控制自己的恒溫器。
不過Nest用戶可能也會感到困惑,為什么新款Nest恒溫器即便使用了Nest品牌,卻還是不可以使用Nest手機應用程序進行控制,而必須使用Google Home。這也從一個側面體現(xiàn)了谷歌營銷和品牌戰(zhàn)略中更大問題,從該公司最近將商用軟件套件更名為Google Workspace、Hangouts Chat更名為Google Chat可以看出,這一問題似乎影響到了公司的方方面面。
對于有報道稱,新款恒溫器將配備手勢控制功能,允許用戶通過手勢修改設置,德賽回應說,新款設備“并未配備手勢控制功能”。谷歌發(fā)言人拒絕就手勢控制在未來恒溫器中出現(xiàn)的可能性予以置評。
新款Nest恒溫器還支持Google Assistant語音助理,用戶可以通過語音設置自己想要的室內(nèi)溫度。與售價更高的舊款Nest恒溫器一樣,新設備同樣支持亞馬遜Alexa語音助理,這也使其成為近期為數(shù)不多的支持競爭對手語音技術的谷歌聯(lián)網(wǎng)設備之一。
盡管Nest恒溫器配備了不同的功能,但谷歌似乎寄望較低的售價成為消費者購買該設備的主要原因,售價與其相似的聯(lián)網(wǎng)恒溫器產(chǎn)品還包括艾默生Sensi觸摸式智能恒溫器(128.62美元)與Ecobee3 Lite恒溫器(169美元)。
德賽說:“價格是阻礙消費者購買智能恒溫器的首要障礙。”(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
谷歌推出新款入門級Nest恒溫器,旨在吸引想搭上智能家居“潮流列車”的人群。
10月12日,搜索引擎巨頭谷歌發(fā)布新款Nest恒溫器,為其不斷擴大的聯(lián)網(wǎng)設備產(chǎn)品矩陣再添新丁,谷歌已經(jīng)發(fā)布的聯(lián)網(wǎng)設備還包括Nest音頻智能音箱與多種聯(lián)網(wǎng)安全攝像頭。
Nest恒溫器標價129.99 美元,共有雪白、沙褐、炭灰、霧綠四種不同顏色。
與售價249美元的高端產(chǎn)品——Nest Learning恒溫器相比,新款恒溫器的配置顯然更加基礎。
Nest Learning恒溫器支持更復雜的機器學習技術,能夠通過監(jiān)測、學習用戶日常活動習慣對室內(nèi)溫度進行自動調(diào)節(jié),而新款設備則不支持這種技術。不過用戶在使用新款Nest恒溫器時可以自行創(chuàng)建時間表,設置自己出門時的室內(nèi)溫度。如果不想花太多時間考慮自己日程的話,用戶也能夠直接從系統(tǒng)預設的時間表中挑選。
谷歌希望將最新款Nest恒溫器作為一種能源開支節(jié)省方案推向消費者,該設備配備有所謂的“省錢大師”(Savings Finder)功能,可以通過一些微小調(diào)整來幫助用戶節(jié)省開支,比如夜間在用戶可能睡著的情況下適當降低室內(nèi)溫度,在確保用戶不被凍醒的情況下,降低室內(nèi)供熱所需消耗的能源。
谷歌負責Nest恒溫器項目的產(chǎn)品主管魯奇?德賽表示,對大多數(shù)不熟悉智能家居設備概念的人而言,成本、操作簡易性是其在做出購買選擇時最關心的問題。
考慮到這一點,谷歌新款Nest恒溫器在設計時便致力于將產(chǎn)品做得盡可能簡單,新款設備上配有一塊顯示屏,能夠用大號字體顯示用戶家中的溫度,還可以顯示室內(nèi)的暖氣、通風或空調(diào)系統(tǒng)是在進行供熱還是制冷。
新款Nest恒溫器還配備有距離傳感器,“當用戶靠近時會神奇地自動喚醒。”德賽說。
為了說明這款設備操作簡便、新手也能夠輕松駕馭,德賽還以Google Home應用程序為例介紹了其溫度設定及設置修改方法。她表示,現(xiàn)在大家都想通過應用程序來控制自己的恒溫器。
不過Nest用戶可能也會感到困惑,為什么新款Nest恒溫器即便使用了Nest品牌,卻還是不可以使用Nest手機應用程序進行控制,而必須使用Google Home。這也從一個側面體現(xiàn)了谷歌營銷和品牌戰(zhàn)略中更大問題,從該公司最近將商用軟件套件更名為Google Workspace、Hangouts Chat更名為Google Chat可以看出,這一問題似乎影響到了公司的方方面面。
對于有報道稱,新款恒溫器將配備手勢控制功能,允許用戶通過手勢修改設置,德賽回應說,新款設備“并未配備手勢控制功能”。谷歌發(fā)言人拒絕就手勢控制在未來恒溫器中出現(xiàn)的可能性予以置評。
新款Nest恒溫器還支持Google Assistant語音助理,用戶可以通過語音設置自己想要的室內(nèi)溫度。與售價更高的舊款Nest恒溫器一樣,新設備同樣支持亞馬遜Alexa語音助理,這也使其成為近期為數(shù)不多的支持競爭對手語音技術的谷歌聯(lián)網(wǎng)設備之一。
盡管Nest恒溫器配備了不同的功能,但谷歌似乎寄望較低的售價成為消費者購買該設備的主要原因,售價與其相似的聯(lián)網(wǎng)恒溫器產(chǎn)品還包括艾默生Sensi觸摸式智能恒溫器(128.62美元)與Ecobee3 Lite恒溫器(169美元)。
德賽說:“價格是阻礙消費者購買智能恒溫器的首要障礙。”(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
Google is pitching its newest Nest Thermostat as an entry-level gadget intended for people curious to jump aboard the so-called smart-home bandwagon.
The search giant debuted its new Nest Thermostat on October 12, the latest edition to the company’s growing portfolio of Internet-connected devices, like the Nest Audio smart speaker and various web-connected security cameras.
The Nest Thermostat costs $129.99 and comes in four different colors—snow (white), sand (pinkish tan), charcoal (dark grey), and fog (green).
Compared to the company’s high-end Nest Learning Thermostat, which costs $249, the new thermostat is significantly more barebones.
It lacks some of the more complex machine learning technologies of the Nest Learning Thermostat that enable that device to do feats like automatically adjusting the temperature of a home based on monitoring a person’s schedule, thus learning the patterns of daily routines. Instead, people can create schedules via the new Nest Thermostat to determine what the temperature should be when they leave their home, for instance. People can also choose from several preset schedules if they don’t want to spend too much time deliberating.
Google is still promoting the latest Nest Thermostat as a way people can save money on their energy bill. It contains a so-called Savings Finder feature, for instance, that may suggest little changes like decreasing the temperature at night when people are likely to be asleep—presumably, the suggestion wouldn’t cause someone to wake up at night from being too cold, but it would reduce the amount of energy spent heating up a home.
Ruchi Desai, a Google product lead for the Nest Thermostat, said that for most people unfamiliar with the concept of smart-home devices, cost and simplicity are their number one choices when deciding to buy a gadget.
With that in mind, Google’s new Nest Thermostat was designed to be as simple as possible, with a screen that displays in a large font the temperature in a person’s home and whether the home’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is heating things up or cooling things down.
The thermostat also contains sensors that tell it when a person is near, so that it “will magically wake up when you approach it,” Desai said.
Desai described how people can set the thermostat’s temperature or adjust settings via the Google Home app as an example of how simple it is for laypeople to operate the device. People want to be able to control their thermostats with an app, she said.
Still, users may get confused by the fact that they can’t use the existing Nest smartphone app to control the Nest Thermostat’s settings—they must use the Google Home app, even though the new Nest Thermostat contains the Nest branding. It’s part of a larger problem with Google’s marketing and branding strategy that seems to carry over to all aspects of the company, from it’s recently renamed business software suite (now known as Google Workspace) to its recent rebranding of Hangouts Chat to Google Chat.
As for reports that the new thermostat would contain gesture controls that would allow people to change settings by moving their hands, Desai said “there is no gesture control” on the new device. A Google spokesperson declined to comment about the possibility that gesture controls would come to future thermostats.
The new Nest Thermostat also supports the Google Assistant voice technology so people can set their home temperature by speaking. Like the more expensive and older Nest thermostats, the newest gadget also supports Amazon’s Alexa voice technology, making it one of the few recent Google Internet connected devices that support a rival voice technology.
Despite the Nest Thermostat’s different features, it seems Google is banking that it’s low-price will be the main reason people buy the gadget. Other Internet-connected thermostats that cost around the same price include the Emerson Sensi Touch Smart Thermostat ($128.62) and Ecobee3 Lite ($169).
“The number one barrier and why people don’t purchase smart thermostats is price,” Desai said.