Google purchases Nest for $3.2 billion

Google has just purchased Nest Labs, the maker of the Nest Learning Thermostat and Protect smoke detector, for $3.2 billion in cash. According to a Google press release, Nest will continue to operate independently, co-founder and CEO Tony Fadell tells us; co-founder Matt Rogers will also make the move to Google.

A combination of Nest’s home solutions coupled with Google’s language recognition could give Google its strongest path yet into your home. “Google will help us fully realize our vision of the conscious home and allow us to change the world faster than we ever could if we continued to go it alone,” writes Fadell on the Nest blog. “We’ve had great momentum, but this is a rocket ship.”

Oh!