Google's secret weapon against Amazon has been here all along
Google might soon reverse one of its biggest hardware decisions.
The company is reportedly thinking about bringing Nest, and its portfolio of smart home devices, back into Google, in an effort to beat out Amazon's increasing dominance in the space.
The potential move, which was reported by The Wall Street Journal, would bring Nest closer to Google's other hardware teams.
If it goes through, and it's not clear if or when it will, the move would essentially reverse the company's 2015 decision to separate Nest from Google and instead put the smart home gadget makers under parent company Alphabet.
Such a plan would certainly make sense on a number of levels, though. Besides allowing Google a better chance to compete directly with Amazon, it would give Google an opportunity to unite all of its hardware efforts.
Nest's engineers could work more closely with the teams behind Google Assistant, Pixel phones, and Google Home. While Nest's products are currently compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa, in the long run, bringing the these teams together could result in more integrations between the products.
A Google spokesperson declined to comment.
Topics Google Google Home Gadgets
Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
