Nest Labs looks to interconnect thermostats, garage doors and other gadgets (Washingtonpost)

Google-owned Nest Labs, the maker of smart thermostats and smoke detectors, has released a toolkit to allow other companies to make products compatible with Nest’s smart home devices.

Cars, TV remotes, washing machines and other household gadgets will be able to interact with the Learning Thermostat and Protect smoke detector. Companies that have already signed on to the project include Google, Mercedes-Benz, Jawbone, Whirlpool, LIFX, IFTTT and Logitech. They have all released new Nest-compatible features.

For example, your Mercedes can now tell your thermostat when you’ll be home so it can turn on the AC before you do. Or you can use IFTTT to have a text message sent to a neighbor if your Nest Protect smoke alarm notices smoke or carbon monoxide.

This fall, Google Now will become “Works with Nest” certified, allowing users to change their thermostat settings from anywhere. Chamberlain and other brands of garage door openers are also getting on board, so you’ll be able to signal your thermostat to turn on or off by opening or closing the garage door.

The “Works With Nest” program aims to reduce fragmentation in the smart home market, where tools are controlled by separate apps — and to make the Nest Learning Thermostat the hub for any certified device. The program leverages the features of Nest devices that have motion detectors, WiFi, and the ability to learn user behavior.

Matt Rogers, Nest co-founder and engineering head, told Ars Technica he doesn’t anticipate a platform with Apple, which recently launched Home Kit, a project that allows users to control smarthome devices with iPhones. “This is less about ‘how do you get devices on your Wi-Fi network,’” said Rogers. “This is ‘after you get them on the Internet, what do you do with them after that?’” Rogers said Nest is “platform-agnostic” and may consider integrating Home Kit support into its products in the future.Nest’s news comes on the eve of Google I/O, the company’s big developer’s conference, which kicks off Wednesday. Rogers told Ars that the Works with Nest program was in the works for a year before Google bought Nest for $3.2 billion in January. Nest may be the force driving the project, but Google I/O should be a major boon for publicity.

Google’s acquisition of Nest raised privacy concerns. Nest devices collect data about users’ homes — and selling targeted ads based on user data is Google’s bread-and-butter.

Nest’s current privacy policy requires developers to let users know what information they’re requesting and why they’re requesting it. The company does not send personally identifiable information about users to developers or allow them to retain more than 10 days worth of data.

However, that policy is subject to change. Just last month, Google revealed in a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is looking at ways to put ads on devices such as refrigerators and thermostats.