The untold story of Google I/O 2019 - The irresponsible attempt to kill "Works with Nest"

Nest and Samsung currently have 0 existing connections

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I noticed that too… but Google and Samsung do have a connection. :man_shrugging:

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Nest and smartthings had zero official connections.

But nest and the Samsung appliances division, previously called Samsung smart home, did have an active integration through the “works with nest“ program.

Samsung Smart Home works with Nest to automatically take care of your home and help make it better. Using Home and Away, Nest can let your appliances know to automatically shut off or start cleaning up when you’re away. To get started, connect your Nest account to the Samsung Smart Home App with just a few taps.
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Whether you’re a serious cook or just looking to upgrade your kitchen, Samsung Smart Home offers you access to your Samsung Home Appliances on the go. Works with Nest compatible devices include the Powerbot™ Vacuum Cleaner and Air Conditioner.

It was particularly popular with owners of their smart air conditioner and their powerbot vacuum series.

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The plastic screen always did bother me. Nice to see they may be going with glass. Don’t think I’ll upgrade just for that, though.

BTW, the Alexa functionality on the existing Ecobee 4 is really bad, imo. The mic doesn’t pick you up very well and the sound is very muffled. I have the mic disabled on both of mine.

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For me, the ecobees were the best Alexa units in my environment for awhile as far as command usage. Just over the past couple months or so their performance has deteriorated. But I think that’s an issue with my WiFi; the ecobees seem more sensitive to hiccups on the network than other devices.

My 2 cents … I’ve got two ecobee’s and I love the remote sensor concept. The ‘support’ from Ecobee is fantastic; I had a new AC system installed last week, and the new system had 2-stage heating and 2-stage cooling. The installation tech needed to know about some of these details (thresholds, durations, etc) and so I called ecobee support. Got a live, ‘good English-speaking’ person right away, and she was able to answer all questions. Today I had an issue with readings, and I used their ‘chat’ feature; got a great guy who helped me. I’ve had this experience several times. Also, their ‘chat’ feature is available on their main website, and they don’t put you through any barriers to reach them.

In contrast, I was considering a Nest a few weeks ago but had a question; I could not find any way to reach a person by chat or voice, easily.

The big downside to Ecobee IMO is the looks. It’s a big device, shiny black finish - VERY visible on the wall (The nest can be bought in a subtle off-white color, which is why I was considering it). The workaround - locate the main ecobee thermostat INSIDE the ac closet, and rely entirely on the remote sensors for temperature sensing, and use the phone/web apps for management. You can totally ignore the temp of the main thermostat and just read from the remotes. I’m even considering painting over the main ecobee face to hide it :slight_smile: … but you must use the main screen for a few advanced settings.

Edit to add: I found this thread while about to post a question about ecobee data; I’ll create that thread and post a link here. The issue is - while ecobee reads data every few minutes, and the data is changing, that changed data is not making it over to SmartThings. Last night, my AC kicked in twice between 11pm and 2am, but neither event was seen by ST. The events at 11 an 2 were … so it’s getting ‘some but not all’ data. I’ll post separately …
ETA - here’s my post about ecobee data integration …

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The support for Nest has deteriorated. When I purchased my Nest thermostats a few years ago, they stayed with me, on the phone, walking me step by step to get them installed. Then they followed up both via email and phone to make sure everything was working. Same experience with Protect. I accidentally scratched the tag on one of them when trying to install it and they sent me a replacement the next day (you cannot register a Protect without the serial number). I was floored by the customer service. Fast forward to couple of months ago when I purchased their Secure. My unit was missing events in the history when a door was closed or open. I emailed first, and after no response in 3 days, I called. When I reported my issue, the rep asked me to open the door. He confirmed that was working, and told me to call back if it happens again. When I asked if someone can look at provided date and time of the missed event, I was told that someone will look into it and will follow up with me. Needless to say, a ticket wasn’t even created, nor anyone got back to me. For a security device to miss events, it kind of defeats the purpose of having it, so I returned it after 3 weeks of use.

I remember the days before Google swallowed them up. My first three cameras are actually Dropcams. I agree, the support has tanked. Same thing happened when ST got gobbled up by Samsung :slight_smile: .

I suspect the same will happen with Ecobee eventually. I don’t know how the finances of these companies work, but my guess is they are sitting on a big pile of venture capital, and are living for the moment they get acquired. During the honeymoon phase when they have the venture cap, they can provide great support and build a customer base - which is what makes them a buyout target. Once they are bought, the real economy kicks in and the bean-counters dictate that support is ‘too expensive’.

I used to run support operations for software companies - big enterprise level companies charging millions for their products; I can’t imagine how a company like ecobee or nest can afford to have trained, competent US-based employees providing ‘instant’ customer support for a product that sells for $200 or less. I mean, 1 hour of support will wipe that widget’s margin out.

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I totally agree, “instant” high quality technical support can wipe out a profit margin very quickly. However, smart companies can empower tier 1 support with proper training and adequate tools to make a difference. In this day and age, exceeding customer expectations is what makes or breaks a good product.

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They’ve made a blog post trying to clarify things

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Part of the problem is that these companies are using the opportunity to collect data, rather than simply serve the customer. Thus the first three minutes of any support call are all about your name, address, phone, email, warranty ID, etc. Being in systems myself I can tell you that a decently trained level-one person can address 80% of issues within two minutes. So do the math. If you can only process twelve calls instead of 30 because you’re collecting data, that’s 2.5 FTEs needed to do a job that could be accomplished by one.

You should ONLY be collecting personal data on the folks you have to call back. All others? Record the issue and result only. Save time, save FTEs, save MONEY.

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Sounds like you use different support then I do. I am generally only asked my name and either phone or email. 10 seconds at most :slight_smile:

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This is just a feeble attempt to soften the language of the initial announcement without committing to anything or saying something new to reassure their partners that their efforts won’t go to waste. I personally think they are digging their hole deeper by doing this, instead of sticking to their guns and delivering something that would exceed expectations sooner rather than later.

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The Verge take on recent Google blog…

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So clearly they’ve recognized that their current Google assistant routines are not adequate to replace the works with nest functionality at the present time. Now they’ve committed to filling in some of those gaps before they cut off the works with nest program.

One of the most popular WWN features is to automatically trigger routines based on Home/Away status. Later this year, we’ll bring that same functionality to the Google Assistant and provide more device options for you to choose from. For example, you’ll be able to have your smart light bulbs automatically turn off when you leave your home. Routines can be created from the Google Home or Assistant apps, and can be created using the hardware you already own. Plus we’re making lots of improvements to setup and managing Routines to make them even easier to use.

Power users will still have frustrations, particularly with the loss of the IFTTT integration and two way communications such as @tonesto7 ‘s NST Manager for smartthings users, but if they can deliver what they described in the blog post they will meet the needs of many of the high ticket item customers such as the ones using Samsung smart appliances.

So while I’m still mad at them, they may have found an approach that will satisfy the majority of their customers.

We will see.

( it will also be interesting to see which design philosophy they adopt for blocks and security systems. Will a Google assistant routine be able to unlock a lock? Or not. Will it be able to do it if you are away from the home network? Just another thing to watch for.)

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…and Gizmodo’s take on Google’s recent backpedaling

I agree - or… Perhaps their initial announcement was genuinely incompetent and ignorant of the impact of the strategy.

It sure seems incredible that Google did not anticipate a backlash - but personally I feel a large portion of the backlash is due to communication failure, confusion, inconsistent messages etc…

Frankly, SmartThings obviously failed (and continues to fail) to adequately communicate the new App and new API rollout, status, and support strategy.

We need a Developer Advocate team here more than ever. So does Google Nest, apparently.

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Yeah, that author doesn’t understand the issue with the routines and the two way communication change.

That’s not a knock, it’s really complicated and it’s also kind of dumb, so it’s easy to make assumptions that then are not accurate.

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It is unbelievable that after a year since they suspended any activity on their Works with Nest program, this is all they had to show at I/O - an ambiguous message that took everyone by surprise. And then the fiasco that followed of mixed messages and confusion about the “later this year” migration.

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