Google encourages smart homeowners to use follow its lead

Google's Nest Labs has unveiled an industry group to encourage makers of "smart" home gadgets such as locks and lightbulbs to use Thread, a new standard for devices to communicate on a network.

The attempt by Nest, a smart thermostat maker that Google bought in January for US$3.2 billion, to lead the way in how household devices will speak to each other in the future underscores the importance placed by Google on cars, homes and other areas.

It follows similar initiatives by Qualcomm, Intel and other technology companies.

The Thread Group includes Samsung Electronics and chip companies ARM Holdings, Freescale Semiconductor and Silicon Labs. Big Ass Fans and lock maker Yale are also members of the group, which will certify Thread-compatible products.

Thread is a networking protocol with security and low-power features that make it more suitable for connecting household devices than other technologies such as Wi-fi, NFC, Bluetooth or ZigBee, says Chris Boross, a Nest product manager who heads the new group. Nest's products already use a version of Thread.

The radio chips used for Thread-compatible smart devices are already in many existing connected home products that use ZigBee, such as Philips Hue smart lightbulbs.

Those ZigBee devices could be updated with software from their manufacturers to work with Thread after a product certification programme starts next year, Boross says.