Google’s Iconic Chromecast and Nest Learning Thermostat Are Getting Long-Awaited Upgrades

Finally, the Nest Learning Thermostat has a new System Health Monitor to flag potential maintenance needs by tracking your HVAC system’s behavior, such as when your air conditioner suddenly isn’t cooling rooms as efficiently as it used to. In addition, a new Smart Ventilation feature checks outdoor air quality before pulling air into your home—especially helpful if the air quality in your area is poor.

The new Nest Learning Thermostat (plus the included sensor) is available for preorder and costs $280. It goes on sale August 20.

The Future of Google Assistant

Google has been integrating its Gemini chatbot and large language models into its products and services over the past year, but what does that mean for Google Assistant? The Alexa and Siri competitor has been a mainstay for years but wasn’t mentioned once during Google’s developer conference in May. You’d think this spelled the end of Google Assistant, and that it’d eventually end up in the Google Graveyard, right? Think again.

Kattukaran says Gemini’s large language models will power Google Assistant, allowing it to “redefine the next era of the smart home.” The most immediate change? Google Assistant’s voice will sound much more natural and humanlike, with improved pacing and rhythm. It’ll offer a more conversational experience and can maintain the context of your conversation as you string together multiple commands and queries.

This Gemini-powered experience will also improve existing features. For example, motion alerts from your security cameras will be much more detailed, allowing you to know exactly what’s transpiring without opening the camera feed. You can even ask the Assistant for information from your camera feeds, like whether a FedEx delivery person showed up. Google wants people to ask Assistant to set up home automation, too, without getting bogged down in menus in the app.

None of this helps Gemini’s branding problem—there are so many variations with different capabilities, like Gemini Nano, Gemini Ultra, Gemini Flash, and more recently, Gemini Live. Google Assistant, on the other hand, was one neat AI umbrella that handled everything. But now with Assistant getting an assist from Gemini, the company is not yet ready to replace it anytime soon, meaning we have to live with two assistants even longer.

The new Google Assistant experience is available for select Nest Aware subscribers as part of a public preview and is expected to roll out in 2025.