Google is apparently planning a shakeup for its smart home hardware efforts centered around – you guess it – Gemini, with a new “Google Home Premium” subscription reportedly taking the place of Nest Aware.
As it stands today, the bulk of the Google Home app and functionality is free to users. The only big exception is with Nest hardware, as a Nest Aware subscription is required to get the most out of those devices.
Google teased its vision for the future of the smart home last week with “Gemini for Home” set to arrive as early as October. Google also mentioned that it would be available in both “free and paid versions,” and now we seem to be getting a look at the latter.
In a report showing off new images of Google’s overdue Nest camera refreshes and the company’s new Gemini smart speaker, Android Headlines also mentions that “Google Home Premium” will be replacing Nest Aware as the cloud subscription for Nest owners. “Google Home Premium Advanced” would presumably also be available to replace Nest Aware Plus which, currently, adds 24/7 video recording and stores footage for twice as long.
Google explained that Gemini features in Home would include more natural language support, conversational questions and search, as well as the ability to summon Gemini Live on speakers. Eventually, Gemini will replace Assistant on Home and Nest speakers and smart displays.
This latest report also adds that “Daily Summaries” for Nest cameras will show a summary of recorded events as a daily recap, with the feature of course powered by Gemini. Google has also been testing the use of Gemini with its cameras to make it easier to find events through natural language search.
There’s no specific word on when this revamped plan might arrive, but it stands to reason we’ll get more details – and potentially all of this new hardware – around the October timeline that Google had mentioned.
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