Google Says Nest Secure’s Secret Microphone Was ‘Never Supposed To Be A Secret’

Google announced earlier this year that it was bringing its Assistant to the Nest Secure home security and alarm system. Many of you will be well aware that you require a device with a microphone to get the most out of the Assistant. There was only a tiny little problem: Nest Secure owners didn’t know that their device had a microphone in the first place. Google has now said that the component was “never supposed to be a secret.”

You can imagine how users were taken by surprise when Google announced out of the blue that the Nest Guard, the keypad, alarm and motion-sensor component of the Nest Secure system, will work with Google Assistant. It only became evident at that point that the device and an integrated microphone.

Google had not disclosed the presence of the microphone when the device was announced or in any product material. A Google representative has since told Business Insider that the company had made an “error.” “The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs,” Google’s representative said, adding that it was an error on the company’s part.

The company promises that the microphone has never been on and it only activated when users opt to use Assistant on the device. It points out that the microphone was originally added to the Nest Guard for the possibility of adding new features in the future, such as the ability to detect broken glass.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: Google, Google Assistant, Nest Secure