Google on Monday announced that it is buying smart thermostat start-up Nest in a deal valued at $3.2 billion. "They're already delivering amazing products you can buy right now -- thermostats that save energy and smoke/CO alarms that can help keep your family safe," Google chief executive Larry Page said in a press release. The big-ticket buy continues a move by the California-based Internet titan into consumer electronics hardware, adding smartphone-synched thermostats to its Motorola Mobility smartphones; Nexus mobile devices, Chromecast, and the promise of releasing Google Glass eyewear some time this year.



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