Google Inc. share price up, Nest Labs warns of a defective smoke alarm feature, stops the Protect device sales

The Nest Labs unit, which was acquired by the company earlier this year in a 3.2-billion-dollar deal and currently manufactures Internet-connected thermostat and smoke-detector smart-home devices, announced that it has stopped the smoke alarm devices sales due to a safety issue. The defect found can cause the devices owners to unintentionally switch them off.

One of the Nest Protect Smoke + Carbon Monoxide alarms features provide customers with the opportunity to switch off the device by waving their arms. As the company explained, it found out that there is a possibility for the users to involuntarily turn the feature off, which on the other hand may delay the devices response to an eventual fire.

According to a letter by the companys Chief Executive Officer that was published on Thursday this week, Nest Labs division calls for the companys customers, who use the devices in question, to disable the feature or return the device to Googles unit and get a full refund. The users can also wait for Nest Labs to disable the feature automatically.

Nest wrote in its websites FAQ section: “We discovered that movements near the product that are not intended as a wave can be misinterpreted by the Nest Wave algorithm. If this occurs during a fire, this could delay the alarm going off. So, we are disabling this feature until we have a proper solution.”

Google Inc. said that the problem can be fixed, but it will require special software updates to be made. Normally, the devices worked for years without showing any defects and the only thing necessary was a battery change. However, these safety issues now emphasize on the imperfections of the project called “the Internet of things” and prove that even simple devices can lead to unexpected problems.

The Chief Executive Officer of Nest Labs – Mr. Tony Fadell apologised for the “inconvenience” and explained that the problem would not prevent the device from working as an alarm while the defected feature is worked on.

He wrote in the safety notice, which was cited by the Financial Times: “We identified this problem ourselves and are not aware of any customers who have experienced this, but the fact that it could even potentially happen is extremely important to me and I want to address it immediately. Once we have a solution that ensures Nest Wave works as intended, we will update our software to turn this feature back on.”

Google Inc. rose by 0.60% on Thursday to close the session at $571.50 per share, marking a one-year change of +41.64%. The technology giant is valued at $384.19 billion. According to the Financial Times, the 39 analysts offering 12 month price targets for Google Inc. have a median target of $662.50, with a high estimate of $750.00 and a low estimate of $525.00. The median estimate represents a 15.92% increase from the last price of $571.50.