Smart thermostat and smoke detector maker Nest makes further headway into home automation as it acquires connected camera startup Dropcam for $555 million with plans to incorporate the product range within its brand.
As we all know Nest is a $3.2 billion Google acquisition, but Re/code reports the Dropcam buy was made without assistance from the search giant. In fact Google was rumored to be a potential Dropcam buyer, at least according to a May 2014 story from The Information.
Dropcam sells not only IP cameras but also a subscription-based cloud-based security footage storage service-- one the company says is used by 39% of camera buyers.
Post-acquisition Dropcam moves from San Francisco to Nest's Palo Alto, California HQ. It will also adhere to the Nest customer data policy, which insists data will not be shared with anyone (including Google) without customer permission.