Nest Co-Founder Matt Rogers Give The Keynote At IFA 2014 Event

This week’s Smart Living roundup features an acquisition by a major smart home player, a look into consumer insight on home automation, and the cost of slow smart home adoption for the United Kingdom.

Nest acquires Revolv

Google-owned Nest Labs Inc. recently revealed that more connected products are now compatible with its smart thermostat and smart smoke detector because of its Works with Nest program. As part of this initiative, Nest recently welcomed startups ivee –  Interactive Voice Inc., Life360 Inc., Pebble Technology Corp., Rachio Inc., and SNUPI Technologies Inc.. And now Revolv Inc., the smart home hub, has been acquired by Nest to become a part of the growing Works with Nest program.

On Revolv’s site, the company announced that its service will continue to be available to existing customers and the one-year warranty still stands but will no longer be made available to new customers. Revolv assures customers that its data is subject to its own Privacy Statement, separate from Google.

No information has been disclosed on how much Nest paid for the popular smart home hub.

Survey reveals what consumers want in a smart home

Savant Systems LLC, a leader in luxury smart home technology, released new survey results which reveals that more than half of U.S. consumers believe that home automation will be an everyday feature in less than 10 years (see survey results in this infographic). Nearly one-fourth of the survey respondents stated that the said technology will be an everyday feature in less than five years.

The survey also revealed what home automation features consumers are after. Sixty nine percent revealed that control and ease of use are their top priority, while 58 percent believe convenience is the most important feature when purchasing new technology. As for the other considerations, 41 percent regard cost savings, while 35 percent consider safety and security as their main reason for adopting home automation systems.

The cost of slow smart home adoption

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s Smart Society Barometer report revealed that the U.K. stands to lose out on over £9 billion (over $14 billion) in smart home revenue over the next year due to its sluggish adoption of smart home solutions.

The research involved 1,000 British companies and 2,500 consumers, and revealed that U.K. businesses stand to lose up to £5.6 billion (about $9 billion) over the next 12 months by failing to utilize smart technology appropriately in their organization while U.K. consumers pay £3.6 billion (about $5.8 billion) for a lack of understanding of how smart tech could benefit them.

“The Smart Deficit that we have identified through the Smart Society Barometer should act as a wake-up call for the technology industry and its partners. Smart technology adoption is happening and where it is being used most effectively, the benefits are already being felt both by individuals and businesses,” Andy Griffiths, President of Samsung UK & Ireland, stated.