Google: We're going to help Nest grow, but gaining founders helps us, too

Nest
Part of Google's grand plan?

Changes over in Mountain View are happening at breakneck speed, but during its latest earnings call, Google shed some light on why it made at least one tech-world-rocking move in recent days.

On January 13, Google announced it had purchased smart thermostat maker Nest, bringing company founders Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers into the fold.

Today, an analyst wanted to know what Google was really after in the purchase (was it design team, product, or something else?), and CFO Patrick Pichette had this to say:

"Nest and Google share a real common vision. Both of us believe that technology should be doing the hard work so people can get on with their lives and do great things. Our goal is to help them scale, bring in the resources of Google, make broader investments and grow internationally."

"Being able to bring Tony and Matt to the team is wonderful," he added.

Nest matters

While Google may want to help Nest - and by association, itself - branch out into more homes, acquiring key talent in the form of Fadell (a.k.a. the "father of the iPod") and Rogers is another bullet in Google's talent arsenal.

Pichette didn't expound on why it's good news to have the two on Team Google, but recent reports suggest Google has designs to make the Nest team a central part of its hardware division, and we're talking more than building Google-branded smoke detectors and thermostats.

Rather these would be devices that "make more sense for the company," as TechCrunch put it. What those are isn't yet clear, but with Fadell and the rest of Nest on board, it's hard to imagine they'll have trouble cooking something up.

And now that Motorola is leaving for Lenovo, it seems Google is ready to focus on what's next in tech:

"As you know from Nest, Glass and wearables, we continue to be committed to hardware in areas which are enterprising, promising new frontiers," Pichette said.

Guess the customizable Moto X wasn't enterprising enough?

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Michelle Fitzsimmons

Michelle was previously a news editor at TechRadar, leading consumer tech news and reviews. Michelle is now a Content Strategist at Facebook.  A versatile, highly effective content writer and skilled editor with a keen eye for detail, Michelle is a collaborative problem solver and covered everything from smartwatches and microprocessors to VR and self-driving cars.

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