Nest Halts Sales of Smart Fire Alarm After Discovering Dangerous Flaw

fructose writes: "The Nest Protect has a flaw in its software that, under the right circumstances, could disable the alarm and not notify the owners of a fire. To remedy this flaw, they are disabling the Nest Wave feature through automatic updates. Owners who don't have their Nest Protects connected to their WiFi net or don't have a Nest account are suggested to either update the device manually or return it to Nest for a full refund. While they work out the problem, all sales are being halted to prevent unsafe units from being sold. There have been no reported incidents resulting from this flaw, but they aren't taking any chances."

Comments

The internet of things...that might get you killed

[NotDrWho]

Some things are important enough to

a) keep simple, and
b) keep offline

Does everything need to be smart?

[pr0nbot]

I think a fire alarm is an instance where I'd like something to have as simple and foolproof a mechanism as possible. I suppose a smart alarm could perhaps call the emergency services or something... but I'd still probably combine it with a bog standard fire alarm.

Re:Does everything need to be smart?

[Animats]

I think a fire alarm is an instance where I'd like something to have as simple and foolproof a mechanism as possible.

Yes. That's why fire sprinklers are so successful. There's nothing between the water and the fire except a low-melting-point component in the sprinkler head.

This is an example of webcrap-level programmers doing things they're not qualified to do. I'm beginning to think that "Internet of Things" programmers should be required to have Registered Professional Engineer credentials, like structural engineers.

Re:Does everything need to be smart?

[gander666]

YMMV, but my house is wired for a burglar alarm. It is monitored. All the smoke detectors are wired to the main alarm. If one of them goes off, the alarm system notifies the monitoring company, and they call me to see if there is a fire (actually looking for false alarm). If I don't respond, they send the fire department. It is the ONLY reason there is a land line at my house these days.

My understanding is that Nest does this via Wifi. In the event of an emergency, I trust the POTS far more than the cable internet and wifi to call the cavalry. Perhaps one day Nest will make this all fool proof. But until that day, I will stick with the land line/alarm monitor.

Oh, the monthly cost to monitor is like $6.00.