Smart home unit Nest returns to Google to roost

San Francisco

GOOGLE is taking back Nest, the smart home unit of parent firm Alphabet, as part of an effort by the tech giant to battle rivals like Amazon and its Alexa digital assistant.

Nest Labs, known for its smart home Wi-Fi thermostat, was acquired by Google in 2014 for US$3.2 billion and later became an independent Alphabet "other bets" unit dedicated to connected devices.