Google-owned Nest has announced the purchase of Dropcam – a home surveillance company that provides Wi-Fi-connected cameras to monitor rooms in your house. After Nest's 440,000 unit recall, the company's reputation hangs in the balance: will Dropcam help or hinder its recovery?

A group of designers responsible for some of Apple's most iconic creation have launched their first product, the Nest Learning Thermostat for startup Nest Labs. The thermostat learns from user behaviour to create a custom heating and cooling schedule.

As you leave for work, you yell “lock” and “camera on” to keep the house secure, before telling your vacuum to clean the bedroom carpet while you're out. It's not a sci-fi film - the technology is available now. But do we really want our homes to be controlled by technology?

Sales of home automation systems have been predicted to grow to around $9.5 billion by 2015, and then rocket to $44 billion by 2017. With the weight of Google behind Nest, people are wising up to the idea of a connected home, and Sentri hopes to be the one device to rule them all.