Nest has decided to suspend sales of its Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm citing a flaw that could cause it to be unintentionally disabled. The device makes use of a 'Nest Wave' feature that allows you to silence it by standing under it and waving, but the company has now discovered that it could also lead to accidental deactivation.
"During recent laboratory testing of the Nest Protect smoke alarm, we observed a unique combination of circumstances that caused us to question whether the Nest Wave could be unintentionally activated. This could delay an alarm going off if there was a real fire", said CEO Tony Fadell in a letter.
As of now, the company has disabled the feature from their end. So, if you have a Nest Protect connected to an account via Wi-Fi, the feature will be automatically disabled within the next 24 hours. The fire alarm, however, will continue to work very effectively, the company claims.
If your Nest Protect is not connected to a Nest Account, or you have taken it offline, it is recommended that you immediately connect it to your Nest Account so that the company can remotely disable the feature. On the other hand, if your Nest Protect is not connected to a Nest Account and you do not have access to Wi-Fi, you can ask for a refund.
As mentioned earlier, to ensure no one buys an alarm that needs an immediate update, sales of Next Protect have been stopped for the time being. For further updates on availability, you can check their website.
Google acquired Nest Labs last January for $3.2 billion.
