Tag: google nest

Google to Pay $338.7 Million in Damages Over Chromecast Patent Case, Rules US Jury

Alphabet‘s Google violated a software developer’s patent rights with its remote-streaming technology and must pay $338.7 million (nearly Rs. 2,770 crore) in damages, a federal jury in Waco, Texas decided on Friday.

The jury found that Google’s Chromecast and other devices infringe patents owned by Touchstream Technologies related to streaming videos from one screen to another, a court representative said on Monday.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said on Monday that the company will appeal the verdict and has “always developed technology independently and competed on the merits of our ideas.”

Attorneys for New York-based Touchstream did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Touchstream, which also does business as Shodogg, said in its 2021 lawsuit that founder David Strober invented technology in 2010 to “move” videos from a small device like a smartphone to a larger device like a television.

According to the complaint, Google met with Touchstream about its technology in December 2011 but said it was not interested two months later. Google introduced its Chromecast media-streaming devices in 2013.

Touchstream said that Google’s Chromecast copied its innovations and infringed three of its patents. It also said its patents were infringed by Google’s Home and Nest smart speakers and third-party televisions and speakers with Chromecast capabilities.

Google denied infringing Touchstream’s rights and argued that the patents are invalid.

Touchstream filed similar complaints against cable providers Comcast, Charter and Altice in Texas earlier this year. Those cases are still pending.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Google Brings Matter Support to Android Devices, Nest Home Products for Smart Device Interoperability

Google has announced that its Android, Google Nest, and Google Home devices will, starting today, be interoperable with smart ecosystems from other brands. This has been made possible by the search giant through support for the Matter protocol on the aforementioned devices. Matter is an open-source, royalty-free, next-generation unifying protocol for smart home device connectivity developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). The alliance, first conceived in 2019 has around 300 companies onboard including major players Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and Huawei.

According to an official blog post from the search giant, Google Nest and Android devices, have been automatically updated to with support for the Matter protocol. The list of devices that are already Matter-enabled, as of today, include Google Home devices like the Google Home Smart Speaker, Google Home Mini Smart Speaker. Google Nest devices like the Google Nest Mini, Google Nest Audio, Google Nest Hub, Google Nest Hub (2nd gen), Nest Hub Max, and the Nest Wifi Pro also get support for Matter, as per the company.

Google has also added Matter support for Fast Pair on Android which will allow users to quickly connect to Matter-enabled devices to their home network, Google Home and other smart devices.

Matter utilises a wireless technology based on a combination of internet protocol (IP), and the Thread protocol. Smart devices from different brands have been utilising different technologies or protocols to build their smart devices which resulted in the smart devices being incompatible with each other.

The Matter smart home standard also allows devices that were previously heavily dependent on internet connectivity and the cloud for functioning, to work even when offline. The decrease in reliance on internet and cloud connectivity also reduces the latency between human action and smart device reaction. This is probably one of the most significant advantages that Matter brings into the smart home ecosystem and one that could truly revolutionise smart device adoptability and ease of use at large.

Google also announced that it is continuously working with industry partners in improving the smart device operating protocol.

The search giant also confirmed that it is working with South Korean conglomerate Samsung to develop a built-in Multi Admin feature that will allow users to have cross-platform control over their smart devices and smart home ecosystem. The multi-admin feature will arrive sometime in 2023, confirmed the company.

Meanwhile, Google also announced that it will bring Matter support on iOS through the Google Home app. However, the search giant shied away from mentioning a timeline for the same.

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Amazon’s Alexa Can Now Notify Users When Security Camera Spots Person, Package

Amazon is introducing a new feature that allows Alexa to notify users if their security camera sees a person or a package. For people using an Echo Smart Display or Fire TV, you can also automatically pull up your live video feed to see whether there’s a person or package at your video doorbell or security camera.

As per reports from The Verge, the new feature will work with video doorbells and security cameras from Ring, Google Nest, and Abode, with more brands potentially adding the ability owing to a new API from Amazon.

Amazon claimed that person detection announcements are rolling out to all Ring video doorbells and cameras, and will be soon coming to the Google Nest Cam Outdoor, Nest Cam Indoor, Nest Cam Floodlight, Nest Doorbell, Abode IOTA, and Abode Outdoor Camera.

There has also been an addition of the ‘Alexa Routine’ setup, based on the new detection features, where users are provided with features such as turning on a porch light, controlling a smart lock, or spotting a potential intruder.

To turn the feature on, one needs to have a person or package detection enabled on their compatible camera, and then go into the Alexa app and navigate to the camera or doorbell settings. There, one can see a new section called ‘Camera Events,’ where you can enable either or both options as well as customise the settings.

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