Nest Labs, the manufacturer of the popular internet-connected Nest thermostat, has been acquired by Google for $3.2 Billion in cash. Google Ventures already was an investor in Nest, so the acquisition wasn’t too surprising. What does that mean for all of us? Google will be in millions more of our homes now. I suspect that this will catapult the Internet of Things, which has already been Android heavy, as demonstrated at CES last week. Nest had been rumored to be in talks with Apple, as the device is very much Apple-esque in design – simple and aesthetic. The real value behind the purchase is in it’s founder, Tony Fadell. He was behind Apple’s iPod and the early iPhone. If Google’s lucky, he will stick around and have his hand in the design of the rest of Google’s hardware suite.

I’ve recently been trying to download some helpful Math apps for my 7 year old. She’s in 2nd grade now and there’s now a lot of emphasis being put on them knowing their addition and subtraction math facts—and knowing them fast. If you’re like me, drilling those flash cards every night can get tedious. It’s not enjoyable for the kid or the parent. I mean, this is why we buy our children iPods and iPads at an insanely young age, right? Look at all the help there is out there. And it’s a lot more fun! Read the rest of this entry »

Here are some of the coolest gadgets and services we expect to be announced at CES 2014: Read the rest of this entry »