The Nest Protect smoke detector is back after a two month hiatus – at a reduced price.

Previously $130, Nest’s alarm can now be purchased for $99 as the company has eliminated the faulty feature which ultimately led to its recall. Nest’s Protect + CO was taken off the market in April when its salient wave feature (which allowed alarm silencing via wave of a hand) was found to be flawed. Upon investigation, it was learned the detector could be inadvertently inactivated by mere movements around the unit – inducing a potential delay of alert in event of fire or carbon monoxide leak .

Thus, 440,000 affected detectors were recalled and a reduced price version (which lacks the original problem causing wave function) now takes their place. For those Nest customers who bought the original device, the feature has likely been remotely disengaged by the company. The bad news is that there’s no more “wave feature”. The good news? It appears that you can get refunded the price disparity here. Plus, there’s the whole not dying from undetectable gas benefit (even if it’s just until you buy a different brand).

In other Nest news – Google bought Nest this year and Nest is now buying Dropcam. (Nesting dolls?)

Nest’s Matt Rogers states:

“Once the deal closes, we’ll incorporate Dropcam into how we do business at Nest. That includes how we handle everything from customer support to customer privacy. Like Nest customer data, Dropcam will come under Nest’s privacy policy, which explains that data won’t be shared with anyone (including Google) without a customer’s permission. Nest has a paid-for business model and ads are not part of our strategy. In acquiring Dropcam, we’ll apply that same policy to Dropcam too.”

Despite insistence that the company will largely operate independently, there have been concerns about general privacy and ease of access for hackers alike. Many see the technology as beneficial for monitoring elderly loved ones conveniently from a remote location, while others might eschew it as they recall the family who woke to hear a stranger’s voice yelling at their infant through a hacked nanny cam one night.

What are your thoughts on smart-home devices?

Wi-fi for the win? Or too Orwellian?

New post: Google uses Nest to purchase Dropcam for $555 million http://t.co/aYTIe1lfxL by @Zricon15

— Android and Me (@androidandme) June 21, 2014

Image via Youtube