Enlarge (credit: Google)

Google has been raising the price of nearly all its subscriptions lately, and the latest service to get a price boost is the Nest Aware subscription for Nest cameras. 9to5Google reports prices are going up 25–33 percent, depending on which tier you're currently subscribed to. Judging by the (very unhappy) posts in the Nest subreddit , many users are getting emails detailing exactly how the price increase is affecting their current setup.

Nest Aware, if you're not aware, is a monthly subscription attached to Nest cameras that allows them to save video to the cloud. Most camera packages would consider this a core functionality, but with a Nest camera, a lot of basic recording functionality is locked behind a monthly subscription. If you're not paying the monthly fee, Nest Cams will only livestream video and allow you to view three hours' worth of "event" video—that's video where motion is detected, not 24/7 recording.

The basic "Nest Aware" tier is going from $6 a month, or discounted to $60 annually, to $8 a month/$80 annually, for a 25 percent increase. This gives you 30 days of event video history and facial recognition but still doesn't include any form of 24/7 video recording. For that you'll need "Nest Aware Plus," which is going up from $12 a month/$120 annually to $15 a month/$150 annually, or a 33 percent price increase. This gets you 60 days of event history and, finally, 10 days of 24/7 video recording.

Enlarge / The Nest 2020 thermostat is getting Matter support, making it (theoretically) easier to control across multiple smart home platforms, including Apple's Home. (credit: Google)

A major piece of the smart home market now supports the Matter standard . The 2020 Nest Thermostat is the first smart thermostat to join in the slow-going wave and, in doing so, now works in an Apple Home system without additional bridges or hubs.

Take note that only the 2020 redesign of the Nest Thermostat will be updated with Matter support, starting today and rolling out "over the next few weeks," according to a Google Nest Community post . Google has said it is investigating Matter support for the more common Nest (3rd generation) Learning Thermostat and Nest Thermostat E (now mainly available in Europe). Let's hope it does, because the Learning Thermostat has the broadest compatibility across HVAC systems and is the one we see installed in most homes, at about a 100-to-zero rate versus the 2020 version.

If you have a newer Nest, your device will quietly absorb an over-the-air update at some point today or in the next few weeks. After that, you can control your Nest from multiple Matter-compliant systems. Nest already worked with Amazon's Alexa, Samsung's SmartThings, and, of course, Google's Home platform. But with Matter support, you can set it up to interact with other Matter-enabled devices, such as non-Nest temperature sensors or motion detectors.

Enlarge / The Dropcam line was eventually replaced by Nest Cam. (credit: Dropcam)

In a post on the official Google Nest Community page , Google announced it is shutting down the service for several old Nest smart home products. Most of these have not been for sale for years, but since this is all hardware  tied to the cloud, turning off the servers will turn them into useless bricks. The good news is that Google is giving existing users deals on hardware upgrades to something that is supported.

Google kills product

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View more stories First up is Dropcam, which Nest and Google acquired in 2014 for $555 million and eventually turned into the Nest Cam line. Dropcam (and Dropcam Pro) server support is getting shut off on April 8, 2024, and Google says, "Dropcam will no longer work after that date, and you will no longer be able to use your Nest app to check status." The video clips are stored online, so Google adds, "If you wish to keep your video history, please download and save before this date."

Nest replaced the Dropcam line in 2015, so these cameras are all around 8 years old. Nest promises five years of support for its own products. Google isn't just cutting these users off, though; it's offering discounts on new Nest Cams if they want to keep rolling with the Google ecosystem. Google says if users are currently subscribed to Nest Aware, they'll get a free indoor, wired Nest Cam (a $100 value). Nest Aware is a $6 or $9 monthly subscription that lets you record video from the camera and store it online. Since that subscription fee will match the price of a Nest Cam in a year or two, it makes sense for Google to try to keep that subscription revenue flowing. If you don't have a Nest Aware subscription, Google is offering a 50 percent discount on the wired, indoor Nest Cam.

Enlarge / Thanks to its wireless connection, the Mill can alert you when it needs emptying. (credit: Mill)

A new subscription-based service launched today, but instead of bringing a box of meat or Japanese treats to your door, this one promises to take away your food waste. The creators of the service, called Mill , hope that it will reduce carbon emissions and help keep kitchens free of nasty smells and flies—all while feeding chickens with your trash.

The service is based on a trash can with Wi-Fi capabilities. Its creators say that while there are emissions associated with the bin's creation and operation, the life-cycle assessment they ran on it shows that users still come out ahead when it comes to their carbon footprint.

Lots of waste

By some counts, around 119 billion pounds of food are wasted each year in the United States. This takes a toll on the environment, considering the energy that goes into growing, harvesting, packing, and transporting food. According to the World Wildlife Fund , between 6 and 8 percent of human-made greenhouse gas emissions could be eliminated by cutting down on this waste. Not including methane—which is considered 80 times worse than carbon dioxide—food waste and loss accounts for around 170 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent each year in the US alone.

Enlarge / Everything except the earbuds are on sale. (credit: Google)

Black Friday might have come and gone, but Google's Black Friday deals are still trucking. Google reimplemented many of the deals this week, which were the first and/or best discounts we've seen for many of Google's new products. The highlight of the group is definitely the Pixel 6a , but you get decent deals on the Pixel 7 , Pixel Watch , Chromecasts , and Google's smart speakers , too.

The Pixel 6a , normally $449, is still out there for an incredible $299 . Let us remind you this comes with a flagship-class SoC that is every bit as fast as the $900 Pixel 7 Pro. The Pixel 6a is a great deal even at $449 , and honestly cannibalizes the more expensive phones quite a bit, but Google seems more interested in trying to grab as much market share as it can right now. (Google is apparently not even happy with this, and the Pixel 7a rumors move the phone even further into the high-end line!)

If you really want the more expensive Pixels with their bigger, high-refresh-rate displays and newer cameras, you can still get deals on those, too. The 90 Hz, 6.3-inch Pixel 7 , normally $599, can be had for $499 , and the 120 Hz, 6.7-inch Pixel 7 Pro is down to $749 from the normal $899 price. Google's fine print actually says all these Pixel phone deals will be around until Christmas day.