Nest products gain a ton of new smart home integrations

Nest products just got a whole lot more powerful thanks to a suite of integrations with third-party products, software, and services. Starting today, Nest devices can link up to products from August, LIFX, Misfit, WeMo, and others. Many of the supported companies have already built integrations for Nest's thermostats and cameras, but developers can build in more down the line.

Some of these new capabilities are mundane or something you may rarely use, if ever. For instance, you may not be too excited knowing your Nest thermostat can tell your LeakSmart app when you're not home, in the event your home suffers a water leak and you need a "one-touch dial to an emergency contact." Others, however, sound super useful. Smart lock maker August's Doorbell Cam now links with the Nest Cam, so you can get an combined feed of anything inside your home or outside your front door.

Some Nest integrations are mundane, but others are super useful

There's also a slew of energy-saving tie-ins. Your Belkin Wemo lights can now turn off when a Nest product notices the house is empty, while Lutron's lighting system will close your blinds in a similar scenario. You can now control the Nest thermostat using the AT&T Digital Life app too, as well as let your Misfit wearable signal when to warm your home up in the early morning.

All of these perks are designed to make owning a Nest feel less like purchasing a standalone product and more like buying into a robust ecosystem. The Alphabet-owned company, which is grappling with a series of internal shake-ups and reports of mismanagement, is feeling increased pressure from Amazon's Alexa. Each and every week, Amazon adds new functionalities to Alexa and its growing family of Echo smart home products, making the system work with nearly any company who utilizes its open-source API.

To stay competitive, Nest must continue doing the same. Just last week, the company announced that it's made its Thread networking protocol open source, which should help accelerate the amount of devices capable of connecting to its ecosystem.

The smart home of our dreams is almost here

• ViaCNET