Nest, the Google-owned home monitoring company, has pulled back its Protect Smoke detector device from stores on Thursday, after discovering a flaw.
Nest confirmed that it is temporarily halting sales of the device because of its Nest Wave feature. The feature allowed users to silence the Protect’s alarm by standing under it and waving.
“During recent laboratory testing of the Nest Protect smoke alarm, we observed a unique combination of circumstances that caused us to question whether the Nest Wave could be unintentionally activated,” wrote Nest founder and CEO Tony Fadell in a blog post. “This could delay an alarm going off if there was a real fire.”
Fadell also noted that the team discovered the deactivation method themselves and there have been no reported cases of this occurring. He said “but the fact that it could even potentially happen is extremely important to me.”
Nest, acquired by Google in January for $3.2 billion, confirmed that the sales of the smoke alarms will remain halted until the issue is resolved.
Users those who already have a Nest Protect connected to their Nest account via Wi-Fi will find the Wave function automatically disabled within 24 hours. While users, whose Protect is either not connected to a Nest account or has been taken offline, will need to reconnect the device so that Wave can be remotely disabled.
Fadell confirmed that it will take “two to three months” to fix the Nest Wave issue and promised an update “once we have a solution that ensures Nest Wave works as intended.”
The issue comes days after the Nest Learning Thermostat’s debut in the UK, which is available for £179 ($298) or £249 ($415), depending on the installation preferences of users.
“We are enormously sorry for the inconvenience caused by this issue. The team and I are dedicated to ensuring that we can stand behind each Nest product that comes into your home and your 100 percent satisfaction and safety are what motivates us,” Fadell added.
