Future Nest products may not need new hardware, could be just apps, says Fadell

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If you love the idea of smart home technology like Nest, but are concerned about the cost of replacing half the appliances and devices in your home, Nest CEO Tony Fadell has some good news. Speaking at the Re/Code conference, he said that while “you need new hardware to allow things to flourish,” there are many things that could be done with software alone.

 Just like your smartphone has many many apps on it, we think there [could be] many apps in your home but you don’t necessarily need new hardware …

Fadell said that while people may focus on hardware, it’s often the software and online experience that make the bigger difference.

People think of just the iPod, but it was really iTunes and the iTunes music, that whole collection of things, that created the innovation in that space.

While the man dubbed “Father of the iPod” may not have worked at Apple for some years, he still appears to have the Apple approach to secrecy, and declined to be drawn on any of the specific areas on which the company was working.