Alphabet-owned Nest recently revealed that it will be disabling the Revolv smart home hub on May 15, which will make the $300 device worthless.
To be clear, Nest is not only ending support for Revolv, but rather rendering it completely unusable. This is because of the development on the Works with Nest system going well, which meant that Revolv had to go.
Early on, there was no indication that Nest will be providing a replacement for Revolv owners or at least a refund for the $300 device. However, through the Nest Support account on Twitter, the company has revealed that it will work with customers on a case-by-case basis to come up with the best resolution, which includes compensation.
@rmacanthony @nestsupport We're continuing to work w/ customers on a case-by-case basis to find the best resolution, including compensation.
— Nest (@nest) April 6, 2016
Nest's stand on the matter was confirmed by a spokesperson for the company, though it remains unclear whether customers will be refunded the full amount of the smart home hub in terms of compensation.
The move by Nest to pull the plug on Revolv could push more consumers to lose interest in the Internet of Things, as customers would not be too keen on having $300 devices bricked after only 18 months of using them.
A Nest spokesperson noted that the company's oldest products from 2011 are still receiving software updates, which provides a bit of comfort that Nest has some form of commitment to its products. However, it is hard to determine which products will receive such commitments, so customers could still be wary of spending hundreds of dollars on smart home devices only to have them rendered useless after several months or a few years.
When Nest first acquired Revolv in October 2014, it already stated by then that Revolv will be discontinued so that the team behind it could focus on the Works with Nest program. The Revolv smart hub remained active afterwards, but in February, an announcement was made to customers that the device would stop functioning by May 15.
