Nest Laboratories at Palo Alto have furthered the Californian ambition to be ahead in all technology. As far as your home comforts are concerned, the learning thermostat has the potential to keep you at your most comfortable when you're there and preserve your bank balance when you're not.

Tony Fadell is the Chief Exec. concerned, with thoughtful design one of his watchwords. The Nest learning thermostat is therefore unique and a world first. The US single family home spends $2200 on energy, half of it on heating and cooling. "It was unacceptable to me that the device that controls 10 percent of all energy consumed in the U.S. hadn't kept up with advancements in technology and design," says Tony.

Incredibly, Energy Star stopped certification of programmable thermostats recently because 89% of people never used them.

Whether people will use it or not depends on the first week. It needs to be informed about your typical temperature, although it guides you along. Using your smartphone / any Wi-Fi device controls it.

To use it demands only a turn of its outer ring, then observing its blue (for cooling) or red central disc. To install requires only the equivalent of experience with lighting. It seems odd that Nest is based on only the home, despite the company's history.

Nest Learning Thermostat; Credit: © Nest Labs

Obvious demands would come from factory floor and animal sheds. There must be many science labs where temperature control is critical, too. You can think of many more. We'll see if this innovative company can invent many more home energy consumption aids and finance it with some industrial unit services.

"Nest has built an unprecedented team of experienced designers and engineers with backgrounds spanning Silicon Valley," said Bill Campbell, Apple and Intuit board member/Nest advisor. "Under the leadership of Tony Fadell, the company is poised to make a significant impact on an industry that has been virtually void of innovation for the past 30 years."

So California is going to make it after all!