Google's Nest To Acquire Security Camera Company Dropcam

(RTTNews) - Google Inc.'s Nest Labs, a maker of smart thermostats and smoke detectors, will acquire Dropcam, the home monitoring camera start-up, for $555 million cash, technology blog Re/code reported Friday.

Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOGL) acquired Nest in February for $3.2 billion. Nest said it will incorporate Dropcam and bring it under the smart thermostats maker's privacy policy, which doesn't allow data to be shared with anyone, including Google, without the customer's permission.

Dropcam and Nest confirmed the deal in separate blog posts Friday, but did not specify the the purchase price.

Dropcam's main product is a $199 Internet-connected wireless security camera that lets you watch live video remotely on your mobile. Another camera priced at $149 comes with a lower field of view and reduced zoom capability.

In addition to its camera sales, the company receives revenue from charging a fee for storing users' recorded footage on its servers. You can pay Dropcam $99 per year to save a week's worth of video at a time, or $299 per year for 30-day cloud recording.