(Update: live now) Nest can be controlled with Google Now voice commands

Update: It didn’t take long: the Works With Nest integration of Google Now is now operational. To get started, issue a voice command like “set Nest to 70 degrees” and click on the Works with Nest shortcut. From the next page, you will be able to opt in two features: the ability to set the preferred temperature with a voice command and the ability for Nest to automatically set itself as you get close to your home.

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Science fiction has been fascinated with the idea of a “smart home” for ages now. The dream is slowly becoming a reality as more and more things become Internet-ready. Here in Japan, we’ve had air conditioners that can be controlled via mobile phone input for almost a decade (way back in the feature phone days), but Google may soon be elevating North America to an even higher level by allowing its Nest Thermostat to respond to voice commands issued by Google Now.

True to the “Works with Nest” pledge that was made shortly after Google’s acquisition, the basic framework for Google Now-Nest integration is now in place. If you issue a command via Google Now like “set Nest to (x)  degrees”, the smart search will attempt to do so, but it ultimately displays a card indicating permission is needed to complete the task. Until Google itself turns on the feature, opting in leads nowhere (for now).

Google itself is giving us a hint at how Nest integration will look with its Works With Nest page, which displays the opt-in cards that will be show to Nest owners.

While the live voice request permission is seen on the right hand side of the above picture, the left card indicates that Google plans to add a Now card that will allow Nest to pre-condition your living space prior to arrival.

Now that the basic framework is in place, it’s presumably only a matter of time before Google gets things off the ground and the idea of a smart home becomes yet another step closer to the futuristic Hanna-Barbara world we’ve always dreamed of.