Google apologized Wednesday to customers who purchased its Nest Secure home-security system. The device is equipped with a microphone that has gone unmentioned since it went up for sale in 2017. Earlier in February, Google announced on Twitter an upcoming software update that activated the microphone, making the Nest Guard responsive to voice commands and Google Assistant technology. The tweet startled users, who were never told the system could pick up sound. "Have I had a device with a hidden microphone in my house this entire time?" one user asked.

Google's decision to bring Assistant-enabled voice controls to its Nest Secure system is causing a stir almost a year after the integration was rolled out. The problem is no one actually knew the security device, launched in September, 2017, packed a microphone in the first place. Google built a mic into its Nest Guard -- a small hub with a keypad on top that communicates with the other sensors in its Secure system -- but failed to mention it in its product materials, reports Business Insider. Asked about the microphone's existence, Google said it was "never intended to be a secret." "[It] should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an error on our part," a company spokesperson told Business Insider.

Nest is adding Google Assistant functionality to Nest Guard, the base station for its Nest Secure home security system. The feature is rolling out from today through a firmware update, and it will enable owners to ask questions and get answers through the device--the same way it can be used on a smartphone or Google Home smart speaker. The announcement marks the first time Nest, which is owned by Google, has disclosed that there is a microphone in the Nest Guard unit. The specifications page on Nest's website doesn't mention a microphone alongside all the other sensors on the device. A Google spokesperson confirmed the internal microphone isn't enabled by default and the Google Assistant function needs to be affirmatively enabled by a user.

Nest is officially in the home security business. At a press conference in San Francisco today, the company introduced a slew of devices: A video doorbell, an updated outdoor camera and a security system that includes a keypad base, a motion sensor and a keychain fob. And for a company that's already so synonymous with the connected home, having it all integrated into one system makes a lot of sense. In a demo room immediately after the event, Nest showed off how all of it could work together. It had the Nest Cam IQ outdoor camera set up in an outdoor porch setting, the Hello video doorbell connected near the door and the Nest Detect motion sensors strategically attached to doors and windows.

"We have better light rings than any other products on the market," says Adam Mittleman. This is a sentence that I have never before heard uttered by anyone, even after a long time living on Planet Earth. But because I am visiting Nest, and Mittleman is its Head of Product Design, working on a new gadget that this startup-turned-controversial Alphabet division is launching, I can't say I am surprised. After all, light rings--the shimmering glow-circles that allow digital appliances to provide feedback--have been a leitmotif for Nest throughout its eventful journey of disrupting the home. Nest has given a lot of thought to them. Naturally, there is a light ring on the Nest Guard, which is the hub of the Nest Secure suite. That suite has been in the works since well before the company was acquired by Google in January 2014 and then underwent a second recalibration in October 2015 when Google made Nest one of the divisions ("bets") in the Alphabet archipelago. Depending on the message the new Nest Guard wants to convey, its ring might glow red, yellow or green.