Do you have a Google Nest?
Did you know that it has a microphone in it?
No? Well, that's because pretty much nobody did.
Do you know who did know about it?
Hackers.
They weren't able to pull off anything too crazy, but they did scare a family with a false North Korea nuclear attack warning. Hackers also scared a mother by hacking into the microphone and alleging that they had taken her baby.
Google admits that they should have listed the microphone in the product description, but they claim in a statement to USA Today that it was an honest mistake and the feature simply existed for possible future uses.
"The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an error on our part. The microphone has never been on and is only activated when users specifically enable the option. Security systems often use microphones to provide features that rely on sound sensing.Ā We included the mic on the device so that we can potentially offer additional features to our users in the future, such as the ability to detect broken glass."
And, if you're in the market for a $1,980 phone, Samsung is there for you.
Check out all of @Marc_Saltzman's work at USA Today
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