The Nest is the latest trend in technology; its a computer-driven thermostat with some fancy features, namely; its remote access via the internet.

Designed by Tony Fadell, who ran the iPod division at Apple, amongst other things, the Nest is made to power itself. It also carefully tracks your heating/cooling habits and determines an optimal environment. It then shows a green or red leaf to urge you in the direction of using less or more energy. Here’s how it works:

1. Nest asks you a few basic questions. After that, it learns when you change the temperature by tracking your habits.
2. Next, Nest will do what you tell it, so teach it energy saving habits: turn the temperature down at night or when you leave the house, and don’t turn the temperature too high or low.
3. Auto-Away turns heating and cooling down automatically when no one is home, saving energy when you don’t need it. Energy History shows you how much energy you’ve used daily.
4. By now, Nest has made and learned a schedule for your home. One-off temperature changes won’t confuse it, but change the temperature a couple of days in a row and Nest will catch on and adjust its schedule. Lower the temperature two Mondays in a row and Nest will remember for next week.

Brrr. After an unseasonably cold day, you log in to nest.com from the office to adjust the temperature at home. If you have multiple thermostats, you can view and manage each individually from one Nest Account. When your Nest is connected to Wi-Fi, you can change the temperature, adjust your schedule and check local weather from anywhere.

Use the Nest Mobile app to connect to your thermostat from a smartphone. Getting in early? Change the temperature miles from home.

If you teach Nest well, you’ll see the savings on your energy bill sure to have Nest pay for itself in time. And since Nest is always learning and improving, you can expect the savings to continue.

Available for just $249.00 [via]