They
can see in the dark, detect poison in the air and can even help capture
thieves. The latest smart home video surveillance cameras now come with
superhero powers — yet don’t require any super-sized budgets to buy or
super-human skills to set up. Here are some of my favorites so far.
Combining HD, night-vision, and a bevy of sensors that detect motion, temperature, and air quality, the Canary ($249) is an entire security system in one compact unit. From your smartphone, you can check in on your home with a live stream of HD video and audio.
It’s motion-activated, so whether there’s something suspicious going down or your dog is chasing its tail, you’ll quickly find out about it. If you notice suspicious activity, you can sound an alarm from the device using the Canary app so you’re not just sitting there watching it happen. It’s a sleek, no frills way to protect and monitor your home.
Want to go even more affordable? Both Piper ($199) and Dropcam ($199) will keep an eye on your goods and sync with a few of your other smart home gadgets to boot. Piper shoots 180 degrees in HD, and you can make it tilt, pan and zoom right from your phone. You can also pair it with other Piper gadgets to monitor motion detection and control lights, appliances and even the temperature while you’re away.
Dropcam is one of the more interactive options, as it lets you create schedules, set activity reminders, and share and save your footage with a few taps on the app. It’s ideal for busy homes with lots of ins and outs. To access your previous footage, you’ll need a $10/month subscription.
Netatmo’s Welcome ($199) not only watches over your house, but can tell who’s in it with facial recognition technology. It’s super simple to program so that it recognizes who belongs in your house and who doesn’t. When your kids get home from school you’ll get an alert on your smartphone, but if your teenage daughter brings home some guy you’ve never met, you’ll be told immediately that there’s an unrecognized face on your turf.
The Withings Home ($199) doesn’t tell you “who,” but rather “what” is in your house it’s the first home video monitoring system that tracks indoor air pollution. Of course, it also streams live video, two-way talk, night vision, motion, and sound — but the air quality alerts are the really cool part. If it picks up contaminants or pollution in your house that are reaching unhealthy levels, Home blinks red and sends you an alert. It’s great for times when you’re using cleaning products and should open a window, or your teenage daughter is clouding up the house with hairspray.
Last but not least, is an option that doesn’t require any new gadgets at all. Alfred is an app that turns your smartphone or computer into a surveillance camera. All you need is two devices (either both iOS or both Android) and the app. You simply set one device as the camera, one as the viewer and voila! You now have a use for that old phone that’s been sitting around since your upgrade. There’s also a web-viewer option in beta so you can keep an eye on things using your browser. Oh yeah, and it’s free.
There’s some real peace of mind that comes with keeping an eye on your home from anywhere. With today’s tech, these home cams can be the best way to hold down the fort. Superhero cape is optional.
source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/personal/2015/07/13/best-security-cameras/29970401/
Combining HD, night-vision, and a bevy of sensors that detect motion, temperature, and air quality, the Canary ($249) is an entire security system in one compact unit. From your smartphone, you can check in on your home with a live stream of HD video and audio.
It’s motion-activated, so whether there’s something suspicious going down or your dog is chasing its tail, you’ll quickly find out about it. If you notice suspicious activity, you can sound an alarm from the device using the Canary app so you’re not just sitting there watching it happen. It’s a sleek, no frills way to protect and monitor your home.
Want to go even more affordable? Both Piper ($199) and Dropcam ($199) will keep an eye on your goods and sync with a few of your other smart home gadgets to boot. Piper shoots 180 degrees in HD, and you can make it tilt, pan and zoom right from your phone. You can also pair it with other Piper gadgets to monitor motion detection and control lights, appliances and even the temperature while you’re away.
Dropcam is one of the more interactive options, as it lets you create schedules, set activity reminders, and share and save your footage with a few taps on the app. It’s ideal for busy homes with lots of ins and outs. To access your previous footage, you’ll need a $10/month subscription.
Netatmo’s Welcome ($199) not only watches over your house, but can tell who’s in it with facial recognition technology. It’s super simple to program so that it recognizes who belongs in your house and who doesn’t. When your kids get home from school you’ll get an alert on your smartphone, but if your teenage daughter brings home some guy you’ve never met, you’ll be told immediately that there’s an unrecognized face on your turf.
The Withings Home ($199) doesn’t tell you “who,” but rather “what” is in your house it’s the first home video monitoring system that tracks indoor air pollution. Of course, it also streams live video, two-way talk, night vision, motion, and sound — but the air quality alerts are the really cool part. If it picks up contaminants or pollution in your house that are reaching unhealthy levels, Home blinks red and sends you an alert. It’s great for times when you’re using cleaning products and should open a window, or your teenage daughter is clouding up the house with hairspray.
Last but not least, is an option that doesn’t require any new gadgets at all. Alfred is an app that turns your smartphone or computer into a surveillance camera. All you need is two devices (either both iOS or both Android) and the app. You simply set one device as the camera, one as the viewer and voila! You now have a use for that old phone that’s been sitting around since your upgrade. There’s also a web-viewer option in beta so you can keep an eye on things using your browser. Oh yeah, and it’s free.
There’s some real peace of mind that comes with keeping an eye on your home from anywhere. With today’s tech, these home cams can be the best way to hold down the fort. Superhero cape is optional.
source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/personal/2015/07/13/best-security-cameras/29970401/
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