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Say Hello to Nest Cam

nest.com

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Re: Say Hello to Nest Cam

#51
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need a startup to build alternatives to nest products in the spirit of what lima [1] is as an alternative to dropbox & google drive. [1] https://meetlima.com/

Do we? Nest Cam alternatives already exist - in the form of IP cameras and DVRs. Making it easier to setup one would be a good thing though.

I found the software that came with my Synology NAS to be pretty easy to set up. All GUI, does motion detection and recording, etc. The only real roadblock I could see for a tech-averse user would be having to buy the NAS enclosure and some hard drives, put it together, and make sure it's set up securely. Judging from the number of people who run their IP cameras with open ports to the WAN and no/default password, I could see people running into the same issues with a local solution.

I think the big issue is that people say "oh cool, I can use this with my iPhone" and then just set up their camera, access it on their phone, and call it a day. They never set anything up or log in on their computer so they never see the "please change your password from the default" message you get on first access.

But yeah, a package with one or two IP cameras that work with both wifi and ethernet, a modest NAS already configured with hard drives, and basic security settings in place would be nice. I just wonder how well it would sell since people seem to prefer "pay $200 now and then $10/mo with zero setup" over "pay $500 now and take 20 minutes to set things up".

Re: Say Hello to Nest Cam

#52
post #17

Does it have a local, i.e. 'save to NAS' option? Are there ongoing costs like the Logitech Alert system?

No and yes.

Plenty of "buy once" IP cameras out there in prices ranging from $100 up to $500+ for the fancier Axis cameras and the like. They save to local storage like a NAS or an old PC in the closet running iSpy (and saving to Drive or Dropbox if you want online backups). And most importantly for me: they have no recurring costs other than electricity.

I don't want online storage to be the only option because network connectivity drops sometimes. Not too often but more often than I lose power. And I certainly don't want yet another monthly bill. I understand that there are plenty of customers who would rather pay $10-15/mo for something they can just plug in rather than spending $300+ on a NAS or low powered PC. I'm just not one of them.

Re: Say Hello to Nest Cam

#53
post #50
post #39

I'd buy this for my parents. Been looking for a software company that will do something like this instead of all the other crap that's out there. You won't believe the low quality crap my dad has been asking me to take a look at for their house. If people got alternatives (decent software startups/companies), please post them :)

Check out Homeboy - https://www.homeboy.com - completely cordless (battery powered, rechargeable, lasts up to 3 months on a charge) - not continuously recording video but clip based, armed like a security alarm, video recordings are triggered by infrared motion sensor - intelligent automatic arm/disarm based on smartphone geofences - request a clip capture any time for peace of mind Disclaimer: I work at Homeboy :) W…

Is it indoor-only?

Re: Say Hello to Nest Cam

#54
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out Homeboy - https://www.homeboy.com - completely cordless (battery powered, rechargeable, lasts up to 3 months on a charge) - not continuously recording video but clip based, armed like a security alarm, video recordings are triggered by infrared motion sensor - intelligent automatic arm/disarm based on smartphone geofences - request a clip capture any time for peace of mind Disclaimer: I work at Homeboy :) W…

Is it indoor-only?

For now yes it is indoor-only but we are working on plans for a weather-proof outdoor version.

Re: Say Hello to Nest Cam

#56
post #55
post #36

You can get two Ubiquiti UniFi micro cameras for that price: https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-micro/

What do they record to?

There's UniFi NVR for Linux and Windows [1] or you can buy preinstalled pc [2]. Cameras have an SD card slot, but with current firmware it's not used. Might be supported in future [3].

[1] https://www.ubnt.com/download/?group=unifi-nvr [2] https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-nvr/ [3] https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Video/UVC-camera-sd-card...

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