Tuesday, 5 January 2016

CES 2016: Ring goes after Nest Cam with new wireless security camera

Ring is chasing after Google's Nest Cam and Dropcam, but the new Ring Stick Up Cam offers a few features that are not found on its popular competitor.

The device is designed for outdoor use, so it comes in a water-sealed case and can be used completely wireless without any cords required for cable. This makes it easy for you to secure and monitor the outside of your home or small office, and Ring says you can add multiple Stick Up Cams to create a Ring perimeter.

Ring claims that the internal battery can be recharged with a micro USB cable, and the battery can last for up to a year on a single charge. When the Stick Up Cam detects motion, it will activate the camera and send a clear picture day or night to the Ring app on iOS, Android and Windows 10.

How it works

Once motion or activity is detected, you'll get a push notification. Opening the Ring app will let you see the video feed, and you can interact with whoever is snooping on you with the intercom feature. The camera has an embedded speaker and microphone, so you can talk to whomever is outside through your phone.

Unfortunately, though the field of view for the Stick Up Cam is rather limited at just 80 degrees. Ring's Video Doorbell, a similar video surveillance device with an integrated doorbell, comes with a wider 180-degree field of view.

Where the Stick Up Cam edges ahead of the Video Doorbell is that it offers more flexible mounting options, allowing you to hang the doorbell from a higher vantage point.

Like Dropcam, Ring offers a subscription cloud recording plan so you can store, download and view recorded clips that are stored on Ring's servers. Fortunately video recording is only activated when the motion sensor is tripped, so you don't need to weed through endless hours of recording to find a particular clip. You'll be able to set up the sensitivity level of the motion detector, but once motion is detected, Ring will begin recording and the video is uploaded through your home or office Wi-Fi connection to Ring's servers.

Ring claims that this design allows the Video Doorbell and Stick Up Cam to last for up to a year with the internal rechargeable battery.