There are many iOS-connected security cameras on the market, but not a lot that will set off a loud siren when they detect loud noises or unexpected movement. The US$199 Piper HD security camera from iControl Networks brought this capability and a unique 180° view camera to the market a while back, and now the company is shipping the $269 Piper nv, an upgraded model with night vision and other improvements.
Design
The new Piper nv looks identical to the older model. It’s almost 6.5 inches (16.51 cm) tall, 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) wide and about 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) thick on its aluminum base. The Piper nv comes in black or white, with a gray speaker grill on top. That speaker can be used for two things — two-way communications with visitors (known or uninvited) at your home or business and for blasting out an almost excruciating 105 dB siren.
On the front of the device is a microphone to detect noises, a motion sensor, a light sensor and an LED. Dominating the upper middle section of the Piper nv is the “eye” — a 180° fisheye lens with 3.4 megapixels of resolution surrounded by infrared night vision lights.
The Piper nv also detects temperature and humidity in your home, making it an all-purpose monitor that can tell you when your furnace or air conditioning aren’t working. The entire setup has three AA batteries inside it to continue working through a power outage, although the Piper nv wouldn’t be able to communicate unless your Internet service was also on battery backup.
In terms of wireless networking, Piper nv is compatible with 802.11 b/g/n, and also contains a Series 500 Z-Wave home automation controller. For an additional $130 on top of the base price, you can mix and match up to three Z-Wave accessories — a door/window sensor, a controllable smart switch, a smart dimmer, a micro smart switch, and a Z-Wave range extender.
Piper nv comes with a wall adapter with a 6 foot cable, perfect for mounting the device almost anywhere. It’s actually a nice looking piece of hardware, so placing it on a counter, tabletop, or shelf will keep your home safe while not detracting from the decor.
Function
Setup of the Piper nv is incredibly simple. You’ll need to download the free Piper Mobile app first. The app works on both iPhone and iPad, with setup and monitoring screens working in portrait orientation and the camera video appearing in landscape mode.
To set the device up, you install the three AA backup batteries, tighten a screw to keep the battery door closed, and then plug the Piper in. As soon as the LED turns blue, you connect your iPhone to a Wi-Fi network named “Piper”, then launch the app. The setup automatically moves the iOS device Wi-Fi settings to the Piper, after which it connects to your home Wi-Fi network, announces itself to the Piper cloud service, and then runs any necessary firmware updates.
Seriously, this is one of the easiest setup routines I’ve seen for a security camera, and that includes the Nest Dropcam. One of the nice features is that you could set up multiple cameras in one location, then unplug them and move them to their new locations without losing the settings.
Once the Piper nv is in place, you use the app to look at or set up any of the factors that you wish to monitor. The app’s dashboard view shows a circle divided into four parts, indicating that the system is “off”, that you’re at home but have armed the system, that you’ve gone to work, or that you’re on vacation. Each situation can have its own group of settings.
The outside and indoor temperatures are both shown on the dashboard, and there are buttons for settings, events, and recordings. The settings let you set up your details (name and phone number), a number of options ranging from whether or not you have pets wandering around the house while you’re gone to turning off the siren so it never goes off.
If you’re using Piper nv as your sole security system, you can set up a trusted circle of friends and relatives who gain notification when Piper’s security rules are triggered.
The video quality when you’re on a Wi-Fi network or using mobile data can be adjusted. For use at home or on a work Wi-Fi network you may want to set the bandwidth usage to “high”, while you can dial that down if you’re on a limited bandwidth (airplane or ship) network.
Homes with more than one Piper can add more easily through the app, giving each device a name. Through the settings, there’s also access to a port number and IP address in case you need to set up port forwarding for the Pipers.
Today’s news is all Apple earnings. As a result, we suggest that you listen for the details, then check out our previous post for more of the same. It’s all fascinating!
Apple does it again: Record 3rd quarter results
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Apple’s online Apple Store has gone down ahead of today’s Spring Forward event, which is believed to be all about Apple Watch. This is typical of Apple, as the company often adds an option to buy or pre-order new hardware after press events.
It’s possible that Apple will add Watch pre-order to the store or even surprise us with a new laptop. We’ll know for sure this afternoon starting at 10:00 AM PT. You can watch the event live online or on your Apple TV. Be sure to follow our live blog while you do, for real-time summaries of the news plus commentary and insight.
