Amazon announced a new Ring Always Home Cam today, a “flying indoor cam with multiple perspectives, custom flight paths, and in-flight live view.”
In other words, it’s a security camera drone.
Advertisement
Amazon says that their new Ring Always Home cam can be controlled (at least somewhat) remotely, so that you can check on the status of a window, oven, or other appliance you might feel uneasy about potentially leaving on or open.
The drone can also “automatically fly to see what’s happening” when other Ring devices such as contact sensors or motion devices are triggered.
The drone can be trained to take a specified flight path.
Amazon emphasizes that:
Advertisement
Always Home Cam is intended for indoor use on a single story and only flies along preset flight paths.
In other words, its flight patterns are programmed behaviors, rather than being autonomous.
Amazon also says that the Ring Always Home Cam’s camera only ever records during trained flight paths, and never when it is docked. This is a privacy measure, and an important one at that.
Live video can be monitored on smartphones and other such devices. It can be controlled “from anywhere” with the Ring App.
It looks like everyone gets real-time video streaming, and that a Ring Protect subscription is required for users that want to review, save, and share their flight paths and “moments you missed.”
They have a list of FAQs on the product page, such as what happens when the drone encounters an obstacle in the way of its flight path (it returns to the charging dock).
The drone can fly for approximately 5 minute before needing to return to its dock for a recharge.
At this time, the flying camera can only be used indoors and in a single story environment. Multiple stories require multiple devices.
Key Features & Specs
- 1440 x 1440 HD video
- 120° horizontal and 120° vertical field of view
- Dual-band WiFi: 5GHz, 2.4GHz
- Charging dock requires 120V-220V
- USB-C power adapter is included
- Up to 50 different flight paths
- Up to 5 minute flight paths
Real-Time Flight Control Options
- Pause
- Resume
- Rotate
- End the flight
Users cannot alter the flight path mid-flight.
Price: $249.99
Buy Now via Amazon (coming soon)
Discussion
While there are professional drones, hobbyist drones, toys, military drones, and other such products, this looks to be the first consumer product that incorporates flight for practical purposes. Amazon says that the Ring Always Home Cam is a first-of-its-kind indoor security camera, and it certainly is.
To me, this looks like a flying doorbell camera, and that’s kind of what it is.
If the idea takes off, this could be very useful.
Consider how commonplace robotic vacuum cleaners are. There have been robotic lawn mowers for quite a few years, but they haven’t become mainstream yet. This seems like a very futuristic product – at least more so than many of the other “smart” innovations that have hit the consumer market in recent years.
The drone is limited to preset flight paths, which can be a limiting factor, but it’s a smart implementation. A simpler product can always be made more complex with incremental optimizations and upgrades, whereas an overly complex one can be hard to perfect out of the gate. Plus, this just seems like a safer approach.
The downside is that you’ll need to anticipate your monitoring needs. But, with up to 50 flight paths, you can have a “check everything” patrol, as well as focused flight paths that check on the stove, window, or whatever.
Ring product integration makes sense, and hopefully Amazon opens things up to greater connectivity in the future. I wonder if there will eventually be IFTTT (if this then that) compatibility.
This is a very new concept, but it could potentially be a very impactful one.
Thoughts?
Paul
My cats would hunt it in a pack and destroy it upon first use.
Jim Felt
See the YouTube videos of the hawk attacking a coffee delivering Amazon drone!
https://youtu.be/JRhm0rYFXb4
Gordon
My Parents have a rental property that often sits empty during the offseason. I can see this being a huge benefit for that. It saves a lengthy drive just to make sure the place is still locked up.
I believe Nest was working on a “reactionary” drone. It would activate if the alarm or fire/co detector went off and go looking for the incident. That too could be very useful. That said, a drone stands a 0% chance against a baseball bat.
That said, I’m not a huge fan of indoor “security” cameras. Ring has already shown exactly what type of company they are and how little they care about personal privacy. Employees have accessed people’s cameras and much of the footage is stored in eastern europe, even when you don’t want it saved. The last think I want is to give Amazon unrestricted access to my house, my movements, and ultimately what I buy. My wife already gets ads on instagram for things I’m talking to her about. How long until Amazon sends an email “we noticed your house is dirty, take 10% off a new vacuum”?
Derek Howe
That last sentence, lol, it’s funny cause it’s true.
Stuart
Uch – agreed.
I get notifications for odd reorders. I connected my printer to Alexa, thinking there would be interesting functionality. Nope – it just bugs me about reordering ink when I don’t need it.
MM
It’s honestly amazing what modern technology can predict these days, even without video. I recall this story from a few years ago.
A parent received an ad flyer in the mail from Target. The flyer was addressed to their teenaged daughter, and the products listed on the flyer were nearly all baby products like diapers, bottles, formula, etc. The parent was very upset about this and demanded to speak to the manager of the local Target. The parent went on a rant accusing the manager of deliberately trying to induce his daughter to have a child and went on about how marketing baby products to teenagers is extremely irresponsible and counterproductive to fighting teen pregnancy, etc. The manager ended up having no idea what had happened or why; the local store was not who sent the ad. In the end it turns out that Target had hired a marketing company to send personalized coupons to existing customers based on what their computer AI figured that they might want to buy….and in this particular case the AI figured that this young lady was pregnant even though she didn’t know it herself yet. She didn’t learn about her own baby until Target’s marketing AI pegged her as a likely customer for baby products.
Stuart
At least two retailers kept sending me emails about dresses and women’s clothing. I used to buy some men’s clothing there (jeans, shirts) and was signed up for promotional emails, but they seemingly switched my targeting based on the baby clothes I was buying for my kids. Somehow they think that only women interested in sundresses buy baby clothes in progressively larger sizes. Even when shopping for early toddler clothes, that triggered the retailer to send me newsletters about women’s activewear and maternity clothes. Despite checking and changing my preferences, they STILL kept sending me emails. I don’t care about the “bralette” sales.
Marketers have always tried to strategically gain new leads. For instance, Gillette sent me an unsolicited razor sample the month I turned 18.
Rx9
I absolutely agree. There already have been requests for Amazon echo recording data in a number of court cases. While that use seems to be restricted to major crimes right now, I could foresee the requests being expanded easily. As it stands, a lot of surreptitious recording is done by social media apps. That gets parsed into searchable text for guiding ad algorithms. Its not far fetched to see the amount of data grabbed as being placed in a big dossier on the user – one that may end up available to some groups with bad intentions. Continuous video access makes that data capture an order of magnitude more powerful. As interesting as the technology for this Ring device is, I just cannot trust it, and advise others against it as well.
Albert
Would be nice to program it to fly to the sump pump and take some video, then fly to the water heater, then fly to the furnance, then fly to the bathroom that I rarely use, etc. I’m sure Amazon or another company will overcome the “single story” limit soon.
Stuart
I was thinking the same – checking for basement moisture during wet weather, or a visual check of a radon exhaust fan. It might not be long before they incorporate a sensor suite for things like temperature and humidity as well.
This seems like an idea that will be refined with time, as opposed to being a one-time concept.
Koko The Talking Ape
I imagine the thing has trouble navigating three-dimensional spaces like stairwells.
It also doesn’t seem to have any ultrasound or radar sensors to tell it how far it is from walls, etc. It can shoot video of course, but it doesn’t seem to “understand” what its seeing, the way cars can understand when they’re wandering out of their lane, etc.
I wonder how you teach it a flight path.
Doresoom
I have the Blink outdoor security cameras and have been very happy with them. No wires to run, and the batteries have lasted over a year so far.
The drone actually seems pretty useful, but I will never have an Amazon or Google camera inside my home. Especially not one that is mobile. Nope, sorry, not for me.
Jim Felt
But how do you order stuff without actually tapping on your phone? ;-)~
Bruce
You know Amazon bought Blink, right?
Doresoom
Yes. Key word there is “Outdoor.”
Jared
On the one hand, it seems like a simple integration of several existing consumer level technologies – probably with some useful niche applications that will expand as the technology improves. On the other, I see robots climbing over mountains of human skulls.
Stuart
Skynet doesn’t take over, it’s welcomed into our homes with open arms. =)
Jared
😄
Jim Felt
Not to mention Colossus: The Forbin Project. SkyNet’s big screen progenitor.
Bob Chadwick
Wake me up when they announce the armed version.
Chris I
Just so I’m clear — you want a drone flying around your home with a security camera connected 24/7/365 to Amazon that has an assault-style weapon attached to it ready to spray bullets based on AI decisions?
I’m sure there’s a bit of /s in your post, but it also feels are you for real?
Bob Chadwick
Definitely /s, but you might actually want it to protect your bunker when people with the omega variant of Covid are fleeing rising sea levels, year-round wildfires, and vast stretches of the country that have become to hot to sustain human life.
I bet the drone will even automatically order ammunition when it’s running low.
Jim Felt
Is “fleeing” even an option with active intubation? Just curious.
X Lu
You buy insurance for a reason. All these folks putting active spying devices in their homes. Why? -to protect against some theoretical low level theft or where existing solutions are more than adequate . Water sensors and thermostats I get- risks while rare are still serious if they occur-good cost/benefit but flying indoor drones. Really? People seem to no longer value their privacy.
MM
I agree completely. What does this device do that indoor security cameras cannot do? It moves around, but I see that as more of a liability than a benefit. If it fails then I can’t see any of the “trouble spots” I want to keep an eye on. If a camera fails then I can still see the other trouble areas.
The privacy thing has gone out the window years ago. How many people continue to use Facebook despite scandal after scandal? How many people load up their smartphone with all kinds of apps that curiously need access to the camera, microphone, data, etc, even though those things aren’t required for the function of the app?
JoeM
I’d be happy if they just had a straight-up peephole camera. No indicators on the outside, just a camera that connects via WiFI to the Alexa or Google smart home infrastructure. That way, in a pinch, your FireTV Stick, Amazon Echo Show, or some Google-attached screen somewhere can just pop up an image of who is at the door at any given moment. Even record, just in case of criminal activities.
So far, everything I’ve found has some sort of outward equipment on the door, announcing it as a doorbell, or as a security device. I mean, a Light or light ring around the device would be fine, show it’s on and recording. But if you live in an apartment, anything on the outside of the door is doomed to vandalism or theft. Having the lens be the only outward part makes theft impossible, as it would set off the alarm in the system, and show you who, or what, is happening to the lens. You just have to turn that recording over to whoever has authority, and the person gets caught and punished.
I’ve had enough insane neighbour run-ins the past couple years, that I’ve consistently lived in a state of wanting more security. It’s the one thing that none of these products offer a case like mine. Everything has to be a doorbell… and that is just nonsense in an apartment this small.
I’d like to get a nice Benchmade Crooked Creek blacked out knife for protection, step up to an integrated smart home situation so unwanted movement from the outside can be tracked and recorded, and even enable some sort of smart locking mechanism so deliveries can be dropped off inside the door with a command. I know, it sounds like I’m prepping for doomsday… but… let’s just say things have been getting worse in this area the past few years, and my attempts to relocate have failed… Safety is a very high priority for me now.
Albert
I wanted the same thing when I used to live in a condo and had a crazy neighbor. Mainly I wanted to record without the other person knowing. I ended using one of those cheap USB endoscopes from Amazon and just plugging it into my computer. The endoscope fit inside the peephole.
JoeM
I’ve considered it. My problem has had to be handled by police on many occasions in the past few years, and all they can say is “Stay away from them the best you can”… It just makes me afraid to do anything in the building, frankly. I just do not feel safe anymore, and I’m shocked this simple idea hasn’t been integrated into the Amazon or Google smart home devices. It’s like… Every Single Camera needs to advertise the brand name, and double as a door bell… Nothing is left inside to do all that for them. And what if we genuinely don’t want a doorbell? Just a camera. It’s so idiotic.
Adam
Just googling “peep hole camera front door,” it definitely appears that such products exist. Here’s one on Amazon with decent reviews, for example: https://www.amazon.com/Brinno-Front-PeepHole-Security-Camera/dp/B071NV77PY
From the outside, it seems like it will look like an ordinary peep hole.
Chris I
Nope.
Ball_bearing
They are slowly getting the surveillance equipment inside our homes. I don’t like this at all.
Jim Felt
Are you suggesting Apple and Android have been slow in this endeavor?
Chris I
If you don’t buy their cr@p, they’re not inside your home.
Fact.
Kingsley
I’m looking forward to one with a mini chainsaw on for tree pruning!
Stuart
That would certainly make Battlebots even more fun.
Frank D
Did you miss the announcement about Amazon Astro?
Astro is a floor robot ( and can do a few other things but $$$$ and value ? ) while Home Cam covers the air.
Stuart
No, I saw that too, but this seemed more interesting than the $1000 wheeled robot.
Frank D
Everybody needs to get with the program: as consumers we are supposed to get an Astro and a home cam for every floor in your home!! Think about the SAFETY!!!!
😉
/jk
Itisnotme
I’ve always wanted Jeff Bezos to know everything about my life.
Jim Felt
In all fairness AWS* already does. But are we in general all that interesting?
*Amazon Web Services.
Chris I
I don’t need to be interesting. I need my privacy.
Greg
I’m going to need to hear about the absolutely unbreakable security, and privacy concerns eased behind this, before I ever consider buying something like this.
MM
There is no such thing as unbreakable security. And even if there were privacy risks still exist. Consider the debacle with the various Amazon Echo products that have happened in the past: 3rd party companies had access to the voice recordings for the purposes of improving the speech-recognition software. This was all buried in the fine print of the user agreement. There were no hackers that broke into the system or anything like that, just normal business operations resulting in people’s private conversations being listened to by 3rd parties.
Dave the tool
My first thought was what about my 4 ceiling fans in my home?…lol Wonder if the Ring Protect plan covers this?
Yeti
This product creeps me out
Shane
Nope. No way in hell.
Bob
If it can program it bring me a beer or track misplaced tools sold other wise hard pass.
Amazon please make a device that control how much toilet paper my 2 and 5 year old use when going to the bathroom. My septic system would appreciate it.
Nathan
yeah cause I trust Amazon with a video camera in my home while it’s a known quantity that Alexa records all sound near it and scan transmits snipets back home.
uhm hmm.
outside of that concern it’s a neat idea. you could use nearly any drone however and do the same.
Meanwhile – one other thing not mentioned. if you want to fly it live, you probably needs a high quality, high speed data connection.