Google-owned Nest has unveiled Nest Cam Outdoor, its first new product since co-founder Tony Fadell left the company.
The outdoor home security camera is similar to last year's Nest Cam – now called the Nest Cam Indoor. The wired outdoor Cam captures 1080p HD video and features a two-way mic, 20-foot infrared night vision, and a 130-degree wide-angle viewing lens.
In addition, the Nest Cam Outdoor features waterproofing and a more rounded design, while a magnetized disc on the rear of the camera fixes it to external surfaces, such as house guttering.
Both cameras carry the same price tag of $199 and work with the Nest mobile app, which the company says will receive a redesign later this month. The app offers encrypted video streaming as well as additional $10-per-month, subscription-based video features, including upcoming features like wide-angle camera views and human profile detection.
The camera doesn't work with Apple's HomeKit, but Nest says it will work with Google Home, despite the camera running on its own proprietary platform.
The new camera signals Nest's ongoing commitment to developing smart home products on its own, despite being acquired by Google in 2014 and its co-founder and former CEO leaving the company last month. Speculation regarding Fadell's departure revolved around recent issues at Nest, including a long length of time between product releases and software issues with the Nest Protect smoke detector that led to a recall.
Tony Fadell is credited as one of the original creators of the iPod, heading up the project as senior vice president of the iPod division at Apple from 2006 to 2008. He still holds a role as "advisor" to Nest, and left a two-year roadmap for the company's new CEO Marwan Fawaz, a former Motorola executive.
Top Rated Comments
It strikes me as odd how "cord cutting" has become so popular and yet the # of other products with monthly fees continues to proliferate. I am so sick of monthly fees, but this one is absurd. $10 for the camera to act like a camera and give you a wide angle view? Or face recognition, something that home based software can do. It's a monthly pick pocketing but consumers buy into it even as they reject the monthly cable bill. So bizarre. I would think they would reject all this monthly nickel and diming.