Amazon's home security Cloud Cam supports Alexa
It can verify new Key service deliveries, too.
Along with its "Key" indoor delivery service for Prime members, Amazon has unveiled a new AWS cloud-powered surveillance camera. The infrared-capable Cloud Cam lets you confirm deliveries via the Key service and get custom notifications depending on the activities or people it spots. You can also control up to ten Cloud Cams and see specific views with your Echo device by saying "Alexa, show me the [camera name]."
On top of confirming deliveries (where available) the Cloud Cam will be handy for checking pets from work, monitoring your doors or rooms while on the road, or looking in on kids or babies. Spec wise, it's a pretty decent model for the price, giving you wide-angle 1080p video, night vision via eight infrared LEDs, two-way audio over Alexa ("tell your dog to stop barking," Amazon suggests) and free storage for clips. It'll work with the Echo Show, Echo Spot, Amazon Fire TV devices and Fire tablets.
The system has "advanced motion detection and computer vision technology" that gives you custom alerts, which it sends to the mobile app. For the price of the camera, you get recording and cloud storage of the last 24 hours of clips for up to three cameras. Since it's AWS Cloud-powered and includes free updates, the device will get smarter over time and adapt to your daily habits.
If you want more than that, you'll need to get one of the subscription plans. The $6.99 per month ($69/year) Basic plan gives seven days of motion detection clips for three cameras, Extended ($9.99/$99) offers 14 days of clips for cameras, and the $19.99/$199 Pro plan gives you 30 days of clips for up to 10 cameras.
The subscription also gives you "Person Detection," flagging human activity instead of, say, pets, along with Zones, which lets you mark off areas of your home to ignore. As with most Amazon subscription products, you can try it for free for up to a month.
One of the main purposes of the Cloud Cam, as you'd expect, is to verify Amazon deliveries. For that to work, you'll need to get the $140 Key Edition Cloud Cam, along with an Amazon Key-compatible smart lock. Using Amazon's Key app, you can use the camera to confirm deliveries or verify the identity of friends or guests who unlock the door.
The Cloud Cam costs $120 (a two-pack is $200, and a three-pack is $290), while the Key Edition is $140 in areas where the Key service is available. Pre-orders are now open, and it'll start shipping to US customers on November 8th.
