Nest Cam Outdoor upgrades original Nest Cam with more rugged design

AppleInsider · July 14, 2016 2:55PM

Google's Nest division on Thursday announced the Nest Cam Outdoor, a version of its app-connected Nest Cam upgraded to handle the specific demands of exterior security.

Like its Indoor counterpart, the Outdoor records in 1080p resolution, and has two-way audio, letting owners speak to anyone who might be within earshot. Both also share a 130-degree wide-angle lens, and infrared night vision.

The Outdoor differs mainly in having weatherproof housing, which also sports an alternate version of the magnetic connector found on the Indoor camera. Power is supplied via a cable, though Nest promises that it doesn't have to be run through walls or connected to a remote hub.

Whenever it detects unusual movement or sound, the Outdoor pushes an alert via the Nest app or an email with an attached image. Some features, however, are tied to a $10-per-month Nest Aware subscription, such as separate activity zones, 24/7 recording with a 30-day archive, and more intelligent alerts that can discern when movement is human.

The Nest Cam Outdoor is currently available to pre-order for $199, but will only ship in about three months. Notably Nest doesn't mention support for Apple's HomeKit, but it will be compatible with the Google Home, an upcoming speaker/voice assistant similar to the Amazon Echo.

red oak · July 14, 2016 3:18PM

LOL. That dangling cord

libertyforall · July 14, 2016 4:24PM

No interest in any other Nest products until they support HomeKit!!!!!!!!!

nolamacguy · July 14, 2016 4:42PM

if anybody from AI works here -- WTF is up w/ your forum software? SO MANY DUPES....surely you see this is a defect?

the problem seems to be w/ your web services used to post messages...after clicking the Post Comment button on a post, very often nothing happens. yielding more clicks. resulting in dupes.

there are several ways to solve this problem.

volcan · July 14, 2016 4:56PM

nolamacguy said:

there are several ways to solve this problem.

Indeed. onClick event, disable button.

Thing is, AI didn't write the software and probably doesn't even have the ability to edit the code. Should have stuck with VBulletin.

eightzero · July 14, 2016 5:27PM

Nest is still a thing? Who knew.

paulmjohnson · July 14, 2016 5:42PM

I'm quite pleased about this. I really like the Nest camera, and was contemplating getting one to put outside, but didn't like the fact I'd have had to buy a third party "weatherproofing" case for it. Looks like this will solve the problem for me.

braderunner · July 14, 2016 5:57PM

I have a nest thermostat. First and last nest product for me.

tyler82 · July 14, 2016 6:02PM

red oak said:

LOL. That dangling cord

For real- if only there were some solution that sends data over the airwaves

jbdragon · July 14, 2016 6:05PM

paulmjohnson said:

I'm quite pleased about this. I really like the Nest camera, and was contemplating getting one to put outside, but didn't like the fact I'd have had to buy a third party "weatherproofing" case for it. Looks like this will solve the problem for me.

The camera is all around bad!. For one thing this has a dangling 120 volt power cable you need to plug into a outlet. Do you have power outlets ask around your house where you would need them? Besides it would be so simple to just unplug our cut the wire. There's go any security. Secondly, you adjust this thing as it's stuck in with a magnet. So if you can't reach it, anyone can use a simple stick and knock the camera to point up, or just knock it off its base so it's dangling by the cord.

This camera did nothing for security. About the only use it has is if you want to place it in the back yard to watch your kids!. That's about it.

Much better I think to get done POE camera's. Power over Ethernet. A simple small cord you can easily run, that carries the video and power. This is a much better type of setup and the wire is inside the camera mount protected with only a need for a small hole going through the wall. Also you can in general record the data locally and still see the video on your smartphone. No extra monthly cloud fees!!!

This camera is really a pile of crap. A inside camera that you can just plug into adv outlet is fine, but it really doesn't work for outside.

paulmjohnson · July 14, 2016 6:13PM

jbdragon said:

paulmjohnson said:

I'm quite pleased about this. I really like the Nest camera, and was contemplating getting one to put outside, but didn't like the fact I'd have had to buy a third party "weatherproofing" case for it. Looks like this will solve the problem for me.

The camera is all around bad!. For one thing this has a dangling 120 volt power cable you need to plug into a outlet. Do you have power outlets ask around your house where you would need them? Besides it would be so simple to just unplug our cut the wire. There's go any security. Secondly, you adjust this thing as it's stuck in with a magnet. So if you can't reach it, anyone can use a simple stick and knock the camera to point up, or just knock it off its base so it's dangling by the cord.

This camera did nothing for security. About the only use it has is if you want to place it in the back yard to watch your kids!. That's about it.

Much better I think to get done POE camera's. Power over Ethernet. A simple small cord you can easily run, that carries the video and power. This is a much better type of setup and the wire is inside the camera mount protected with only a need for a small hole going through the wall. Also you can in general record the data locally and still see the video on your smartphone. No extra monthly cloud fees!!!

This camera is really a pile of crap. A inside camera that you can just plug into adv outlet is fine, but it really doesn't work for outside.

Yeah, I have a power outlet where it would go (God knows why the prior owner of my house put a power outlet at the roofline on the porch, but they did!), and I would actually hard wire it into that so it wouldn't be as simple as just unplugging it. POE isn't an option where I'm seeking to put it, since I don't have ethernet there, and I don't have an easy way to get ethernet there. I actually think it would be quite unusual that someone would have an ethernet port where they are going to put a security camera, but they wouldn't have power there?

I'll be interested to see how "robust" the mounting is - obviously that will be the go/no go decision for this.

Not sure why your experience that the camera is "a pile of crap". The one I've got in my sons bedroom is excellent - really nice video quality, the alerts work well and the setup was a piece of cake. That's why I'm seriously considering it as an option for watching for who's stealing Amazon packages from my porch!

volcan · July 14, 2016 6:18PM

tyler82 said:

red oak said:

LOL. That dangling cord

For real- if only there were some solution that sends data over the airwaves

The data goes over wifi, but the power does not. If one was handy with installations, you could perhaps minimize the length of the cable by running it inside a wall or attic, but the general consumer, which is most likely the target market for such a device, is not going to know how to do that. All they know how to do is plug it into an extension cord. Batteries are of course out of the question if it is recording 24/7 at 1080p with a full SOC, sensors, speaker, microphone and WiFi radio, etc.

theothergeoff · July 14, 2016 6:26PM

tyler82 said:

red oak said:

LOL. That dangling cord

For real- if only there were some solution that sends data over the airwaves

there is...

but the problem is sending couple hundred milliamps to the device... that's not in the 802.11ac spec. (where is the Power over Wifi (PoW) spec?)

Unless you want to beam inductive power around your house (and without beam forming, that much electromagnetism may alter your innards, let alone your watch, credit cards, etc. as you walk through the field), and you don't want to climb a ladder to install batteries every couple of days... a power cord is mandatory.

volcan · July 14, 2016 6:46PM

jbdragon said:

Much better I think to get done POE camera's. Power over Ethernet.

Any solution is going to have trade offs. There are all sorts of surveillance devices from a fake camera with a blinking light all the way up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for some commercial system. Nest decided on the criteria they wanted, that addresses a certain target market for them. As long as the customer is making an informed decision, they should be able to choose whatever they want or can afford.

volcan · July 14, 2016 6:53PM

paulmjohnson said:
Yeah, I have a power outlet where it would go (God knows why the prior owner of my house put a power outlet at the roofline on the porch, but they did!),

Christmas lights.

eightzero · July 14, 2016 7:13PM

theothergeoff said:

tyler82 said:

For real- if only there were some solution that sends data over the airwaves

there is...

but the problem is sending couple hundred milliamps to the device... that's not in the 802.11ac spec. (where is the Power over Wifi (PoW) spec?)

Unless you want to beam inductive power around your house (and without beam forming, that much electromagnetism may alter your innards, let alone your watch, credit cards, etc. as you walk through the field), and you don't want to climb a ladder to install batteries every couple of days... a power cord is mandatory.

Battery and solar?

Given the reviews of their products, Nest is on my "never buy anything from them" list. Seems to be plenty of @internetofshit

paulmjohnson · July 14, 2016 7:20PM

volcan said:

paulmjohnson said:
Yeah, I have a power outlet where it would go (God knows why the prior owner of my house put a power outlet at the roofline on the porch, but they did!),

Christmas lights.

Yes, that's probably right.

From the number of outlets, they obviously liked a LOT of lights!

robertwalter · July 15, 2016 1:22AM

Unimpressive things like this after spending boatloads of cash is why Fadell got fired.

As as for this product, parasitic subscription model? no HomeKit?

No deal. (I'm going to wait for competition within the HomeKit vendor base.)

knowitall · July 15, 2016 6:24PM

Hope this doesn't set the central heating off or turn on the smoke alarm.

Nest Cam Outdoor upgrades original Nest Cam with more rugged design

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