Welcome to the era of completely computer-less webcams. We tried the Avaak Vue a few weeks ago with mixed results but this new system, called Dropcam, looks more useful for homes and small businesses.
The kit allows for multiple cameras to be connected to the Internet via wired Ethernet or WiFi. You simply set it up, plug it in, and start streaming. The system records video at 320×240 pixels at 15 frames/sec. The cameras weigh 3 ounces and are about an inch thick.
The camera, unlike the Vue, must be plugged into a power outlet, a potentially limiting factor for some installations. However, that is the only cable it needs when you have it connected via Wi-Fi.
The basic camera costs $239 which includes a six month subscription to DropCam’s service. After that service costs $9 per month.They are also running private betas for a Baby service for watching kids during the day and even at night in low light as well as a more DVR-oriented Pro service for business complete with activity sensing systems.
The system has built-in notification systems and they’re working on upgrading the system to support notifications via email and text message. It has 100 hours of rolling DVR capability per camera, ensuring you don’t miss a thing.
The company is seed funded primarily by Mitch Kapor, 15 Angels (Bessemer’s angel group), and Bay Partners. They are shipping the product right now. The founder, Greg Duffy, was a programmer at Xobni. The company’s co-founder is Aamir Virani, also an ex-Xobni employee.
“From the Programmer of Xonbi”… typo in title.
typo in title…seriously? amateur hour.
so whats so new about this? network cameras existed for YEARS.
Please see my comment @HappyJack below
You fools act like you’ve never made a typo on the internet. Go play in traffic trolls.
Panasonic cameras available on Amazon
http://bit.ly/38iy9k
- $253 vs. $239 for DropCam
Wifi
Pan and Zoom (DropCam is fixed)
Thermal and Motion Sensor (no thermal on DropCam)
Email notification (no need to wait for DropCam to build theirs)
Up to 30 frames / second (vs. 15 for DropCam)
Built in timer for alerts
Has Audio for PC browsers (DropCam has no audio)
Free webaddress (vs. $9 /month for DropCam)
Access images on any web browser (smartphones as well). Password protected.
All notifications are free (since the server is built into the camera, why pay for this?)
Panasonic has a privacy mode button (so you can disable it like any alarm and you can also disable the privacy button in case you worry someone else can disable it)
Fabulous (and free) Panasonic support
Oh, and the Panasonic network camera came out a long long time ago. You can see a review on YouTube posted two years ago : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD_itg8s9eo
Yes but does the Panasonic camera have DVR?
Yes.
We totally recognize that a do-it-yourselfer can set up ZoneMinder on a Linux PC, configure it, manually set up all of their network cameras, figure out how to manage the storage and reboot it when it crashes.
Dropcams are a *product* for non-technical users. You don’t have to hack anything together, it just works. It’s the difference between returning the product and having a working camera for 99% of users.
And you don’t need to keep a PC running.
Solid points Greg.
If you could market these on pet related websites they would sell like hotcakes. One for the feeding dish. One for the litter box. One for the couch that is off limits. etc…
Completely agree. I have one of those Panasonic webcams as a remote baby monitor / burglar alarm. The Panasonic webcams are great.
I really don’t see why I would pay a monthly service fee for something like this.
What you’re really paying for is the online service component, as we’re similarly priced to network cameras anyway.
We store 100 hours of DVR footage for every camera. We provide zero-configuration notifications. You can seamlessly configure the camera from the web (no port forwarding or UPnP required .. you don’t even have to know what those are).
Hi,
Dropcam is not about feature-for-feature parity to network cameras, and in fact we are happy to integrate any network camera on the market with our online service. Our firmware and server software are the real value-add.
Dropcams start streaming 30 seconds after you plug them in, all you have to do is log into your account. With a standard network camera like the Panasonic BL-C131A, the average setup time is 30min-1hr for non-technical users. You have to know about IP addresses, NAT/Port forwarding, etc. .
Dropcams come with 100 hours of DVR storage. The best you can do on a normal network camera is set up an FTP server to upload images.
Dropcams work behind any NAT or firewall. Network cameras with “free web address” only work with port forwarding (complicated) or UPnP (unreliable). Further, your connections are forwarded to your home router, so multiple viewers take more upload bandwidth.
Dropcams can notify you on motion right out of the box. Network cameras require you to know about and set up an SMTP server.
Dropcams use state-of-the-art H.264 video compression, taking up minimal upload bandwidth while still providing great quality. Quality is more than just frame rate, and your Panasonic example would clobber most DSL connections.
We can tell you when your camera goes down. We can show you arbitrary points in the camera’s history without stopping recording. We’re available for viewing from multiple devices, including phones.
Our product is unnecessary for a tech geek (like us) with lots of time on their hands. However, it is imperative that network cameras start working more like Dropcams for this technology to be adopted by the mainstream.
Thanks for your comments.
Hi Greg,
Thanks for responding to my comment.
While I agree that you may have a easier to set up device, I think you are exaggerating how difficult it is for the average user to set up competing products. Panasonic for example has a toll-free tech support line that you can talk to a live human about any camera questions.
But let’s suppose the initial ramp-up is easier with DropCam then with the Panasonic or any other network camera. That would tell me that you should either (a) price your device higher than competing inferior products or (b) price same/lower and get market share. Either one would make sense to the consumer as well since you are delivering an easier to configure product. That’s a good thing.
What I don’t understand is why you decided to charge a monthly fee for this ease of configuration since it’s a one-time setup?
If it’s for access to see what’s happening at home, or notifications, why should I pay for something that is a built-in feature on any network camera server?
If it’s for the monthly DVR functionality of 100 hours that seems hardly worth it…I pay for the uploading bandwidth, electricity, etc., and you all host some video files. At $9/month to store video files, that seems very expensive. If this is the main reason to pay $9, you should then be honest with the consumer and let them opt out of paying this if they just want a superior camera, notifications, live video streaming.
Is it true that once I buy the camera that I can’t stop the monthly service and just use camera separately?
Adding a service just to continue making $$ from consumers after the initial product is sold/and without which the product won’t work, is a bit disingenuous IMHO, if the service doesn’t offer value month in month out. You can afford to lose customers since you’ve already made money on the product (and every month of service), but the consumer feels locked in, with a sunk costs of an expensive product. That’s a bad thing.
No, we’ve done extensive user testing with Dropcams and standard network cameras (including BL-C131A) to measure ease of setup and use.
Our recurring service includes DVR storage in a colocated facility, notifications, and continuing improvement of the software (camera and server-side). Comparing us to Panasonic’s offering is comparing apples to oranges.
The camera is never “bricked”, if you wish to use it as a normal network camera, Dropcam support can assist you. However, not a single Dropcam user has opted to do this so far.
You’re clearly an expert on IP cameras and networking products, and Dropcam may not be right for you. We’re working to make a usable product for people without your level of experience.
BTW, am not an expert on IP cameras. I just own two of the Panasonics, and am super happy with the device, price I paid, and service I get from calling Panasonic if I have any problems. It was a simple purchase, and simple setup.
I do applaud you for responding — that speaks volumes to how you care about your brand, product and consumers.
Glad to hear the camera is not bricked. That’s good. Also glad to hear you reach out to customers before you start billing them after the trial is over. That takes guts.
But I think you do your investors and yourselves a disservice by thinking your competition is really worse than it is. Just because I had a good experience with a competitive product shouldn’t make me an “expert”/out of your typical demographic. That kind of thinking can creep into both marketing and product development teams. You’ll need to sell two things – device AND service, and that’s super hard in the consumer space.
Take a look at Dash GPS which went after both GPS devices AND a monthly service. Once you stopped paying for the monthly service, all the you had left was a clunky GPS. Unclear if they could have done something better by just focusing on one, but clearly working on both the device AND service didn’t work for them, their investors, or consumers.
Compare that to Pure Digital who abandoned their re-usable digital disposable cameras and focused on making point-and-shoot video. Almost everyone had video capabilities on their cameras, but no one had the ease of use from a great dedicated device. They focused 100% on getting the right device, and leveraged other services (YouTube). Now they are pushing their Flip service/community more since the Flip Camera has a strong brand/customer satisfaction. With Kodak, Sony, Samsung watching over the shoulders, their success was about knowing what the customers wanted and delivering that. My guess is that over time your competitors’ products will become as easy to install as yours, and that few homeowners want DVR service at $9/month once the novelty wears off. So you will need to keep innovating. Just a guess.
Had your product been out when I was looking at cameras, I would have looked into it. I just would have rejected it for not having the features that are important to me – audio, enhanced triggers so that a ceiling fan doesn’t cause an alert (thermal sensor), and pan. Again, not an expert, I just did simple research online.
I also probably would have enjoyed the DVR service — I can see that’s great for small businesses. I don’t know if I would have signed up past the trial period. I would have compared it to what iControl offers with ADT services.
Apple vs. oranges is apropos if you compare a feature-rich tried/true network camera with yours. Saying to consumers that you shouldn’t compare the two (which is usually what’s meant by “it’s Apples to Oranges”) ignores the fact that smart consumers always do that. And with a product/service offering like yours, facing competitive threats from loads of consumer electronic players, I would think you want people to compare, and see yours as the best!
Yours is just a first generation product and am sure you will be improving it over time. Best of luck!
it’s better than logitech webcam…??
still wondering..
Why are Xobni engineers moving on to these kinds of projects??
http://www.mycamserver.com – same camera for $179 there and it already has the notifications built and ready to go. Granted it’s a bit more expensive, but already has the off-site hosting ready to go.
This is an Axis camera. They simply charge you for an online service. Hmmm.
True, it is an Axis camera, but the firmware flashed on it is designed to connect to MyCamServer’s colo without router configuration (no ports, firewall exceptions, ect.). The monthly service fee is for the storage and often times easier to swallow then a DVR upfront.
I am going to set one up to catch the sumbitch who keeps emptying the office coffee pot and not making a freshie.
$9 a month?
My alarm monitoring service cost me less than $75 a year.
Go to Costco and get one of their 350 gig DVR w/ 4 wireless and 4 wired cams. Internet and mobile ready.
Costco has good deals, but the ideal market for an IP camera with hosted storage (like http://www.MyCamServer.com) would be individuals or small businesses that need less than 4 cameras.
to view the camera, do we need to load Active x,
want to view my camera from work but can not load active x
thanks
Hey guys,
DropCam, MyCamServer etc…. they are all Axis camera system, they are using reselling company to sell their cameras and services.
the $9 or more that they charge for their monitoring fees is for two things…
1- it is the only way to get a true “PLUG & PLAY” system.
2- Remote recording (which is great if someone steels your camera system, they are not leaving with your recording)
I work with a similar product that we be released shortly and our survey shows that people would pay up to $15 a month for this type of service.
This type of system is for people that don’t have a clue how to connect electronic devices (the people that still have a VCR with 12:00 still flashing on it)
I would like to see a little more features for $179, but it still not to bad….
As for the people that say that they are not paying anything monthly to connect to their cameras… great for you… it shows that you know a great deal about technologies and nothing about marketing….
A quick history class… D-Link use to sell IP cameras 5 years ago, and they charge you $29.00 per month to connect to their DDNS server!!!! they made a lot of money and when competition followed with free DDNS server they changed, but they did make a lot of money during that time…
If there is a market for it… people will buy it… and when you are talking about several million people that could be potential customer for such a device that is really “Plug&Play” I say run with it and make as much as you can right now…
The future is off site recording… trust me on this and there will always be a cost involved with this…
Have a great day all…