New smart security camera goes live with nifty physical privacy feature
Kangaroo’s latest smart security device is the Privacy Camera – a home security cam that offers reassurance to users that they aren’t being monitored when the camera isn’t activated.
That’s through a neat looking opaque cover that Kangaroo is calling “Privacy Shield technology”. Essentially the camera’s lens is transparent when the smart security camera is armed, and blurred when the system is disarmed so people can clearly see if video or audio is being captured or recorded.
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We’ve seen similar moves, with sliding panels, on the likes of Somfy’s One and Outdoor cameras, and Echo Show smart speakers also have a physical panel that can be moved over the camera lens.
We must admit we’ve never seen anything quite as slick as Kangaroo’s effort though, which uses polymer dispersed liquid crystals for the effect.
The rest of the feature list is pretty unremarkable – Full HD video, motion detection with customizable action zones and night vision – but it all comes in at a very competitive $79 price-tag.
You can also get the Kangaroo Privacy Camera for free, if you take out one of the company’s premium monitoring plans for $99 – and this adds a few features to the camera as well.
The Kangaroo Complete plan gets you 30 days of cloud storage, two-way talk, Alexa and Google Assistant integration, and 24/7 Professional Monitoring. That $99 is for a year’s subscription, you can also subscribe for $10 a month.
Kangaroo has a range of smart security sensors, keypads, sirens and the like and there are tags that can be used to arm and disarm the new Privacy Camera.
The Kangaroo Privacy Camera is expected to start shipping in April. You can pre-order now.