Latest news with #security cameras
Forbes
2 days ago
- Forbes
Wyze's Duo Cam Pan Doubles Up To Kill Blind Spots
Most home security cameras give you one view, and if that view misses something like a burglar creeping under your windows, then you're out of luck. Wyze's new Duo Cam Pan doesn't just - as the name suggests - offer two cameras in one device, but also wants to make sure you don't miss a thing thanks to its pan and tilt motion tracking. The Duo Cam Pan comes with two 2K cameras in a single unit so there's nowhere for potential trouble (or your kids) to hide. Instead of mounting two separate devices, Wyze has paired a static lens with a motorized pan-and-tilt lens that can swing 360 degrees horizontally and 180 degrees vertically. One camera can therefore keep a constant eye on a chosen hot spot; for example, where you park your car on the driveway, while the other follows motion. So it could potentially track all movement on your front entryway. Both lenses pack color night vision, IP65 weather resistance, and a set of motion-triggered spotlights, backed by a 100dB siren. Two-way audio is built in, so you can talk to visitors (or shoo away raccoons) straight from the Wyze app. Local video storage is handled via microSD cards up to 512GB, so there are no subscriptions needed (but you will need one to unlock all the Wyze features.) You also get Wi-Fi 6 support, Bluetooth setup, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility, IFTTT hooks, and the option to automate via Wyze's own routines. It ships with a mounting kit, indoor power adapter, and a 6-foot USB-C cable. Wyze is selling the Duo Cam Pan now for $69.98 on its website, or $129.98 for a two-pack if you want to cover multiple spots. For outdoor setups, you'll need the Wyze Cam Universal Outdoor Power Adapter, which is due out next month. Wyze has been on quite the rampage lately, with a bunch of new devices and features going live. Earlier this year the budget smart security specialist introduced a new AI-powered Descriptive Alerts feature, which sends you text messages detailing what your camera sees. Building on that technology, Wyze also launched the No Big Deal (NBD) AI filter in March, aiming to reduce unnecessary notifications by only alerting you to important events. The NBD filter summarizes motion events and ranks them on a scale from 1 to 5, so you're only bothered when something truly noteworthy happens. After some security controversy in the last couple of years, the company also introduced VerifiedView in June, which embeds your user ID into the metadata of every photo, video, and live stream. According to Wyze, this system verifies your account against this data before playback, which prevents unauthorized access to your footage.
The Verge
4 days ago
- The Verge
Matter's latest update doubles down on stability and pushes the platforms to play better together
For Matter, this year was never going to be about flashy new features. Other than support for security cameras, which I hear should finally arrive this fall, 2025 is all about fixing problems. And with Matter 1.4.2, announced today, the smart home standard is taking an encouraging step forward. Back in January, Tobin Richardson, president and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance (the organization that runs Matter), said this year was all about 'focusing on fixing these reliability and performance issues.' Now, over halfway through 2025, the CSA is finally looking to make good on that promise, and showing signs that it's prepared to push the platforms harder to work together and adopt these new specs sooner. Matter 1.4.2 brings more standardization to the standard, so devices behave the same whether you're using Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, or any Matter platform; improvements to how devices communicate, which should mean fewer random disconnects and faster responses; and a big reliability push. The CSA is pushing the platforms to work together better and adopt these new specs sooner And where does reliability in the smart home start? With your Wi-Fi router. Home routers and access points were added to Matter in 1.4, and the latest spec lays the foundations for Matter ecosystems to automatically optimize router settings to help your gadgets get connected and stay connected to your network. This includes things like managing multicast traffic (a way devices communicate over a network) and storing Thread network credentials to help devices connect to the right Thread network. While there aren't any Matter-certified routers yet, the potential here is huge. Misconfigured router settings are one of the most common reasons a device won't connect to a network, and the user is normally left to figure that out. With this feature, your smart home platform could potentially fix these problems before they arise. Your smart home platform could potentially fix connectivity problems before they arise The 1.4.2 spec introduces new security features for Matter routers, including Access Restriction Lists (ARLs), so platforms can only access the settings they need to, limiting the potential that they could mess up your Netflix streaming. The spec sets new minimum standards for how many devices a router can support, including at least 150 Thread devices and 100 Wi-Fi devices. It also adds support for Target Wake Time to help battery-powered devices conserve energy. All these improvements rely on ecosystems and device manufacturers rolling out updates Several network management tweaks in 1.4.2 should help keep devices online and communicating more efficiently. These include updates around how often and why devices need to 'check in,' which should help reduce traffic. This could prolong battery life for some devices and mean faster response times for all devices, as they're not fighting to be heard. Gadgets that don't need to report in often, like say a water leak sensor, should now be able to stay 'asleep' for longer without being dropped off the network. Security updates with 1.4.2 bring protections for a growing concern in IoT: cloning. 'We've added the ability to revoke the unique ID every Matter device has,' explains Steve Hanna of Infineon. This means if you try to add a device that has been identified as cloned or counterfeit, you'll get a warning that it's not secure. Matter Controllers will also now be able to cryptographically verify they are what they say they are, again designed to ensure nothing counterfeit and potentially dangerous can get onto your Matter network. 'This is considered an industry best practice,' says Hanna. 'We've not seen this in the wild, but we're focused on being proactive.' Matter is a smart home interoperability standard designed to provide a common language for connected devices to communicate locally in your home without relying on a cloud connection. It is built to be secure and private, easy to set up, and widely compatible. Developed by Apple, Amazon, Google, Samsung, and others, Matter is an open-sourced, IP-based connectivity software layer for smart home devices. It works over Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and Thread. Thread is a low-power, wireless mesh protocol. It operates on the same 2.4GHz spectrum as Zigbee and is designed for low-power devices, such as sensors, light bulbs, plugs, and shades. IP-based, Thread devices can communicate directly with each other, the internet, and with other networks using a Thread Border Router. Today, Matter supports most of the main device types in the home, including lighting, thermostats, locks, robot vacuums, refrigerators, dishwashers, dryers, ovens, smoke alarms, air quality monitors, EV chargers, and more. A smart home gadget with the Matter logo can be set up and used with any Matter-compatible ecosystem via a Matter controller and controlled by more than one ecosystem with a feature called multi-admin. Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, Apple Home, Home Assistant, Ikea, and Aqara are among the well-known smart home companies supporting Matter, along with hundreds of device manufacturers. There are also some quality-of-life updates for users in the new release, which are focused on standardizing the experience across smart home platforms. Wi-Fi-only commissioning: Currently, Bluetooth is the only way to onboard a device to Matter, meaning every device has to have a Bluetooth radio that may only be used during setup. With Wi-Fi commissioning, manufacturers no longer need to build Bluetooth into their devices, which could lead to cheaper gadgets. The onboarding experience would be the same, though: scan the Matter code into your ecosystem app. Matter Controllers will have to get a firmware upgrade to support Wi-Fi onboarding, so it will be a while until we see manufacturers taking advantage of this. Better scenes: Matter Scenes now have a standardized way for ecosystems to activate them. This means you can create scenes using just Matter devices in your smart home app, and they should respond faster and still work when the internet is down, compared to scenes that include devices on other protocols. Scenes also now support time-based actions. So, for example, you can create a wakeup scene where lights could slowly brighten over 30 minutes. Cleaner device identification: Matter ecosystems will recognize when a device has been added to them twice — say, through cloud connection and through Matter — and just show it once in their app. Devices with multiple functions, like a power strip with four smart outlets or a sensor with multiple capabilities, will be more reliably identified across ecosystems. Automatic adding: 1.4.2 standardizes how devices inform a Matter ecosystem about their presence or new capabilities. So, if you add a new light to your Hue bridge, or if a gadget receives a new feature from a firmware update, your smart home app can alert you to the new device/capability automatically without any additional setup. Standardized robot vacuum behavior: Another update to make things work the same way, no matter which ecosystem app you're using, vacuum commands are getting updated. Now, a job won't have to be canceled before a new one can be started. While all of this sounds very encouraging for the smart home standard, these improvements rely on ecosystems and device manufacturers rolling out updates or building new hardware (there are still no Matter-enabled Wi-Fi routers). One of Matter's biggest problems has been the slow adoption of new specs by some of the major players, which in turn deters manufacturers from investing in updates and new hardware. Tobin Richardson tells me the CSA has developed fast-track programs that make it easier, faster, and cheaper to update to the most recent code, which might lead to quicker uptake. When Matter launched almost three years ago, it seemed the hope was the big players here – Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung – would just take it and run with it. That's not been the case. The resulting setbacks and slowdowns have frustrated customers and manufacturers alike. Taken as a whole, the Matter 1.4 updates have a clear focus on nudging the ecosystems forward, giving them better tools to make it easier for them to create better experiences. Let's hope they use from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Analysis Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Matter Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Smart Home Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech
CNET
11-07-2025
- Business
- CNET
Act Fast: Only Hours Left to Get Up to 65% Off Arlo Security Cameras as Prime Day Comes to an End
One in six U.S adults has been a victim of package theft at least once, according to a CNET survey. That means it's more essential than ever that you protect yourself and your loved ones with a reliable security setup. However, investing in home security can be expensive. Luckily, Amazon Prime Day savings on Arlo cameras make it easy to protect what matters most. Arlo is now offering up to 65% off select security products, thanks to its Prime Day sale, though deals are ending tonight. The discounts are available on both the Arlo website and Amazon. We've spotted lots on sale, whether you're after a reliable indoor camera or a video doorbell that supports two-way audio, there's something for everyone. There are only a handful more hours left to take advantage of these deals. The Arlo Pro 5S Spotlight Security Camera, our best overall choice for outdoor security cameras, is 50% for the final hours of Prime Day savings. That drops one camera down to $90 instead of $180. You can also buy Arlo Pro 5S cameras in different bundle counts, all currently on sale. A two-pack is down to $170 from $330. A three-pack is 56% off and now only $200. Four cameras are $230, or 39% off. Finally, you can get five cameras for $450. Arlo's products have consistently performed well in CNET's tests. The 2K video doorbell is a favorite among our home security experts and was ranked the best video doorbell of the year in our latest roundup. It's now just $50, after a huge 62% discount. According to our editors, this one is easy to install, and apart from impressive features like high 2K resolution, night vision and a wide-angle 180-degree view, you'll also get handy extras like a built-in siren, customizable motion-detection zones and two-way audio that lets you communicate with whoever is on the other side. Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money. If you're looking for a way to keep an eye on your kid or pet, the Arlo Essential indoor cam won't disappoint. It offers 2K resolution with zooming features that will help you focus on tiny details. The night vision is just as high-quality, and the two-way audio makes communication seamless. Right now, you can grab one for just $28, after a nice 65% discount. Looking for something else? Here are some more deals worth considering: If you like something, grab it before the deals expire tonight or the stock runs dry. Why this deal matters Whether you're just getting started on home security or looking to upgrade your current setup, things can become expensive fast. These Arlo deals let you protect both your indoors and outdoors for a lot less. The only catch? Deals end tonight, so you might want to hurry.
