Here’s a new app that could be useful for any paranoid or sensible (you decide) short and long-term travelers. Camio allows you to turn any of your spare devices—computer, phone, tablet–into a Camio home security system with ease.
Whether you’ve got your sister’s daughter’s friend house and/or cat sitting, or no one at all (just the neighbor who picks up your mail and waters your plants), Camio could really put your mind at some much needed ease during any vacation.
Monitor your beloved home, plants, or Fido with the ability to view your Camio feed from the convenience of your linked smartphone, tablet, or computer. This is also great for when you’re expecting a package and you’re worried about that new computer being snatched-up while you’re on a late date—with either a person or your office.
As home security systems can be really expensive, the affordability and accessibility of Camio is a large part of the appeal. It doesn’t require the purchase of additional equipment other than compatible devices many already have. You also have the option of connecting as many cameras as you’d like at a cost of $9 a month per additional camera.
Each Camio account is shareable with an unlimited number of family members and trusted friends, and with any account user also has the awesome ability to use the two-way talk feature (much like Skype or FaceTime). Imagine its uses? Last-minute instructions to the house sitter, scolding your sneaky children, or pooch.
A really reassuring part is that all your video recorded is automatically stored for 30 days in the cloud storage. A wonderful convenience is its search features even allow you to browse a day’s worth of highlights in at-a-glance, making sitting through hours of real-time nothing a thing of the past. Camio is only records to the cloud storage. CEO and Founder, Carter Maslan tells Wired, Camio’s “…algorithms are smart enough to tell the difference between, say, lighting changes or a blowing tree branch, and someone walking up to your porch. By reducing the total amount of data uploaded and stored, Camio can use much less bandwidth than a traditional webcam, and the company can afford to offer a free version of the service.”
You can also create alert zones for recorded areas that are most important to you such as the “front door.” Somehow, it gets better: Camio is meant to be able to recognize key events that its recorded the more you interact with it. This allows it to automatically improve on its alerts.
Camio works on both iOS and Android. You can learn more and sign up before your next trip to the office or out of town here.
