One of the most troubling issues with home security and remote-monitoring products is the complexity and cost to set them up. Blink, a new Kickstarter project, is different. It promises to be astoundingly easy, and it's inexpensive, too. Backers can get a simple remote motion detection and video camera unit for just US$69 -- or two for $119.
Better yet, no yearly or monthly subscription service is required to use Blink. And the batteries last a year.
Amazingly sensible.
So far, nearly 4,700 project backers agree, having pledged $684,888. Blink blew past its $200,000 goal and has reached a stretch goal for a 105-decibel siren alarm add-on module.
How It Works
The small Blink module can be placed or mounted anywhere, and because it requires no external power source, you can move it around easily. To connect it to your home WiFi, you plug in a small Sync Module and use Blink's smartphone app to configure the basic settings.
As you might expect, the Blink remote-monitoring system is expandable, letting you place the devices all over your home.
After you place a Blink unit, motion will trigger an instant-on five-second HD video recording. This recording can go to Blink's secure servers in the cloud -- or better yet, if you don't like the idea of any personal video being stored anywhere not 100-percent in your own control, you can set your recordings to be stored to an attached USB stick.
With the Blink app, you can invoke a live-streaming mode to simply take a quick peek at your place to see what's going on, too.
When Blink records, an audio beep lets you know it's recording (you can turn this feature off), and a non-hackable LED light glows to let you know the camera is recording. For use when people are at home, this is a signal that Blink is active. If intruders are tooling around your place, presumably they could see the light, too -- but discrete placement might mean they wouldn't see it. Obviously, the add-on siren could be used to warn criminals away.
What if your WiFi should go down while you're on vacation? You'd get an alert sent to your smartphone. You can use the app to set up automatic arming or disarming schedules, or use location-based rules to define when the system is active.
What about the volume of video storage? Blink's server will provide each system storage for up to 7,200 total seconds of video, which is 1,440 five-second events. Once the
storage limit is reached, the oldest clips will be deleted to make room for any new ones. Of course, the record-to-USB option records to the available USB-attached storage.
Cool Features
As if recording motion-triggered HD video weren't enough, Blink also will sense the temperature in your home and send you alerts if you want them.It uses an LED illuminator with low-light video capture capabilities to ensure that you can see what's happening day or night.
Plus, there's a built-in microphone so you can hear what's happening.
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