Nest say home owners can leave their house safe in the knowledge it's protected by its range of security products.
Nest say home owners can leave their house safe in the knowledge it's protected by its range of security products.
Creators of a new range of security cameras say their products will help prevent home break-ins, burglaries and fires.
"We've heard from lots of customers who have stopped burglaries or been able to help police identify and prosecute intruders," says Nest's head of product marketing, Lionel Guicherd-Callin.
Nest Lab's rangeof products, including indoor and outdoor security cameras and smoke alarms, were recently released in New Zealand.
Lionel Guicherd-Callin, head of product marketing for Nest.
The app-controlled gadgets created by the Palo Alto company send updates to users' phones, including alerting them to potential break-ins or fires.
The cameras, developed in consultation with reformed burglars, let homeowners keep watch on their house and potentially see break-ins unfold in real-time.
They also let homeowners yell at burglars via the app, thanks to a speaker included with the camera.
"it's a great layer of security for your home," says Guicherd-Callin. "We've launched ... a security camera that tells you when an unfamiliar person enters your home or a smoke alarm that tests itself over 400 times a day."
That will be good news for the 160,982 Kiwis who were burgled from July, 2014, to December, 2016, or the estimated 120 house fires that start every week in New Zealand.
But the Nest Cam Indoor and Outdoor - which include facial recognition software that will turn the cameras off when homeowners return home - aren't just focused on security.
Guicherd-Callin says they can also be used to "tell the delivery person to leave the parcel by the front door" by speaking through the outdoor camera.
"It's not just about passively watching a video recording, but being alerted in real time and with the built-in microphone and speaker you can also engage with the person at your home," he says.
The company was founded by former Apple execs Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers in 2012, with the concept of "reinventing unloved objects in the home".
They started by developing a new thermostat, but moved onto home security after becoming dissatisfied with "ugly"products already on the market.
Compilation videos of break-ins shared by users on Nest Lab's website shows they're definitely working.
But Guicherd-Callin says Nest Lab's cameras, priced between $359 to $549, have caught some unscripted moments its creators couldn't have predicted.
"My favourite messages are from people who capture those unmissable moments," says Guicherd-Callin.
"(Like) a baby's first steps, the dog getting up to mischief, or in one case a bear walking into the kitchen."
