IP Cameras vs. Nest, Arlo and integrated systems: Which security ecosystem should you invest in?

Whether you want something simple or need a complicated whole-house system, there is a security camera that will work for you.

Home surveillance cameras are more popular than ever before. Whether you want cameras as part of a larger home security system, to use as a baby monitor or even to keep an eye on the pets while you’re at work, there are plenty of options available at just about every price point.

But before you buy, you need to think about things like placement, power needs and, most importantly, what type of system to start with: a simple integrated system like a Nest Cam, or a standard IP camera. There are pros and cons to both types and a bit of time spent deciding which is best for you will save frustration and money.

Integrated camera systems

Camera packages from companies like Nest or Netgear’s Arlo are available as a complete turnkey system in one box. You’ll have everything you need to get a camera in place and monitoring the things you want to monitor without any headaches or difficult installation instructions.

Once installed, you’ll have a system that can stream HD video with advanced features like motion detection triggers and zone fencing that works with your smartphone to do things like sending push notifications for motion alerts. The cameras use your home internet connection to stream video to the company’s servers where you can monitor things in real time or download clips to save them for later. The companies making these consumer IP camera kits have thought of nearly everything, and it only takes a few minutes to get it all up and running. Additional features like the “Works with Nest” program can even integrate your cameras with things like smart lamps or switches for advanced automation.

What makes installation and setup of these types of cameras so easy are their proprietary nature. They are designed to work very well in limited ways, with little to no flexibility in how you set them up and use them.

Everything is easy because nothing is flexible.

After connecting a camera or a base station to your home network, they are attached to a user account through the company that manufacturers them. You’ll notice during the setup process that all you need to do through an app on your phone or a PC is enter your network name and password while the cameras themselves do the rest. Your only options for viewing and storage are the ones approved by the manufacturer, and depending on your needs the hosting plans for camera storage can be pretty pricey. Workarounds from other companies who offer cloud-based camera FTP services exist, but can be complicated to set up and limit the features supported.

Camera systems from companies like Nest or Netgear are great for families who need something that can be easily set up and requires little to no maintenance. The initial high price of the equipment as well as long term expense for hosting services are mitigated by the ease of use and well thought out feature set.

See Arlo security camera systems at Amazon

See Nest security camera systems at Amazon

Standard IP cameras

Standard IP cameras are usually a very different experience than an all-in-one-box setup. Instead of a simple camera or cameras designed to work with a specific service from the manufacturer, a standard IP camera is just a camera. It transmits video, both wired and wireless options exist, and it’s up to you how to capture and preserve the streams. A typical IP camera setup will have several inexpensive cameras connected to an NVR (Network Video Recorder) on a standalone storage device or a computer system.

These systems can be more complicated to setup than an integrated system. But part of the reason is the number of options you have for just about every piece of the system itself. IP cameras come in many different styles with different mounting options, can use PoE (Power over Ethernet) for a single-wire FHD installation and models with zoom lenses and true night vision are available for special needs cases. Countless hardware and installation options make a standard IP camera an excellent part of a larger automation system and “regular” IP address based stream access means you won’t have any trouble seeing what the camera sees.

Standard IP cameras are prefect for anyone who loves to DIY.

The biggest difference between these cameras and an integrated camera kit is the video storage. A basic system like this one from Zmodo comes with four indoor/outdoor autofocus cameras (with IR cut filters for basic “night” vision), a stand-alone NVR storage device and the software to set everything up through a computer on your existing home network. The cost of this system is about the same as a two-camera system from Nest with no additional costs for cloud services or storage.

You also have the benefit of not having video from your cameras in the cloud. Popular use cases for security cameras include children’s rooms, bedrooms and other places where privacy is paramount. With proper installation and setup, only you will be able to access your camera recordings, and they are stored on media in your home.

You can also build your own NVR storage devices, and capture and administrative software is available for everyone from the hobbyist to the enterprise. If you have particular needs or just want to set everything up yourself, a standard IP camera system is the way to go.

See IP cameras and systems at Amazon

Which is best?

One type of security camera system isn’t inherently better than the other. The easy setup and use of products like a Nest Cam are worth the extra cost and storage service plans for many. Others will be more comfortable keeping their recordings local or have needs better served by a standard IP camera system. If you are using security cameras and have a particular brand you like or any feedback, feel free to talk about it in the comments!

AT&T adds unlimited data option for prepaid GoPhone customers

Get unlimited data for your AT&T GoPhone!

AT&T prepaid GoPhone customers who are sick and tired of having to manage their data usage have a new option. AT&T is now offering an unlimited data GoPhone plan for only $60 a month, after you sign up for AutoPay. This unlimited data is available even when you’re travelling to Canada or Mexico, which is pretty great.

However, the unlimited does come with a caveat: data rates are limited to 3Mbps. That’s more than enough speed to surf the web and connect with friends on all your favorite social media apps, but video streaming is limited to standard definition and capped at 1.5Mbps.

If you don’t think you’ll be able to get your full money’s worth out of that unlimited data plan, AT&T is also offering a $40 GoPhone plan with 6GB of high-speed data.

The unlimited plan takes over GoPhone’s previous $60 plan, which offered 8GB of high-speed data, after which the service was throttled to 128kbps. AT&T says that most customers will be very happy with the two new options, but it’s unclear why the company isn’t offering a slightly more expensive non-unlimited option with more high-speed LTE data, since 3Mbps isn’t exactly speedy in this day and age.

If these plans feel like the right fit for you or your family, you can check out the available phones here, or look into bringing your own phone over to the plan.

More: Which unlimited plan should you buy? AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, or Sprint

The LG G6 has turned me into a monster, and I’m OK with that

The LG G6 is a great phone that has had a terrible influence on me. Or maybe I’m just defective.

For the past week, I’ve been committing a huge sin, and I feel really terrible about myself. Every time I look at my phone, I wonder what has happened to me.

See, I’ve been using an LG G6 as my daily driver — tl;dr it’s an amazing phone and you should probably buy one — and it’s been a pretty good experience overall. But the phone is tall, and it’s narrow, which is exactly what LG talks about when it claims its flagship to be one hand-friendly.

So I’ve enabled LG’s on-screen navigation shortcut to quickly drop down the notification shade. While I hate how it looks, I think there’s a practical reason most people should consider this, especially as tall, narrow phones with odd aspect ratios become more commonplace in the market.

A history of messing with notifications

Ever since the introduction of on-screen navigation buttons in 2011, Android manufacturers have found ways to pervert Google’s original intentions. From changes to the designs (which were, during the Holo era, admittedly terrible across the board) to the addition of superfluous options, companies like LG and Huawei made it very easy to make that on-screen navigation era look terrible.

LG has offered the ability to augment the nav bar with notification shortcuts and quick access to its near-useless QSlide memo utility for a number of years, and it’s always been possible to place them in any orientation one desires. If you want the notification shortcut on the left side, so be it on. On the right? You’re an animal (or left-handed), but sure.

Enter G6

With the G6, LG made a phone that is usable in one hand but still too tall for the average thumb.

I’ve never really cared for changing the on-screen navigation buttons. Google has a reason the home button is in the middle, and the back button on the far left. Samsung has gone out of its way (and appears to be poised to continue doing so, at least by default) to do exactly the opposite of what Google intended, but at least it’s been consistent in that particular area since the days of the first Galaxy devices in 2010.

But with the G6, something happened. LG released a phone that was usable in one hand, thanks to its narrow frame, but too tall to actually access the notification shade without some hand gymnastics. So in lieu of a “Mini Me” mode (which I don’t miss), I decided to try my hand, or thumb, at using that much-maligned nav shortcut — on the left side, no less.

And by gosh, the damn thing worked. Not only does it reorient the regular navigation buttons slightly to the right, allowing me to more easily tap the back or home buttons without shifting my thumb, but the notification shortcut has proven considerably more useful than I initially gave it credit for. You don’t realize how much time you spend merely swiping down to check notifications during the day until you take stock of your behavior. The upside is that I can easily open and close the notification shade without shifting my hand and interrupting what I am doing.

What about gestures?

I was scolded by my coworkers, and rightfully so, for polluting the sanctity of the navigation area, mainly because they believe I can accomplish the same thing using gestures. Specifically, many launchers, such as Action and Nova, allow for the setting of a home screen shortcut to quickly access notifications. And other apps purport to allow the same using overlays, so the notification shade can be accessed from any app, not just the home screen.

I tried all of these alternatives, and none have proven as usable, and as functional, as the Quad Blight.

The ugly truth

I’m getting older. I don’t take the same care of myself as I used to. I prefer function to aesthetic. I don’t care if I walk the dog in dog-eaten sneakers. I catch myself staring at clouds.

I’m also looking for ways to make the thing I use more than anything else a bit more functional, even at the expense of tradition, and symmetry. I can’t promise that I’ll continue using the LG G6 in this manner — my snob brain curdles at the thought — but for now, it’s fine.

This is fine.

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Sony MDR-1000X review: No noise is good noise

Good headphones should be like a big wall between you and the rest of the world. Great headphones should let you get through that wall easily and comfortably. Enter the Sony MDR-1000X Acoustic Noise Canceling headphones, which have a feature I truly appreciate: the ability to hear outside your headphones with a quick tap.

I’m Michael Fisher, but you probably know me best as MrMobile. I’ve reviewed more than a few ANC headphones in the past year, and this is unquestionably the best. Watch this video, and keep your ears open. You might hear something you like.

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dbrand launched Galaxy S8 skin pre-orders just a little early

Hey, why not pre-order a dbrand skin before the phone even launches?

It’s no secret that case and accessory makers often get early access to specifications — and even renders — of unreleased phones, and one has surfaced today giving us a stylistic look at the back of the Galaxy S8. This one comes courtesy of the well-known peel-and-stick phone skin company dbrand, which makes skins for just about every popular phone out there.

The renders are styled out in the exact same way as other recent Samsung phone launches, and these look very much like the ones you’ll start to see all over the internet in the next couple weeks as accessory makers start to get out ahead of the launch at the end of March.

Might as well customize your skin before the phone is even released.

dbrand is using the renders in its skin customization tool, letting you pick various color combinations for the front, back and accents around the Galaxy S8. By playing with the tools you can get a better feel for just how much area you’ll be able to skin — and considering the small bezels in the latest model, it’s going to be even less than before. Though thankfully you’ll be able to apply a skin to the bottom bezel much easier now with the physical home button going away.

Heck, dbrand is even letting you pre-order a skin for the Galaxy S8, even though it hasn’t been released. You can snag a full set for the phone for around $17, then wait (not so) patiently for over a month.

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Ghost Recon Wildlands review: A hugely ambitious open-world epic

You certainly couldn’t accuse Ubisoft of playing things safe with Ghost Recon: Wildlands. By opting to give it what may be the biggest play-area ever seen in a mainstream game, and decreeing that it would be playable co-operatively by up to four people in its entirety, the French publisher set itself a daunting task.

Overall, it has prevailed. Wildlands is great fun to play, which is what matters most, and it’s certainly an imposing spectacle to witness. Is it the ultimate Ghost Recon title fans will have been waiting for?

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands review: A new kind of game

However, what existing Ghost Recon fans will make of it is uncertain: the move from the tight, linear, micro-managed squad-based third-person shooting of previous Ghost Recon games to a giant open-world playground has resulted in a considerable shift in the general feel of this game.

If you play Wildlands solo with three computer-controlled squad-mates stripped in, you can still order them around, but you can only do so in the most basic manner, so the squad micro-management which characterised the likes of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter has been pushed far to the background.

Instead, Wildlands feels more like a Grand Theft Auto, Far Cry or Just Cause game, with added military authenticity. For some that will sound like the ultimate reason to buy this game (we found it hilariously good fun when previewing multi-player at E3 2016), while for diehard fans it might feel like it’s shifted a little too far away from its core.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands review: A storyline not to be sniffed at

Story-wise, Ghost Recon: Wildlands also shows a penchant for risk-taking. It’s set in an alternate-world Bolivia, in 2019, in which a corrupt government has invited the Santa Blanca cartel (run by nefarious characters from neighbouring South American countries) to take control of the cocaine trade, and effectively the country itself.

Ubisoft

A corrupt military/police force, Unidad, makes cosmetic efforts to keep Santa Blanca in check, but its main focus is on oppressing the unfortunate people of Bolivia. As one of a four-man squad of Ghosts – the US military’s most elite soldiers – it’s up to you to smash the cartel and liberate Bolivia, with the help of a burgeoning force of rebels.

The way you go about that is by working your way up to the Santa Blanca underbosses and taking them out, bringing you closer to the bigger bosses and, ultimately, a show-down with head honcho El Sueno.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands review: Missions by the boat load

Which isn’t going to be achieved swiftly, since there are four distinct divisions of Santa Blanca – production, trafficking, influence and security. A local CIA operative, Karen Bowman, offers overall direction, but it’s up to you to find the intel which opens up story missions leading to the cartel’s main players.

Ubisoft

Along with the story-missions there are countless side-missions of various distinct types, pop-up missions which you randomly encounter, objects to find such as skill points, weapon cases and bonus medals which ramp up your abilities and arsenal, and activities to pursue such as marking useful objects for the rebels to pick up.

At first, even with a tiny area of the map unlocked, it all seems a bit much, and it did take a while before we found ourselves completely immersed in Wildlands (partly because we could see Zelda, all boxed up, not being played – how’s that for launch inconvenience?).

Ubisoft

The storyline is introduced in a pretty skeletal manner – although after a while, it begins to mesh into a satisfying whole. The story missions can be undertaken in any order, although it’s worth paying attention on the map to the general difficulty level assigned to each boss’s mission-trail.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands review: A sprawling open-world co-op game

That take-your-own-approach structure proves invaluable when you jump into co-operative play, as it means that it doesn’t matter if the people you play with are exploring a different part of the play-area – indeed, that’s an advantage, as it opens up new areas for you to explore.

Ubisoft

Ghost Recon: Wildlands is at is most enjoyable when you play it co-operatively, especially with a full complement of three others, since with one or two human squad-mates, it doesn’t strip in extra AI-powered players, but adjusts the number of enemies you face accordingly. So, it’s probably at its hardest when just two or three of you play co-operatively and, in keeping with past Ghost Recon games, it’s pretty uncompromising difficulty-wise. If, for example, you die twice in the course of a mission (squad-mates can revive you), you will have to restart that mission.

Two aspects of the game that will satisfy existing Ghost Recon fans are the weaponry and the skills tree. You can carry three weapons, which are real-life ones, and customise sights, barrels and the like. But the key item of kit is a drone, which can be upgraded from reconnaissance tool to a stealthy, lethal box of tricks via the skills tree. If you’re playing solo, you can use it to mark enemies for your squad-mates to snipe, which is invaluable when it comes to tipping the odds your way when facing the trickier missions.

Ubisoft

The skills tree, in keeping with the rest of the game, is huge and, cleverly, it forces you to perform various missions and activities on behalf of the rebels as well as to deploy skill points (which are awarded when you level-up and also available on the map for you to pick up – effectively another form of side-mission). But while the skills tree is huge, it’s also readily understandable. Structurally, Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a tour de force which other open-world games would do well to copy.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands review: Makes you go glitchy

One obvious downside, though, is an inevitable level of glitchiness – unavoidable in a game of such scope. Mostly you come across visual bugs, such as Ghosts hanging half-in, half-out of vehicles, which make things look messy, yet doesn’t really detract from your general enjoyment.

However, a few more egregious bugs – such as the ability to drive off cliffs without sustaining damage – have been reported, so expect Ubisoft to start rolling out the patches shortly.

Ubisoft

The Ghosts themselves have received a bit of criticism for their voice-acting, too, but they do at least have some catch-phrases – most notably “shitballs”, which is often heard in the midst of a fire-fight.

But much of the game’s personality comes from the environment, which is stunningly constructed and very varied. The missions, too.

Verdict

Ghost Recon: Wildlands won’t be for everyone, in particular the diehard fans might find its shift unappealing. Others, however, may find its Far Cry-esque sense and sprawling open-world the exact hook they need to get into the game. 

At times Wildlands fulfills its name and feels almost dauntingly huge, though, so if you like your games to lead along a particular path then you’ll find it bewildering. But if you get into it then it’s a near-endless sandbox of military-shooter fun.

Ubisoft

Wildlands is at its finest when played co-operatively: the inevitable long car or helicopter rides (one handy by-product of Santa Blanca’s arrival in Bolivia seems to be that half the world’s helicopters have been relocated to the country) provide plenty of opportunities for banter and team-bonding, and the whole experience is much less constantly intense than, say, that of Rainbow Six: Siege. You don’t have to be or play with a bunch of absolute ninjas in order to progress, although you will have to concentrate at key times.

Ghost Recon: Wildlands does very well to avoid becoming monotonous, given its scope, and it’s impossible not to marvel at the game’s sheer scope and ambition. Yes, you will find some glitches, but it’s otherwise undeniably a technical marvel that pushes the boundaries of what was previously thought to be possible in a videogame.

Hulu adds A&E, History and Viceland to its live TV lineup

Hulu’s live TV streaming service, set to debut later this spring, just got an even bigger channel selection. On Friday, Hulu announced a new partnership to add the A+E Networks family of six channels, including A&E, History, Lifetime and Viceland, but the additions come with a few tradeoffs. According to Bloomberg, Viacom has reportedly backed away from a potential Hulu deal, meaning the service could lose access to content from Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.

The new channels build on Hulu’s already impressive core lineup that includes the major broadcast players like CBS, Fox, Disney and Time Warner as well as their sports, entertainment and documentary subsidiaries. With A+E Networks on board, Hulu subscribers will be able to stream content like A&E’s Emmy-winning Born This Way, Lifetime’s Project Runway and Viceland’s Weediquette both on-demand or as they air live.

Meanwhile, the fallout with Viacom comes as no surprise since new CEO Bob Bakish has focused on rebuilding his company’s relationships with traditional TV providers by cutting out the streaming deals, even as those pay TV services are bleeding subscribers and cord-cutting becomes the norm in more and more homes. Despite the potential loss of Viacom, Bloomberg also notes that AMC, Discovery and Scripps Networks (which owns HGTV, Food Network and the Travel Channel, among others) are all negotiating for spots on Hulu’s lineup as well.

Alphabet asks court to halt Uber’s self-driving car project

Alphabet’s self-driving car division Waymo seeks to completely block Uber’s autonomous vehicle operations, according to new documents filed in federal court Friday. The documents are part of Waymo’s lawsuit filed against Uber last month and the company is seeking a preliminary injunction which could prohibit Uber’s self-driving vehicle tests while the case is ongoing.

As The Verge reports, the documents filed today claim Uber is operating using stolen materials and include the sworn testimony of Google forensic security engineer Gary Brown. As we heard last month, Brown’s testimony alleges former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski used his personal laptop to download 9.7 GB of confidential materials related to Google’s self-driving project in December of 2015. According to Brown, Levandowski’s device left a trail in Google’s logs, making him easy to track. Brown also says there’s evidence that two other Google engineers Radu Raduta and Sameer Kshirsagar helped download confidential material.

Levandowski left Google to start autonomous trucking company Otto in January 2016, which Uber acquired a few months later for $680 million. Uber’s own self-driving pilot program officially went live in Pittsburgh in September. Raduta and Kshirsagar were both poached away by Otto and followed Levandowski to Uber after the buyout.

When reached for comment on today’s preliminary injunction, an Uber spokesperson referred Engadget to the company’s previous statement on the lawsuit, saying: “We are incredibly proud of the progress that our team has made. We have reviewed Waymo’s claims and determined them to be a baseless attempt to slow down a competitor and we look forward to vigorously defending against them in court. In the meantime, we will continue our hard work to bring self-driving benefits to the world.” Engadget will update if we learn more.

AT&T offers unlimited data with slow speeds for pre-paid plans

AT&T is upgrading two of its inexpensive pre-paid GoPhone plans today, but they come with some serious trade-offs. The first plan, with unlimited data for $60 per month, only offers 3Mbps of data, and the speed will drop even further after you’ve used 22GB of data. The second plan comes in at a budget-friendly $45 for 6GB of high-speed data, but you’ll get throttled down to 128K when you exceed your cap. Both plans require an AutoPay option, but you won’t have to sign a contract or undergo a credit check.

AT&T has been refreshing and upgrading its pre-paid phone plans for a while now (including a similarly structured plan for non-prepaying customers). Of the current offers, the more expensive one gets you unlimited talk, texting and data, but you’ll be limited to the slower speeds — almost half of AT&T’s regular LTE throughput, as reported by the Open Signal project. Sure, unlimited data sounds great, but you’ll be also be limited to “standard” definition video at 480p and there’s no mention of using your phone as a hotspot.

If you need a low-cost option for your phone, one of these plans might be worth considering. Still, the low data cap and throttled speeds won’t let you do much, making for a less complete experience.

Via: The Verge

Source: AT&T

Next up in your News Feed: Gear VR livestreams

It looks like announcing 360-degree photos and videos for the Gear VR app was a teaser of what Oculus had in mind for this week. Now, Facebook’s $2 billion baby is pulling back the curtain on the mobile VR live-streaming it teased last October. Assuming you aren’t stateside, it’s rolling out to the public today. Domestic users will be able to livestream their VR gameplay from Face Your Fears or Wands, a sorcery simulator, directly to Facebook “in the coming weeks,” according to TechCrunch.

Then there’s “Oculus Events,” a new social virtual reality feature that adds things like tech talks and multiplayer games to the mobile-VR viewing experience. As the name suggests, “this new feature lets you find public events and interact with others in Gear VR,” a blog post reads. It starts with a VR poker tournament later this evening.

Beyond that Oculus is expanding on its other social VR attraction, Rooms. Watching 360-degree from the likes of Vimeo, with friends, is totally a thing you can do (something Twitch has teased). You can even search by voice. Oh, and speaking of, a system-wide voice search is out today as well. “Over time, we’ll add even more functionality like seeing if a friend is online or contextual commands to invite people to play a game with you,” the post reads.

While this sounds incremental on the surface (because it is) it lays the groundwork for Facebook’s grand plans to wire everyone into the metaverse. Mobile VR headsets outnumber 360-degree cameras by a wide margin, but eventually that won’t be the case. This announcement is the foundation for when everyone has a VR-friendly camera and can broadcast, say, their kid blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. What’s more, when you combine it with the Rooms update, it gives people something familiar they’re able to grab onto. In this case, Facebook Live and internet chat rooms.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Oculus