Amazon’s home security Cloud Cam is Alexa-enabled

Amazon has just unveiled its “Key” service for Prime members, and along with that it announced a new AWS cloud-powered surveillance camera. The infrared-capable Cloud Cam lets you confirm deliveries via the Key service and get custom notifications depending on the activities or people it spots. You can also control up to ten Cloud Cams and see specific views with your Echo device by saying “Alexa, show me the [camera name].”

Spec wise, it’s a pretty decent model for the price, giving you 1080p, night vision and eight infrared LEDs, two-way audio over Alexa (“tell your dog to stop barking,” Amazon suggests) and and free storage for clips. When the camera detects activity, it starts recording and sends an alert to the mobile app. For the price of the camera, you get recording and cloud storage of the last 24 hours of clips, for up to three cameras. The device will get smarter over time and adapt to your daily habits.

If you want more than that, you’ll need to get one of the subscription plans. The $6.99 per month ($69/year) Basic plan gives seven days of motion detection clips for three cameras, Extended ($9.99/$99) offers 14 days of clips for cameras, and the $19.99/$199 Pro plan gives you 30 days of clips for up to 10 cameras.

The subscription also gives you “Person Detection,” flagging human activity instead of, say, pets; as well as Zones, which let you mark off areas of your home to ignore. As with most Amazon subscription products, you can try it for free for up to a month.

One of the main purposes of the Cloud Cam, as you’d expect, is to verify Amazon deliveries. For that to work, you’ll need to get the $140 Key Edition Cloud Cam, which gives you an Amazon Key-compatible smart lock, and supports the Amazon Key app. The latter can show deliveries, or verify the identity of friends or guests who unlock the door.

The Cloud Cam costs $120, while the Key Edition is $140 in areas where the Key service is available. Pre-orders are now open, and it’ll start shipping to US customers on November 8th.

Source: Amazon, (2)