Nest announces Nest Cam and updates Nest Protect

David Court June 17, 2015

Nest has today announced two major hardware updates to its product range: a new smart home security camera – Nest Cam – and an updated version of Nest Protect, the company’s smoke and carbon monoxide detector.

Nest announces Nest Cam and updates Nest Protect

As leaked last week, Nest Cam is an IP camera that works within the “Nest family” and is accessible remotely over the internet. Essentially, the new product is Dropcam version 2, but with Nest branding for the first time. Google bought Dropcam in June last year.

The new camera comes with increased resolution, up from 720p in the old Dropcam product, to full 1080p. Its stand, which has been redesigned in zinc alloy, is hinged and has a magnet in the base, so it can be attached to your fridge or other metal surface. There’s also now a tripod thread, adding a further mounting option to the Nest Cam’s capabilities.

The camera is still powered via the mains like the Dropcam was before it, but it now has eight infrared LEDs which help it see in the dark, and bi-directional audio so you can hear and talk through the camera, like a “walkie talkie”.

Plus, via the app, there’s a host of interesting software control options. A new algorithm helps Nest Cam avoid recording unnecessary video clips (when curtains move in the breeze, for example), and users can set specific zones for motion detection. It’s also possible to create timelapse videos on the Nest Cam app using clips recorded to the cloud.

The Nest Cam will cost £159 and will be available to buy from early July. With the camera, customers get a 30-day free trial of the Nest Aware cloud video recording service, whose Video History feature can stores recorded video for the last ten days or 30 days, depending on the subscription purchased. Subscriptions will cost £8 per month for the ten-day subscription and £24 for the 30-day service, but customers don’t have to pay to get live footage or to view single video clips.

Nest Protect also gets an update…

Google Nest Protect 2: Mounted on a wall

An updated version of Nest Protect was announced at the press event as well. The new smoke and carbon monoxide detector will go on sale tomorrow and cost customers in the UK £89.

The new version of Nest Protect has been redesigned. It’s 11% smaller, easier to mount on your wall, has a stainless steel screen surrounding the detector chamber to prevent insects and other non-smoke particles getting in, and is reported to have a ten-year product lifetime.

Other improvements come in the form of a split-spectrum sensor, which uses two different wavelengths of light to intelligently work out the difference between a slow- and fast-burning fire, and alert you accordingly.

Nest Protect’s light now shines brighter, and on those occasions when the alarm goes off when it shouldn’t, you can silence it using the companion app on your smartphone or tablet.

Sound Check is another feature that highlights how Nest is going “above and beyond” obligatory safety checks. This new feature detects when a house is empty and self-checks the alarm’s speakers once a month using its built-in microphone.