Nest Cam leak shows a slicker, smarter Dropcam
Droid-Life got its hands on leaked images of a new product, reportedly known as Nest Cam. It looks like a revamp of existing security cameras from Dropcam, which Nest acquired nearly one year ago. (Nest itself was bought by Google in early 2014.)
Aside from a slicker design, the new camera will reportedly stream video at 1080p, whereas current Dropcam models stream at 720p. (Existing Dropcam Pro cameras record in 1080p, but stream video at a lower resolution.) The Nest Cam could also support Bluetooth, though Droid-Life doesn't mention any reasons for this beyond a simpler pairing process.
The other big change will bring Dropcam and Nest Cam controls into the main Nest app for iOS and Android, letting users control their Learning Thermostat, Protect smoke detectors, and security cameras from a single app. Dropcam currently requires a separate app for setting up and viewing security cameras.
There's no word on pricing or availability, and it's unclear whether Nest will announce any other products during its June 17 press conference. While Nest has shown interest in building smart home audio products, we'll have to wait and see whether the company is ready to announce anything on that front.
Why this matters: Dropcam hasn't released any new products since October 2013, seven months before its acquisition by Nest. Since then, we've seen plenty of compelling alternatives, such as Simplicam's slick facial recognition camera and the bandwidth-saving Spotcam. It's clearly time for a refresh on Dropcam's part, and folding it into the Nest brand--whose key selling point is the way all of its devices work together--makes plenty of sense.