This is arguably the coolest feature on the device.
Depending on where you place Piper, the camera’s super wide field of view
allows you to surveil a large area of your home, and in many cases eliminates
the need for multiple cameras to be positioned throughout a given room. It’s
also equipped with a digital
pan/zoom function, so you can zoom into the room and pan around without
actually changing the position of the device. BlackSumac’s website claims the
video is HD, and it may very well be recording in HD, but if you tap into a
live video stream, don’t expect it to look super crisp. Even on the two
blazing-fast Wi-Fi networks we tried it on, the footage came up a bit grainy
and slow on our phones – but not to the point where it was unusable. On the
plus, side, however, we found that playback was only a second or two behind
real time, even on a crappy 3G connection.
In addition to using it for live video surveillance, you can
also set up Piper to record video whenever certain sensors are tripped. Once
activated, Piper will record a 20-second clip, and automatically saves it to
the cloud — so even if an intruder breaks in and steals the camera, you’ll
still have access to the footage. It’s a smart setup, and could definitely come
in handy if you should ever need to use the footage is any sort of legal
proceeding – but unfortunately the app doesn’t offer any way to export these
videos, so the only way you can access them is through your phone.
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