Nest Adds An Outside Security Camera To Its Lineup

Generally, delivery people and other visitors to our homes seem to operate under the assumption that regular citizens do not have security cameras. As systems become smaller and cheaper, this turns out to be a bad assumption. Now Alphabet-owned connected-home company Nest has announced that its popular cameras now have an outdoor sibling.

Nest acquired Dropcam a few years ago, and there’s been some drama in the news about that company’s founder and his complaints about Nest and about Google. The company is moving on, though, and has released a $200 security camera with cool features like being able to tell the difference between “motion outside” and “a person lurking outside.”

The original Nest Cam isn’t waterproof or weatherproof, key features for an outdoor camera. It also has a magnetic mount, meaning that you can slap it on a metal rain gutter, as long as there’s a power source nearby for the camera to plug in to.

After all, without an outdoor camera, how can you tell when postal workers practice shot put with your packages, even the ones with $4,000 worth of electronics inside, or when someone uses what looks like a laptop to drive off with your Jeep, when your mail carrier pepper-sprays your pets, or when the USPS insists they delivered a package, but didn’t? (There seems to be some unfair over-representation of postal workers in those examples. Cameras would also capture millions of packages being delivered safely and accurately every day, of course.)

A new version of the Nest cam app will also be able to tell the difference between your neighbor’s cat and a person lurking outside your home, sending alerts accordingly.

It’s a big day for security cameras. [Nest]

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