Hanwha Techwin America is a long-established manufacturer of security cameras and cybersecurity solutions, so it makes sense that the company is forging ahead into the smart home security market with two new advanced surveillance cameras that are digital-assistant and smart speaker-friendly. On Wednesday, September 12, the company announced the immediate availability of its new SmartCam N1 and N2, which are both compatible with both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, and have a lot of attractive bells and whistles for smart home enthusiasts.
The company, which was formerly known as Samsung Techwin America and is now part of a South Korea-based multi-billion dollar conglomerate, manufactures more than 30 different security cameras including specialty items like cameras equipped with multi-directional sensors and explosion-proof cameras.
The SmartCam series cameras are accessible by voice with Alexa or Google Assistant commands, through which owners can request a daily briefing or arm and disarm the cameras. Both feature 1080p full HD monitoring, seamless two-way communication, and audio detection.
Facial recognition is starting to become an attractive feature for smart home users, and it seems like Hanwha Techwin is pretty far along with its tech. Hanwha Techwin’s face recognition and human detection technology is enabled by the cameras’ proprietary Wisenet 5 chipset. When it’s active, users receive alerts only if the camera detects people, as opposed to falling objects or pets walking around the house.
An interesting secondary feature in its face-recognition algorithm can send alerts whenever an unidentified face or an “interested face” is detected via the camera’s Wisenet SmartCam+ app. Users can assign a name to the person’s face and add them to their “Interested Faces” group, so the camera recognizes the face for future alerts. This feature could be particularly useful for parents whose kids let themselves into an empty house after school.
The cameras’ audio capabilities include the aforementioned duplex two-way talk, basic audio detection, and a keener setting for abnormal sound detection, notifying homeowners of noteworthy noises such as a glass breaking or a baby crying.
Users wishing to review the day’s events can store recordings on a MicroSD memory card up to 128 gigabytes, or access the footage through Hanwha Techwin’s cloud-based video storage service, which offers subscriptions in units of five, seven, or 21 days.
“Hanwha wanted to create indoor security cameras that fit the fast-paced and busy lifestyles of our customers,” said Richard Simone, vice president of sales and marketing at Hanwha Techwin America, in a statement. “By integrating smart assistant compatibility and advanced surveillance technology, our SmartCam N1 and N2 indoor cameras provide consumers with all the tools they need to easily monitor their homes no matter where they are.”
The SmartCam N2 is now available for purchase online at Crutchfield.com, and soon via Buy Now and The Home Depot for $199, while the SmartCam N1 is available exclusively at Sam’s Club for $149.
Few things ruin a quiet evening faster than a robot vacuum roaring through the living room. Most of us end up pausing the cleaning run, which defeats the whole purpose of owning one. Matic thinks it has the answer with its new Serene robot vacuum, and the big selling point is how little noise it makes.
The Matic Serene runs at 52 decibels even when cleaning at full power. To put that in perspective, Matic compares it to the hum of your refrigerator. It is available now for $1,695, which is $200 more than the original Matic’s current price.
Outdoor security cameras are not always practical if you live in an apartment or rental. Drilling into an exterior wall may be off-limits, while pointing a regular indoor camera through a window can create another problem once reflections start showing up after dark.
Baseus is trying to solve both issues with the new PrimeSentinel W1, a $69.99 security camera designed specifically to monitor the outdoors through glass. It mounts directly to a window without drilling and uses a 4K Starlight sensor with an F1.0 aperture for full-color monitoring during the day and at night.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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