Google launches Nest Cam smart home security camera with HD video and live streaming

Google Nest Labs has launched a smart home security camera as well as updating its existing smart thermostat and smart smoke alarm to make them work better together.

The Nest Cam home security camera is similar to Dropcam, which was acquired by Nest Labs in 2014, but it comes with 1080p HD video resolution recording at 30 FPS with a 130-degree field of vision, retailing at $199 in the US and £159 in the UK from this week.

The camera features eight axis zoom, advanced motion sensing, as well as eight LED lights to offer a much brighter night vision recording, and it is thinner and sturdier with a standard tripod mount and a magnetic base so it can stick on your fridge.

Video streaming live from your home

You can also check in on your home when you're out and quickly view a preview of the live video stream from the Nest iOS or Android smartphone app, where you can access Dropcam Pro and Dropcam HD.

This can be handy if your smoke alarm starts ringing, as you can check if it's a false alarm and silence the alarm once you're certain everything is OK.

"We wanted to give an unprecedented level of insight for our customers into their homes. We wanted to do a home video camera and we found that Dropcam was the best in the market, so we took this great product and improved it," Nest CEO Tony Fadell said at the press launch.

It is also starting its own subscription service called Nest Aware, where you can store up to 30 days' worth of video recordings in the cloud. Storing video footage for one camera costs $10 in the US or £8 a month in the UK for 10 days of recording, while 30 days of video recordings costs £24 or $30 per month.

Updating the Nest smoke alarm and thermostat

The second-generation Nest Protect smart smoke alarm features safety temperature alerts, enabling it to automatically tell the smart thermostat to shut off whenever it senses either smoke or carbon monoxide.

According to Nest, it takes only five minutes for flames to engulf a room due to new materials, up from 30 minutes in the 1970s, and 60% of deaths happen in homes without smoke alarms in the US.

In order to detect fires faster, the updated smoke alarm is 11% smaller and is able to sense both slow and fast fires at the same time. It prevents alarms being set off by steam rather than smoke and users can turn off their smoke alarm from the Nest smartphone app.

Regular smoke alarms last about five years but Nest claims the new Nest Protect will last up to 10 years. It will cost $99, the same price as the first-generation version.

In order to entice more consumers to get smart smoke alarms, Nest is signing deals with insurance companies in order to offer Nest Protect Awards to customers who have Nest Protect in their homes. So far, American Family and Liberty Mutual have come on board in the US.