Ivideon Surveillance – video surveillance system you can monitor from your Android device
by Paul Wilks
Jul 5, 2012 11:58 AM –
Install
Ivideon Surveillance is a simple home security system you can access on your Android device. Coming with motion detector sensors and the ability to stream surveillance video direct to your mobile device, the app is also free and remarkably easy to set up and configure.
Price: Free
Tested on: HTC One X
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Easy access to remote cams on your Android device!
- Simple to set up!
- Motion detection and the ability to scour history!
- Nice user interface!
Cons
- No Linux client.
- Occasional app shut down.
Features:
Ivideon Surveillance is a clever and simple-to-set-up video surveillance system which you can monitor from your Android device. In just a few minutes you can have the system configured, I was really impressed in how straight forward it is. In a nutshell, this is how I turned a laptop into a home security camera I could view on my phone:
- Download the app
- Sign up to the website and log in on the app
- Download the client (Mac or Windows available) and install
- Select webcam option on the app, now viewing live video through the laptop’s webcam!
As long as the laptop is turned on, you can fire up the webcam from the mobile app, making it really easy to use. Video is incredibly smooth and only delayed by a second or two. The video fills about half of the screen, with an additional button to watch full-screen in landscape mode.
The motion detection feature was one of the elements I was most impressed with. Below the viewer is a time gauge which, if you pinch and zoom it, shows your entire history of using the app. Motion detectors in the service identify when there is movement and these periods are highlighted in light blue. Because you can then select which archived time to view, you can skip right to when there was action. All this happens very quickly and it’s simple and intuitive to do. I set the laptop to view my living room and then went to adjust some of the sofa covers. The app picked this up and highlighted it, so it was easy to view later.
While you can view the video stream through your Android, you can also do so via any computer with Internet access. Simply log into the service and select your video server. Blissfully simple. I did note that the service wasn’t always keen on you being logged into the computer and Android at the same time, but this wasn’t a major issue. I guess the only other thing I had a problem with was the lack of a Linux client. I run Linux on my laptop, so had to use my fincees laptop to test the app out. I appreciate it’s no biggie for most Windows and Mac users, but thought I should mention it on behalf of my fellow Linux-users!
Watch on Mobile
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Ivideon Surveillance – Log in
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Ivideon Surveillance – Video server select
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Ivideon Surveillance – Pre-camera set up
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Ivideon Surveillance – Look back at previous day’s footage
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Ivideon Surveillance – Activity shows up in blue on the time line
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Ivideon Surveillance – I set about fixing the sofa to give the app something to look at
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Ivideon Surveillance – View through app of my living room!
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Ivideon Surveillance – Landscape mode
Usefulness:
There are numerous applications for services like this, but it’s a great idea for home security. Set up a few webcams here and there in your house and link it through your computer (one that you can leave on and connected all the time.) You can then access these via your Android device seamlessly.
Ease of Use:
I was frankly staggered by how easy it was to set up, which you don’t normally experience with other services like this. Genuinely intuitive and user-friendly, you need no knowledge of video surveillance or security systems before you try the app out.
One thing I noted was that, while you could trigger the webcam from your Android, you couldn’t them shut it down. I’m unsure if that’s a good or bad thing security-wise, but I thought there should have been the option.
Frequently Used:
I guess this is the kind of app you’ll utilize when out of the house. The app is mostly stable and works well. I did find that the app itself stops working from time to time, but it’s easy to start up again and view your history if you’ve missed anything important.
Interface:
The interface is simple but very well designed.
Tags:
Android App,
Android Apps,
AndroidTapp.com App Review,
IP,
Ivideon,
Ivideon Surveillance,
security,
Surveillance,
Wecam
Categorised in: Media & Video
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