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It’s been over a year since we got our first look at the Ring Always Home Cam, the home security drone by Ring. Although information has been scarce, Amazon has finally provided a little bit more news: Namely that the Ring Always Home Cam will be available through an invitation system.
Ring has put out a video detailing more information about the drone and showing it in action. In the video, the user carries the drone through the home, showing it specific areas and setting up manual flight paths for it to follow. It seems that users will be able to create specific paths for it to patrol through the house, but you can also send it to specific rooms to check things out.
The camera responds to inputs with the touch of a button. It also integrates with Ring Alarm; if something activates your security sensors, the Ring Always Home Cam will fly straight to that location to take a closer look. While the observational abilities are noteworthy, it’s hard to deny the impact that a drone flying straight at an intruder might have — no one is going to stick around if they think your home is defended by robots, right?
When not in use, the Ring Always Home Cam sits inside a dock. It’s stored safely out of sight and out of the way. According to Ring, the Always Home Cam only records while it’s in flight to avoid any unwanted recording or potential privacy issues.
You’ll be able to store footage for up to 60 days through the Ring Protect Plan, but livestreaming is available at no cost. As far as privacy concerns go, the Ring Always Home Cam doesn’t record audio. You don’t have to worry about it listening in. On the flip side of this, it also doesn’t have a speaker, so you can’t speak to anyone or anything inside your home through the camera, either.
If you’re interested, you can request an invitation to eventually buy the Ring Always Home Cam starting today. It’s worth noting, however, that the Ring Always Home Cam hasn’t been authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Because of this, Ring says: “This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.”
Even with this new information, the future of the Ring Always Home Cam is a bit murky. Until and unless the FCC approves the camera, it might be nothing more than a proof of concept. Even after it’s released, though, the specs demonstrate that the Ring Always Home Cam is designed for emergencies only. It has roughly five minutes of run time on a two hour charge. It’s designed to check things out and return back to its dock rather than act as a full-time patrol.
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