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The Spot security camera does all the usual tricks but is half the price

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Updated 12/16/2015: Spot is now available on Kickstarter. 
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Sometimes it feels like there’s a push-and-pull when it comes to the smart home. On the one hand, some gadgets are made for homeowners who aren’t moving every few years. No one wants to be constantly hooking up thermostats or sensors that attach to pipes. On the flipside, renters in one-bedroom apartments can probably get away with a single $200 camera to protect their pads, while those who live in a house might not want to pay quite that much for a device they’ll need to cover the front door, back door, garage …

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Recently, Nest’s Dropcam had a sale: Three cameras for $100 off. It still cost almost $500. It’s a quality camera, but that price point just isn’t feasible for a lot of people. Enter the iSmartAlarm Spot. It aims to offer everything you might want in a camera at seriously reduced price, so you can outfit your home with several of the suckers at a price less than many of its competitors.

With night vision, HD streaming video, motion detection, 64GB of local storage, and two-way audio, it has many of the features prized by home-security seekers. Its resolution is 720p and it has a 130-degree field of view.

Users also get 30 10-second video clips’ worth of free cloud storage and sound recognition. That means it will send you a notification if the smoke or carbon monoxide detector starts sounding. Though not available yet, iSmartAlarm hopes the Spot will one day be able to differentiate the sound of glass breaking or a baby crying.

The Spot isn’t all business, though. Users can also set it to time-lapse mode to get videos of the sun moving across the sky or their cat’s lengthy naps.

Though iSmartAlarm already has a security system, including a $150 camera, it’s launching the Spot on Indiegogo. There are still some $39 early bird options left, and it will eventually retail for $99.

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Jenny McGrath
Jenny McGrath
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jenny McGrath is a senior writer at Digital Trends covering the intersection of tech and the arts and the environment. Before…
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