Skip to main content

5 things we hope the flying Ring Always Home Cam can do

Indoor home security is about to receive a substantial change with the introduction of the Ring Always Home Cam. For the first time ever, the stationary home security camera will not only become mobile, but it’ll be doing its surveillance through the air.

Despite it being introduced on September 24, 2021, we’re still nowhere closer to learning about a definitive release date for this flying autonomous indoor security camera. Hopefully, it’s soon because the window for a 2021 release is shrinking. While we know some facts about the Ring Always Home Cam, we are still largely in the dark about what else it can do. But then again, Amazon typically holds its fall event sometime in September.

Needless to say, a flying indoor security camera that patrols the home is intriguing on its own, but we still have many thoughts on what it could do.

Night vision for patrolling when it’s dark

A vast array of security cameras offer night vision, so we hope that we’ll find some form of it on the Ring Always Home Cam. It’s tough to say if this is indeed something that will be available, mainly because the product videos so far from Ring have shown the flying indoor camera operating only when it’s light out. Navigating itself in the dark could be made easier with the help of a night vision camera.

Ring app showing feed from Ring Always Home Cam.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Of course, the addition of night vision would tack on some weight, but we’d still like to see the feature on board. Black-and-white night vision also typically offers sharper video footage than standard recording — so fine details may be better distinguished.

Resistance to power and Wi-Fi outages

A security camera can be rendered useless if there’s a power outage or if the Wi-Fi network goes down. We’re hoping that the Ring Always Home Cam will continue to work despite these two common concerns. Since it’s battery-powered, we suspect that it will continue to at least operate and work in conjunction with Ring’s home security system, Ring Alarm, which features a base station with backup battery power and cellular connectivity.

Ring Alarm (2nd Gen) Base Station on table
John Velasco / Digital Trends

We suspect that the Ring Always Home Cam would continue operating normally if there are power and Wi-Fi outages. While there are few cameras that could do this, the Google Nest Cam (battery) is one of the latest cameras that shows us that it can still function properly in such a case — so there’s hope that Ring’s autonomous flying camera could do the same.

Smarter identification of possible threats

Ring’s cameras can already identify a variety of movements, and can even distinguish people from pets, but a flying indoor camera poses its own set of challenges when it comes to identifying threats. There are many concerns when people leave the home abruptly, like whether or not the front door or windows were left open. These are just two of the many possible threats we’d like for the Ring Always Home Cam to detect while it’s making its rounds. Either way, smarter identifications would tremendously give this roving camera a leg up over its static brothers and sisters.

Detection of possible fires

There are already many ways smart home gadgets can alert you in the event of a fire. For instance, many smart speakers can listen for the distinct sound of a smoke detector siren, which then would notify you about the a potential fire. With the Ring Always Home Cam, it would be nice to have some kind of temperature sensor that could detect fluctuations from one area to another.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Furthermore, if it features some kind of infrared camera, it would be able to easily discern hazards such as fires, the oven being left on by accident, or some other kind of appliance that’s overheating. Given that the Ring Always Home Cam will be autonomous, being able to distinguish these hazards while it’s patrolling would be beneficial to keeping the home safe and sound.

Room mapping

At the current moment, Ring hasn’t disclosed the details surrounding the technology that will be employed in its flying autonomous indoor security camera. We suspect that various range sensors would be embedded for obstacle avoidance if there’s something in the way of its normal patrol route. However, we really would like to see it map out rooms similar to how robot vacuums do — so that it can fly directly to a specific room based on a user’s perference.

This would come in handy if a user simply wants to check out what’s going on in a particular room through the Ring app. Room mapping, with its ability to detect hazards, couls also play a role in informing users where those hazards are in the home. There are a bunch of ways it can achieve room mapping. Lidar is the most popular technology used by robot vacuums to map out rooms, so it could potentially be miniaturized for the Ring Always Home Cam.

John Velasco
John is the Smart Home editor at Digital Trends covering all of the latest tech in this emerging market. From uncovering some…
New Ring cams get radar, fresh design, and now they can dispatch Amazon Astro’s robot
Ring Spotlight Cam Pro wired on a wall.

During Wednesday's Amazon event, Ring announced a bevy of new products to join its large lineup. These products include the new Spotlight Cam Pro, Virtual Security Guard, and new software features for older products.
Ring Spotlight Cam Pro
First up is the new Spotlight Cam Pro, focusing on using radar sensors for improved motion detection. With the new radar sensor in the camera, you can set precise thresholds on when the Cam Pro starts to record and alert you to motion. Those sensors also power the Bird's Eye View feature that will show you an estimated path someone may have followed. So, if a delivery driver dropped off a package, you can see exactly what route they took around your property. This view will show in a picture-in-picture format whether you're watching live or a past event.

Ring Spotlight Cam Plus
The next generation of the Spotlight Cam is coined Spotlight Cam Plus. It offers a new design while maintaining all the features that customers expect, including two-way talk, color night vision, live view, and a security siren. The Spotlight Cam Plus will also be available in multiple power options, including Solar, Battery Wired, and Plug-in. You can pre-order the Spotlight Cam Plus now, starting at $200.

Read more
The new Blurams PTZ Outdoor Cam 2K can view most any angle
blurams ptz outdoor cam 2k adjusted nearly any angle home wall

Blurams, one of the bestselling surveillance camera brands on Amazon, is releasing a new outdoor camera called the PTZ Dual-Lens Outdoor Cam 2K. The new camera will be perfect for anyone who wants to increase security around their homes thanks to more clarity and digital mobility features.

The new Blurams camera boasts two key features. First, the dual-lens capability allows a higher digital zoom than most cameras while maintaining high-quality resolution. The camera can zoom from 1x to 9x while maintaining a 3MP resolution so that you can see farther, with more transparency, than you can with most opposing cameras. While 3MP may not seem like much, it is a feat for standard security cameras.

Read more
5 things we’d like to see in the next HomeKit update
Apple HomeKit logo.

Look, we all know that Apple's HomeKit experience isn't as fleshed out as some of the competition, but it's not broken. It just needs some more updates and features, right? Hopefully, with things like Matter and the plethora of news from CES, we may be on the right track to getting a better system.

I'm a complete convert from other smart home systems to solely using HomeKit and HomeKit-branded devices (except my robovac, but more on that later). Here, I want to go over a few features that I'd personally like to see incorporated into the subsequent HomeKit updates. Before I get started, know that HomeKit doesn't get updates in the App Store like other apps. Instead, they are rolled out over time and come with system updates. We will likely get a batch of new features during the next WWDC around June.
More devices, obviously
The first thing that everyone in any smart home system wants is more compatible devices, and that's key for HomeKit more than any other system. Every new smart device that comes out on the market is made with either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa in mind, especially those with lower price tags. Well, we in the Apple camp like saving money too.

Read more