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Xfinity indoor/outdoor camera zooms in on Grinch’s faces and license plates

‘Tis the season’…to have packages stolen from your porch. Unfortunately, there are way too many Grinches waiting to steal home deliveries. A new Xfinity Home security camera feature can capture Grinch faces and license plates and share the footage with police.

UPS estimated it made more than 750 million deliveries between Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Eve last year. According to a new survey conducted by Wakefield Research for Comcast, nearly one in four people say they have had packages stolen.

Comcast announced that its Xfinity Home indoor/outdoor security cameras use artificial intelligence (A.I.) to zoom in on critical features that can help law enforcement if someone steals from you.

“Home security cameras, when integrated with our other Xfinity services, offer great peace of mind so our customers can check-in on their home from anywhere, anytime,” said Eric Schaefer, Xfinity Services general manager and senior vice president.

“On any given day, our Xfinity cameras can capture many motion-triggered video recordings,” Shaefer continued. “Our engineers used A.I. to create filters for people or vehicles so they can more easily and quickly find the moment that matters most to them. Soon, we’ll add another filter for pets too.”

The Xfinity Indoor/Outdoor camera is weather-resistant and includes night vision. You can monitor live video from connected cameras with a mobile phone app.

Xfinity Home security customers with a security camera and 24/7 video recording can say, “Xfinity Home, where’s the Grinch?” to view the still images captured by the camera on their home television.

Comcast quoted former Secret Service Special Agent and national security expert Evy Poumpouras, who said, “More packages will arrive on people’s doorsteps over the next few weeks than any other time of year and theft has become an increasing concern among homeowners. There are simple and easy steps consumers can take to protect themselves, from signing up for real-time package tracking alerts to installing a home security camera to keep an eye on deliveries when they’re not home.”

Wakefield Research conducted the Comcast survey during the last week of October. Among the findings, the survey revealed that 72 percent of U.S. adults who live in a house or townhome use various strategies to protect themselves from package theft including staying home from work, having packages held at shipping centers, and having deliveries sent to family members, friends, or neighbors.

The survey also found that while 74 percent of Americans think visible security cameras can deter home package theft, only 31 percent have cameras installed.

Check out Digital Trends latest report on the best home security cameras of 2018.

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Bruce Brown
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
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