DIY video monitoring that's smarter (and free-r) than it sounds at Cool Mom Tech

Thursday 16 February

DIY video monitoring that's smarter (and free-r) than it sounds

There are times as a mom when not only do I wish I had three sets of arms, but three sets of eyes as well. That's why I was interested in a new DIY video monitoring system called iWatchLife. Especially because it's completely free.

DIY and video monitoring sounds like a not necessarily smart combo, but rest assured, it's very easy. Basically you need the free iWatchLife software, a webcam and an Internet connection. Using your laptop's built-in webcam or an external camera, you can set up wherever you want to monitor and connect to your iWatchLife account. (You can also purchase a camera directly from iWatchLife, but my internal webcam worked just fine.)

One cool feature is WatchLife's "smart detection" technology - you can establish zones on the screen you're monitoring and get alerts when movement is detected only within that area. This is helpful for when you only want to be notified when your baby stands up in her crib, for example, and not when the cat walks by the screen.

Video footage is loaded to the cloud so there's barely any impact on your PC. Your account comes with 60 free minutes of video footage (you can pay for more but shouldn't need it), and any video stored goes automatically into your account for 30 days. When you've seen what you want to see, you can manually delete it and free up storage which helps keep it free.

It's pretty fantastic that you can monitor your kid's room, the basement, the front door--really anywhere in your house, and check it from your PC. But it's even cooler that you can do the same from your mobile phone via the free Android or iOS app. While iWatchLife doesn't take care of the extra arm request, at least I have the eyes covered. -Jeana

Find out more about video monitoring from your PC online from iWatchLife After the first hour of free footage, you can upgrade to 75 hours for $60/ year or 200 hours for $80/year.

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1 Comment

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yadayada | April 4, 2012 8:53 AM | Reply

Hi Coolmomtech team... as an FYI for your readers, there's another similar service called http://www.camcloud.com. Same general idea - turn your webcam into a DIY monitoring tool, but there are a few differences in approach your readers might want to evaluate.

Best Regards,
BH

Comment Policy: In an attempt to maintain a positive, productive, supportive community at Cool Mom Picks, we have the right to reject comments that are off-topic, self-promotional, inflammatory, or that bum us out for any reason. But you wouldn't do that anyway - you're too cool.