AUGUST 2020 T3 43Pet cams
mart home tech
continues to get more
affordable and more
capable all the time, as
manufacturers get better at packing
more features into gadgets that get
smaller and smaller – as you can see
on page 27. Helped by products like
dinky smart speakers and boilers
with smart thermostats attached,
the smart home market is now a
vibrant, quickly evolving one.
Home security cameras are a good
example of this trend as well. Not too
long ago, getting your home under
24-7 surveillance would’ve required a
team of professional installers,
copious amounts of wiring, and
hundreds of pounds of expensive kit
- but nowadays, you can do the same
job with a couple of inexpensive
wireless cameras, and get everything
set up yourself in just a few minutes.
Even better, you can usually control
them with your voice and from your
smartphone, tablet or computer.
It turns out that the main features
of these home security cameras –
motion detection, two-way audio, a
live feed sent to your phone at any
time – also lend themselves nicely to
the job of looking after your pets.
Rather than watching out for
unwelcome intruders when you’re
away from home, you can make sure
your dogs or cats (or both) are
behaving themselves. (They also
work for watching sleeping babies by
the way, but we’re concentrating on
small furry animals here.)
As well as home security cameras
being used as pet monitors, we’re
also seeing dedicated pet cams hit
the market too – devices that can
feed and even play with your canine
or feline friend. If you know that
your pets are particularly
troublesome when left on their own,
you might want to invest in a device
that has a few more bells and
whistles to keep them distracted
while you’re away.
To help you decide exactly what’s
best for your particular scenario,
we’ve listed some of the best security
cameras and pet cams availabletoday, and explained below some of
the features that you need to be
looking out for. With more and
more devices launching all the time
in the smart home space, there’s
likely to be a gadget out there that
meets your (and your adored pets’)
needs perfectly.SECURITY CAMERA
FEATURES
Whether you buy a dedicated pet
cam or repurpose a more general
security camera is really up to you- maybe you want to get a mix of
the two set up and cover all your
bases, with different gadgets in
different rooms. Do you want to
look out for burglars as well as
keeping an eye on your animal
companions? Do you think you’re
going to need a camera that gives out
treats automatically during the
course of the day or can your pets
look after themselves? These are the
sort of questions to weigh up while
you’re choosing, before you part
with any actual cash.
S
Words: David Nield Photography: Neil GodwinWith today’s tech, you don’t have to be at home to keep your
pets safe, entertained and fed – get the right pet cam installed,
it’s almost as if you never left
Pet cams
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO...