By The latest crowd-funded sensation isn’t on Kickstarter or even IndieGoGo, but on the less popular ChristieStreet. It goes by the name of DoorBot, and it could use a lot of help meeting its funding goal ahead of its cut-off date 25 days from now. DoorBot is a doorbell replacement that will put your old one to shame. Operated via battery, DoorBot is equipped with a camera, speakers and a microphone so you’ll be able to see your visitors and speak with them remotely using your smartphones and tablets.
The magic happens over WiFi — once the doorbell is pressed your phone will alert you and allow you to respond appropriately. You can see who it is and initiate voice right from your smartphone, or you can simply choose to ignore the bell (because, you know, people can be annoying at times). DoorBot doesn’t have to be on the same WiFi network as your devices, either, so you could be halfway across the country and still keep an eye out for door activity.
The DoorBot runs on AA batteries, but don’t fret too much about power consumption as the advanced doorbell is said to be able to run about one year before needing to exchange them. That’s not a bad yearly investment at all to keep this thing’s gears churning. And if you’re worried about the DoorBot being stolen, the company promises they’ll replace them free of charge should some sticky-handed bandit happens to run off with yours.
Taking things a step further, the DoorBot will be fully compatible with Lockitron, the remote door lock that’ll allow you to provide access to your house from afar. If someone’s at your door and needs to come in, but you aren’t home and you trust that person enough to let them inside, Lockitron makes it possible to grant access to that person with the touch of a button. Since the Lockitron is a physical lock replacement you’ll want to know that you’ll be paying quite a bit extra for both in the same package. Lockitron is an entirely different beast on its own that you’ll want to learn more about here.
ChristieStreet does things a bit differently than Kickstarter. Instead of different pledge levels with different rewards, you can either pay for the cost of the device and guarantee yourself a unit, or simply donate whatever amount you wish and leave with the satisfaction of knowing you’ve helped make it become reality.
This is certainly something we want to see in the marketplace so don’t be shy with the dollars if you’re interested. You can pledge to order one of these for $169, or get it coupled with the Lockitron for $319. Delivery is estimated to be July 2013, but only if funding is met. The project needs about $120,000 before it closes in 25 days so make no delay if you’re interested.
[Thanks Lee!]
This is awesome.
or you can get a 50.00 wireless cam and set it to send you a picture when its triggers from motion.
That’s one way. This lets you communicate. And with lockitron, lets the person inside.
I guess my point is this is nothing new. old tech just being presented as a new idea. The price 169.00 is a lot of money for a web cam in a box. It should be more around 99.00. Ill buy one when its cheaper.
So basically it will send you a picture about every 5 minutes. We had that turned on with our security system. Any time a cloud passed over the sun, or a car drove by the pixels in the image changed enough to activate the “motion” sensing software.
Yeah I never get that problem.