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WiFi Baby is a first-class remote video monitoring system for your baby
Parents with a young baby know how hard it is to check your little one while he or she is sleeping. You try to quietly tip-toe into the room, but inevitably the baby senses your presence and wakes up from his slumber. One solution that'll let you watch your child without disturbing their sleep is the US$279 WiFi Baby video monitoring system. Unlike other video monitoring systems, the WiFi Baby works over your home's WiFi network and is compatible with your iPad, iPhone and Mac. It also supports off-site viewing so you can check-in on your children when you are outside the home. We reviewed an earlier version last year, and will take a look at the latest version of the WiFi Baby in this review. This updated unit now supports WiFi N, has a microSD slot for recording and an easier setup process. Design The WiFi baby is a compact camera that's 3.4 inches wide, 3.4-inches high and 1.2-inches deep. It includes a mounting bracket/stand that adds an inch or two on to the height of the unit. The bracket has an adjustable mount so you can position the camera as needed. The camera itself includes a 1/4" CMOS sensor for daytime viewing and 30 IR LEDs that provide the unit with night vision. It'll easily let you see your baby from across the room, but works best when it's a few feet away from the crib or playpen. The WiFi Baby has an integrated WiFi 802.11 b/g/n antenna on the side of the unit. Though it doesn't look as stylish as the cameras that use a removable antenna, I prefer the design of the WiFi baby. I've owned several remote cameras with the removable antennas and they break or get lost when packing/unpacking the unit. With the WiFi Baby, the antenna is always attached and won't break unless you damage the unit by dropping it or stepping on it accidentally. Based on external appearance, the WiFi Baby appears to be a Y-Cam camera that's bundled into a parent-friendly package. Functionality The WiFi Baby includes all the hardware and support necessary to setup the monitor in your home, but it's not the easiest process in the world. After you unpack the camera and attach it to the mount, you then need to connect the device to your Mac and configure the unit to connect to your home WiFi network. The process is straight forward for a tech-savvy user, but it can be tricky for those who are not familiar with WiFi router settings and IP addresses. WiFi Baby, however, provides detailed written instructions, video instructions and a telephone/online support service that's top notch. Customer service reps will talk you through the setup process and can even connect remotely to your computer if you require the additional assistance. Once the WiFi Baby is connected to your home wireless network, you must install the viewer apps on your iOS device or Mac. In this review, I used an iPhone and an iPad about 90 percent of the time. The free Mac app works well, but it has some issues with audio on Lion and Mountain Lion. Lion and Mountain Lion require you to change the audio on the camera from AMR format to AAC format. The AAC format works great on the desktop, but it won't work on your iPhone or iPad. You either have to keep switching the audio format back and forth or decide to go with either the Mac or an iOS device as your primary viewing device. I decided to stick with iOS as it is much more convenient to pull out my iPhone than it is to login to my Mac. The WiFi Baby does not ship with the software required to view the video stream on your iOS device. The company recommends the $12 Baby Monitor HD app from SunshineApps GmbH and has worked with the developer to get a profile for the WiFi Baby camera included in the app. The app was easy to configure thanks to this pre-installed profile. You can use any surveillance app to connect to WiFi Baby camera, but without a preset profile, you'll have to try a bunch of other camera profiles to get the WiFi baby to work. There's also an Android app that I tested and works equally as well as the iOS version. The Baby Monitor HD app lets users connect to their WiFi Baby and receive both live audio and video from the camera. When in video mode, the app disables auto lock so you can have an always-on video feed. I used the video mostly in the morning when I was writing and my son was starting to wake up. I could keep the video running and watch him as he started to stir. It was convenient, but my iPhone's battery life did take a small hit. The app also includes an audio-only mode and works in the background, so you can still listen to audio from the camera while you check your email or browse the web. The audio-only mode is also great for night time use when you want to hear your baby crying, but don't need to see him because you are sleeping. Once again, running the app all night has an impact on battery life. To get through an 8-hour sleep, I needed to start the night with a fully-charged phone or charge my phone while I sleep. Baby Monitor HD app supports up to four cameras and includes alerts that'll notify you when your baby starts crying or making noise. The app-camera combo also supports multiple authorized users so Mom and Dad can watch the baby at the same time. The quality of the video coming from the camera over my WiFi network was superb. The color video during the day was detailed, while the night vision was crisp and clear. The video was clear enough that I could see my child breathing. The camera also has a wide view so you can see the baby's entire crib or the corner of room in which they sleep or play. This view almost makes up for the fact that you can't pan or tilt the camera remotely. The WiFi Baby is a fixed camera, so you can't move it when your child moves. This is a small drawback that makes the camera useful for a child that is confined in their crib, but not one that is walking all over a room. The microphone on the WiFi Baby was sensitive enough that you could hear crying, but not breathing noises. This level of detection is perfect for parents who want to be alerted when their child wakes up or is upset, but not one that needs to monitor every breath. You can also configure the WiFi Baby to record automatically when a noise is detected or at an interval. You can record a video or grab a still that can be save to a microSD card or to a NAS (Network Attached Storage). I found the video recording feature to be very helpful with my older daughter. She snores and we were able to use the camera's recording feature to capture her snoring. We did this for a few nights and then watched the recorded video clips to see if it was a normal snore or sleep apnea. While most users will use the WiFi Baby to monitor their child from the comfort of home, there are times when you'll want to view your child when you are outside your home WiFi network. In these cases, the monitor can be configured to send its video signal to your mobile phone. This scenario requires you to open up a port on your router that is used to send and receive the camera feed. WiFi Baby has detailed instructions that'll show you how to setup port forwarding on your wireless router and how to use their dynamic DNS service to detect any changes in the external IP address of your cable/DSL modem. Once again, WiFi Baby's customer service is there to walk you through the setup process and will continue to work with you until everything is working correctly. Once you get the settings correct, the video over a 3G connection is fantastic. It's not HD quality, but it is good enough for you to watch your child while he is sleeping or playing. It's perfect for when you leave your child with a baby sitter or want to check in on things when you are away on a business trip. Conclusion The WiFi Baby is an excellent video monitoring solution for new and seasoned parents. I used it with my one-year old during naps and at night. Before I went to bed every night, I would fire up the app on my iPhone and check in on my one-year-old son to make sure he was comfortable. When he cried at night, I would launch the app and see what was wrong. Usually it was a quick night-time cry in his sleep, but sometimes I discovered he was upset because he dropped his blanket outside the crib. It was extremely convenient to be able to check on him without going into his room. When he was sleeping, it was also comforting to be able to see him breath. I also used it for my older kids as noted above and even used it to keep an eye on the dogs when we went away for an afternoon. This latter scenario led to the discovery that the dogs like to sleep on the couch when we go out and hop off when we pull in the driveway. The quality of the video coming from the WiFi Baby was fantastic, but I wish you could pan and tilt the camera. I would love to be able to use it to watch my baby sleeping at night and then turn it remotely to focus on my 3-year-old while he plays in the room. It's a trade-off, though, as competing cameras that support pan/tilt don't have the high-quality optics of the WiFi Baby. The WiFi Baby video monitoring system is available for $279. This price includes free tech support and free shipping. It does not include the iOS or Android apps, which are an extra expense. The WiFi Baby is an expensive video monitoring system, especially when compared to standalone surveillance cameras like those from Dropcam and Loftek. This extra cost is likely due to WiFi baby's customer service, which is superior to the customer support offered by other camera manufacturers. Pros Quality video and audio feed. Setup is made easier by excellent customer support. Compatible with the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and the Mac. Can setup the camera to record automatically, which is great for diagnosing sleep problems. Cons Expensive. Apps are an extra cost. Camera is fixed and can't be tilted or panned remotely. Who is it for? Any parents who want to keep a close eye on their children while they sleep or play.
WiFi Baby 3G baby monitor: Watching your baby from afar
Most parents want to keep a close eye on their baby, especially when he or she is sleeping in their room down the hall. Rather than check obsessively, which is what I did when I had my first baby, products like the WiFi Baby 3G let you easily watch your child from afar. Best of all, you can see and hear them without stumbling into their room and accidentally waking them up. The WiFi Baby 3G is a small color and infrared camera housed in an attractive white or black shell. The camera comes with a mounting bracket that lets you attach it to a wall or a stand. The camera has a solid square body with an antenna that is enclosed in thick plastic. It definitely can sustain a fall without breaking. The front of the camera has a color camera, a cluster of IR sensors, a microphone, a power indicator and a light sensor that'll switch the camera from color view to infrared view. It's made by Y-cam and is a quality camera. Unlike most baby monitors which send audio over the same 900MHz bandwidth used by cordless phones, the WiFi Baby works over your home WiFi network. To set it up wirelessly, you must first connect it to your router using a network cable and use the included software to setup the IP address, camera login credentials and other initial features. The setup is extremely easy, and there's an excellent customer support option that'll walk you through the process one step at a time. If you still have problems, a customer service rep can even connect to your computer using a screen sharing tool and set it up while you watch. If you have a plug-n-play UPnP router, the WiFi Baby 3G will be configured for outside access, which lets you view the camera stream using your cell phone's 3G connection. If you don't have UPnP, you will have to configure port routing manually on your router. I tested the WiFi baby remotely, and the video streamed nicely. There was some lag, but it's not really noticeable until someone starts moving the monitor at home. One nice feature is the time and date stamp on the video. This is fed from the baby monitor and is included to let you know the monitor is still working. The WiFi Baby 3G has lots of viewing options for parents that stay at home and for those on the go. There's a viewer for the Mac, the PC, iOS and Android devices. I tested both the iOS app and the Mac app; both worked extremely well. On first launch, both apps will scan the network for the camera and pull down the IP address. You will have to enter your username and password to connect to the camera and receive the audio and video stream. These settings are then saved for future use. The iOS app works on the iPhone and the iPad and lets you watch video and listen to audio on your device. In normal view, the video stream appears in a box at the top of the screen, and the audio levels are below. You can tap the video feed or the audio to mute it and then tap it again to turn it back on. The app has lots of settings to change what you see. You can customize the audio to display either a 5, 10 or 20 minute history or set up alerts for when the baby starts to cry. You can also change the appearance of the app by selecting a pink, blue or night theme. The Mac app is very different from the iOS app. It's from Y-Cam and is general surveillance app. It's not as pretty as the iOS version, but it has several features the iOS version lacks. Because it's a desktop app, the video window is much larger, and the audio is much louder. The video clarity is a bit grainy when you are viewing it at this larger resolution. It's still viewable, just not as nice as the iOS app. With one click, you can record a video stream or take a snapshot which is saved to the hard drive. The app even supports more than one camera feed. We tested it with only one WiFi Baby 3G, but you could use it with several more if you wanted. The WiFi Baby produces a clear video stream and loud audio. It's great as a color camera and even better in night mode. The video at night is nice and bright, and lets you see your little one while he or she sleeps. If you position it correctly, you can even see your baby breathe. It's a real pleasure to use a camera that doesn't cut costs by making it pretty on the outside and then slapping in a low-quality lens and sensor. You can tell from the moment you turn it on; the WiFi Baby is built from the ground up to be an exceptional surveillance camera. Speaking of the position, that's my only complaint about this monitoring solution. Unlike the rival iBaby monitor which moves, the WiFi baby is stationary. You can use the mount to get the right angle, but once it's set, the WiFi baby can't be changed remotely. You can't pan it left or right or scan up or down using your iPhone or computer. This isn't a big deal if you are watching a baby that's sleeping, but it could be a problem if you are trying to follow a toddler playing in his room. The camera partially makes up for its fixed position with a lens that captures a wide part of the room. I set it up in the boy's room, and I was able to see about 75% of the space. It was only the extreme left and the extreme right that I could not see. If you don't mind this limitation, then the WiFi Baby is an excellent choice for a video-enabled baby monitor. The audio and video are excellent, and, best of all, it's easy to configure and use. You can read about the WiFi Baby 3G and watch some demo videos on WiFi Baby's website. There's also an unboxing and setup video from WiFi baby embedded below. The wireless monitor costs US$279 and is available from WiFi Baby's online store. %Gallery-140169%
WiFi Baby 3G review, or: How we learned to stop worrying and love a surveillance camera
Obsolescence. Its avoidance is the biggest problem facing any gadget nerd. This affliction, this curse that disables so many would-be tablet and smartphone buyers, only intensifies for those of us who somehow manage to procreate. See, newbie reproducers, temporarily insane from an overblown sense of paternal concern, will pay just about anything for products promising to make their new baby healthier or happier, regardless of the product's potential lifespan. Come on, parents, admit it. Just look at that $100 bottle sterilizer you've already replaced with a more convenient pot of boiled tap water. Or how about that $380 hands-free breast pump that went idle after 6 months of occasional use or that $1,000 euro-exotic stroller that turned out to be too bulky to regularly transport by car? Your well-meaning, but irrational ways made you an easy target for the baby-care industry that places your ilk on the sucker-side of the consumer savviness scale. Just look at the extortionary prices of the typical babycam. You can easily spend between $200 and $300 for a so-called "top-of-the line" monitor that's plagued by radio interference, poor range, and shabby video quality. To make matters worse, these single-purpose cameras lose their usefulness once baby is grown. So what's a rational, resourceful parent to do? Easy, use an IP-based surveillance camera as a baby monitor instead. Not only do you get a superior wireless camera for about the same price (or less), you have the option of repurposing it for inclusion in your home automation or security system after baby is grown. That's what we've been doing for several weeks now thanks to WiFi Baby. And you know what? We'll never go back to traditional baby monitors again. Click through to find out why.
Monitor your baby from anywhere with the WiFi Baby 3G
My daughter is about four weeks away from having a baby, so I am really interested in the WiFi Baby 3G ($US 279.00). This Wi-Fi enabled baby monitor can let you see and hear your baby on any Mac or PC. Just plug it in, and any browser will let you check in from anywhere whenever you'd like. The device, manufactured by Y-Cam and created by a small husband and wife startup to watch their own baby, can display HD quality color video and audio during the day, and thanks to its array of (infrared, we assume) lights that turn on when it's dark, it shows you black and white video at night using night-vision technology. The WiFi Baby 3G is part computer and part webcam since it stands alone and doesn't, as most other solutions, require you to plug a webcam into a computer. Although expensive, it's quite ingenious. Some of its features include: the ability to record video or still pictures the ability to send email alerts or send alarms to a mobile device if the built-in motion detector is triggered, an automatic light sensor that will adjust the light array to the light conditions of the baby's room and of course, the ability to work both on Wi-Fi and 3G networks There are two options to monitor your baby from a mobile device. The cheapest (free) is also made by Y-Cam, and it's called the Y-Cam MultiLive iP Camera Viewer. The limitations here are that this app doesn't supply audio, and it's a non-universal app without native iPad capability. The better option, according to the manufacturers of the WiFi Baby 3G, is the Baby Monitor HD ($9.99), a universal app that does transmit audio. To save battery life on your mobile device, this app gives you the option of turning off the video stream. There are also mobile solutions available for the Android. The WiFi Baby 3G is available in either black or white. Take a look at it in action by clicking below. [via GEARlog]
