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DIY Security Animal House

NEW YORK – Canaries and foxes could be protecting your customer’s homes, or at least DIY security systems bearing the names of those creatures.

Here’s what Canary and Myfox are up to in security:
Canary: The home-security start-up, which previously offered its all-in-one system through its web store, expanded distribution to online and brick-and-mortar retailers.

The company, which launched on Indiegogo in the summer of 2013, rolled out its $249 device through Amazon, Best Buy, The Home Depot and Verizon Wireless.

Canary’s device is a 6-inch tall, 3-inchdiameter cylinder that incorporates motion sensor, 147-degree wide-angle 1080p night-vision video camera, and sensors that monitor air temperature, humidity and air quality. Multiple Canary devices can be scattered throughout the house to monitor different areas.

The device sends alerts and HD video over the Internet to an Android or Apple smartphone. Notifications include recorded HD video of an event.

Through the Canary smartphone app, users are able to scroll among multiple live video streams, sound the device’s built-in 90-plus dB siren, call authorities or neighbors, or hit the “everything is fine” button.

The device comes with four service plans ranging from free to $39 per month. Call center monitoring can be added to any plan for an additional $10 per month. Users can have up to four devices in one location under the same plan, with no added costs.

Myfox: The Myfox Home Alarm system, due in U.S. by early third quarter, will detect and deter intruders before they enter the house, unlike other DIY security systems that use indoor motion sensors to detect intruders, the company said.

The Myfox system uses wireless sensors, or IntelliTags, attached to doors and windows to analyze door and window vibrations that indicate a break-in, the company said. The sensors, which run on a single AA battery, differentiate normal events such as door knocking from doors and windows being pried open. When a break-in is attempted, the sensor sends a wireless 915MHz RF signal to a hub, which triggers a separate battery-operated siren via RF. The hub also uses Wi-Fi to send alerts via broadband modem to Apple and Android mobile devices. Multiple family members or friends can receive notifications and get monitoring rights.

The company, founded in 2005, also offers an optional Wi-Fi security camera, which can be used as a standalone surveillance device.

The $299 Myfox Home Alarm system can be monitored and controlled via Android and iOS smartphones. It will be Apple HomeKit-enabled, though not initially, and will be certified as Works With Nest.

The system consists of one 110dB batteryoperated siren with flashing lights, the Wi- Fi/915MHz hub, one IntelliTag sensor, and one Bluetooth key fob, which enables a tag to automatically detect an authorized user and prevent the siren from sounding when the user opens an outside door. Additional tags are $49, and additional key fobs are $29.

One siren/hub supports up to 50 tags and four Wi-Fi security cameras.

The optional $199 Wi-Fi camera with night vision features motion and sound detection and a controllable shutter to protect privacy.

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