Man Watches Burglars Raid Home via iPhone
The iCam app allowed a Texas man to watch thieves break into his home.
There's nothing more worrisome while on vacation than the status of your home, especially when heading hours away. Technology has brought consumers the capabilities to monitor homes and offices while on the go, whether it's an actual alarm system monitored by a third party, or software driving cams mounted in various rooms.
One man took the latter method and used the $5 iCam app for the iPhone and iPod Touch to keep tabs on his Dallas, Texas home while vacationing up in Hartford, Connecticut. According to Vincent Hunter, the app alerted him to a possible intrusion on Friday by sending a popup message on the device--apparently his motion sensors detected movement.
According to the iCam website, the app can stream up to four webcam video and audio feeds from anywhere in the world to the iPhone or iPod Touch over Wi-Fi, 3G and EDGE. Hunter said that he had various webcams established throughout the house and watched two men attempting to break in. Helpless and hundreds of miles away, the only thing he could do was call the police.
Law officials arrived two minutes later--Hunter watched via his iPhone as they investigated the scene. Unfortunately, the thieves had already escaped after throwing a brick through a glass door. Apparently they still at large.
Users interesting in using iCam can download iCamSource for free here, available for both Mac and Windows. More information on how the iCam setup works can be found in the FAQ.
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Another Apple Product Saves The Day!
Maybe get a real alarm system instead?
Another Apple Product Saves The Day!
well the apple fanboys are going to be all over this. But i bet you could do the same with an android smartphone.
Now that we have this sort of technology, perhaps it can be made legal to "booby trap" homes now, so long as the trap is under intelligent control and is less-than lethal. Perhaps an iTaser or an iPepper-ball gun.
The iNeighbor with the optional iShotgun is much more effective.
This is why people keep fur coat razor blades aka dogs. Nothing keeps a potential thief away than dogs. Pits bulls and dobermans do the job.
so apparently apple's security systems suck
So if you cant use an iCam for security and the iPhone doesn't work as a phone, what is it good for again?
I read the topic title and pictured the homeowner hiding behind a closet door(the closet door with shutters-type) sticking his hand out through one of the slits of the shutters while holding his iphone to capture the act while cowering in fear. Would've been a better story in my opinion.
Another iAD from iASS to promote the iHot Product
Did this man record his video streams (does iCam let you do that)? If not, this man paid $5 for the honor of watching thieves violate his home. Even stupid criminals knows you shouldn't spend more than a couple minutes robbing a place.
i actually think the funny thing is that they didn't steal his apple products. i guess even thieves have standards
I love hearing all the negative comments from the Android fan boys. The article is actually pretty good and anyone that posts a comment should read it before writing something stupid. The application only takes snapshots through a single or up to four web cameras, it's not ideal to use the application to protect your home.
Any person that doesn't have an alarm system for their home is stupid. Utilizing any cell phone application for home security is not a bright idea. You should always have someone house sit and have a couple dogs to protect your home while you're gone on vacation.
SOMEBODY (cough, cough, Kev..Par..) owns apple stock. My HTC Hero has apps for viewing any IP web cam you have access to.
A better and more accurate title would have been "Man Watches Burglars Raid Home via Smartphone". But those rabid apple fan boys refuse to see that the Emperor has no clothes...
So did they take anything? Or did the cops pulling up alert them and they took off? If they ran because the cops were coming then this worked pretty good. The article doesn't really need to have 'iPhone' in the title. This could have been done with many different smart phones.
Apple hating is fine and all, but the app did do the job it was supposed to. It alerted him to an intrusion, gave him a video feed to confirm it was actually robbers, and he had the means right there to call the police. Calling the police these days is the hardest part, considering most dispatches are now outsourced to completely different areas who just automatically send help to the location of the call. If it weren't for him having this app, the robbers would've come back later, noticed the window they broke was still broken, and actually committed their robbery, and they would've returned to an empty house.
+1 to the booby trap idea. At least have a speaker phone to yell "Get the ***k outta my house!"
Users interesting in using iCam can download
iCamSource for free
Was going to let the first typo go, but then the second one came in the very next sentence.
The thing the Apple fanboys will fail to see is that iCam, his iPhone, and any other iThing did not help him one bit. His house was still burgled and the thieves were not caught. In fact, it was more like his iPhone was taunting him by showing him that his house was getting burgled.
Maybe get a real alarm system instead?
3-4 pitbulls and a doggy door might work too! But then again the thieves might just bring Michael Vick to deal with the pitbulls!
well the apple fanboys are going to be all over this. But i bet you could do the same with an android smartphone.
well the apple fanboys are going to be all over this. But i bet you could do the same with an android smartphone.
Yea, of course it can once Apple showed the way!
More stuff for the widoze/andoze heads to follow with Apple in the lead.
And offcourse the Apple autumn event will bring even more stuff for windoze/andoze to scramble to catch up on. LOL!
well the apple fanboys are going to be all over this. But i bet you could do the same with an android smartphone.
Ooooh.... forgot to mention that the world still awaits the windoze/andoze answer to the guaranteed failure iPad product.
Glad Apple could show the way here also... LOL LOL!
I wonder where the articles about "iphone used to see up skirts" or "iphone used to spy on neighbor's bathroom" are.
ahahahahahaaaaa been doing this since before apple even had a phone, get a blackberry apple fanboi kevin parrish
+1 for this guy, great quote:
A better and more accurate title would have been "Man Watches Burglars Raid Home via Smartphone". But those rabid apple fan boys refuse to see that the Emperor has no clothes...
You really ended this article sounding like an infomercial... That said, I wish I had the security system that I could take advantage of something like this...
Why are you all you idiots saying it could happen on a Andrioid?? Who gives a shit! It didnt happen on a Android, so get over it.
Great app great story.Very shocked he was able to call the cops on the iphone.Or did he use a payphone.Maybe a tinfoil hat and connector would help the i phone get a signal.I will give him a prepaid walmart phone.Not much it just makes calls.
Before "Man watches burglars raid home via iPhone", there was "would-be burglars track man's car via GPS". It's a tech-vs-tech world out there.
Another Apple Product Saves The Day!
IT USED TO IT'S MAGICAL POWERS TO CATCH THE THIEVES!
ANDROID DOESN'T HAVE MAGICAL POWERS!
2 minutes? Hot damn! iPhones even let you connect to dispatch faster!
Takes 10 minutes here to get a operator here ([province wide operator gets you to hold while waiting for a local operator).
I'd rather a rotty. Good luck taking my TV with a 150lb dog sleeping on the couch (trick is, what neighbor could you get to feed it?).