In the past month, I’ve seen 2 different TV shows / movies that briefly dealt with in home security cameras. In “The Nanny Diaries”, a nanny cam was placed in a stuffed animal, where it was discovered by the nanny, and used to tape a rant against her soon to be former employer. In the 2nd example, on the TV show “Psych”, a nanny agency was using high resolution camera to spy on the neighboring homes in order to rob them.

In home security cameras typically aren’t so exciting. You may never capture an irate nanny or a burglary on your home camera security system, but it will provide you with piece of mind. I was asked to briefly review HomeCamera.com and to provide a fair and impartial review - no problem!

The pros:

• The system is free.
• You can turn your webcam into a home surveillance camera with the software
• You can remotely monitor your home or business using a PC, a PDA, or a mobile phone
• The system allows for fancy bells and whistles like motion detection, time lapse recording, and mobile phone alerts

The cons:

• No one is monitoring the system but you. If there were a real emergency, you’d still need to call for help.
• Because you’re using your webcam, this won’t be high resolution video. Think “convenience store security camera quality”.
• The HomeCamera.com people spell neighborhood like “neighbourhood” on their website. Are they Canadian, or poor spellers?

I think the pros outweigh the cons, obviously. Since the system is free during this beta period, you’ve got nothing to lose. If you like it, but it’s not high tech enough for you, it’s certainly easy enough for you to upgrade to a better camera, but this is a good way to test the waters without any cost to yourself.

This is a paid review.