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Submit your clip to the ‘Nestie Awards,’ the best videos captured by Nest Cam

By Gia Liu February 27, 2018

Awards season is upon us, with the Academy Awards right around the corner and the Emmy Awards still in the rear-view mirror. But instead of watching the festivities from home, you can be a star this season, too — at the annual Nestie Awards. It’s a contest that Nest Labs holds every year to celebrate the best video clips taken by the company’s line of home security cameras and the results are everything from hilarious to heartwarming to downright strange. And one of your family’s video clips could make it to the top.

This year, more than 300 submissions made their way to Nest. The company will select five to 10 winners, who will receive a collection of Nest products, a year of Nest Aware for free, and a trophy to be displayed with pride.

Last year’s categories ranged from Oscars-esque ones like Best Picture and Best Visual Effects, to silly ones such as Best Dog in a Lead Role and Best Breakthrough Performance. As you might expect, there is also a category dedicated to embarrassing moments caught on camera: Best Fall.

While Nest’s cameras are designed to monitor your home security, this contest shows that the cameras can capture some unexpected moments and even precious family memories as well. Whether your Nest Cam caught your baby’s first steps, a supernatural occurrence, the weird things your dog does when you’re not around, or the hilarious pranks your relatives play on each other, you can get recognized at the Nestie Awards. Submit the best of your best video clips here, or watch some of the clips that others have submitted. Need some inspiration? Check out last year’s winners.

Nest Labs is a home automation company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, that specializes in smart home devices, such as Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats, smoke detectors, alarm systems, and of course, security cameras. A few years after launching its first product, the Nest Learning Thermostat, the company was acquired by Google for $3.2 billion in 2014. Nest’s products are also compatible with Amazon Alexa, meaning that users of Amazon’s Echo devices can control Nest devices by simply speaking commands to Alexa.

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News

Yup, Ring’s Always Home Cam flies itself to patrol inside your home

ring always home cam autonomous flying camera news specs price alway connect 2 of 3

Ring has conquered the home inside and out with its line of security video cameras, but now the company is taking to the air with the announcement of the Ring Always Home Cam. You could say it’s an ambitious effort, especially when it’s billed as an autonomous flying indoor camera that can peek at just about any nook and cranny in the home. Considering that it’ll pilot itself, there are certainly bound to be new vantage points that you can’t get from its traditional line of cameras.
This is without a doubt one of the bigger surprises to come out from Amazon’s Devices Event, one that takes security to a totally different level. Basically, the Ring Always Home Cam looks as though a sizable propeller guard has been strapped onto the top of one of its video doorbells. The whole thing looks peculiar and will certainly attract a few glances (from people and pets) as it buzzes around the home inspecting for security threats.

Why buy this when Ring already has a solid portfolio of indoor security cameras? Well, the premise here is that instead of having to buy multiple cameras that need to be spread around the home, the Ring Always Home Cam can effectively replace them -- operating on predetermined paths set by the user. It’ll be able to fly on its own, without any supervision or intervention on the user’s part, so that it can provide eyes wherever you need inside of the home.

Smart Home

Expect lower video quality on your Nest cameras this week

Nest Cam IQ sitting on a desk next to car keys and books

Just when you thought that the pandemic had reached every area of your life, surprise! Your security cameras are being affected, too. In response to community issues caused by COVID-19 and requests made by internet service providers, Google has temporarily adjusted camera settings on its Nest cameras to help with internet strain. This means less video quality for your security system if you live in the U.S.

"With so many people working and attending school from home, we’re stretching our resources in ways we haven’t before -- including the internet," a Google representative stated in an email. "As local internet resources are stretched past their limits, you and many others may have noticed interruptions like dropped video calls or frozen screens. During this time, it’s critical for us to work together to ensure we find ways to help the community at large."

Smart Home

Eve Cam is a HomeKit indoor security camera that saves your recordings in iCloud

The Eve Cam on a wall.

Apple fans have reason to be excited. There is now an indoor security camera just for you. Eve Systems has released its newest product, the Eve Cam, which is the first indoor camera made exclusively for Apple HomeKit Secure Video, according to the company. When combined with HomeKit Secure Video, any activity detected by the camera is analyzed by your home hub (Apple TV or HomePod) to determine if a threat may be present. You can then view any activity from your iPhone's lock screen.

“Home security footage is highly personal -- that’s why choosing the right indoor camera is so important,” says Jerome Gackel, CEO of Eve Systems. “Eve Cam is the first camera designed exclusively for Apple HomeKit Secure Video, enabling you to keep a close eye on your home while protecting the privacy of your personal space at any time.”