Ucam: All the Features You Want
Consumers today have a tough choice. Either live a feature-rich lifestyle OR a private lifestyle, there really is no in between. But the real question is why can’t our devices offer both convenience AND privacy? Well now you can — enter Ucam by IoTeX.
Consumers today have a tough choice. Either live a feature-rich lifestyle OR a private lifestyle, there really is no in between. These days it’s not uncommon for privacy seekers to use ”no Internet” phones, giving up the luxuries of an iPhone for the peace of mind of a flip phone. But the real question is why can’t our devices offer both convenience AND privacy? Well now you can — enter Ucam by IoTeX.
Since Day 1, IoTeX’s vision for Ucam has been providing all the features users WANT without sacrificing the security & privacy users NEED. While full data privacy is the key differentiator, Ucam also surpasses other cameras on the market by offering the latest and greatest features: one-click setup, 1080p video, 360° coverage, motion detection, two-way audio, night vision, and much more.
In this blog, we detail Ucam’s amazing features and preview the official Ucam mobile app. For details on Ucam security and privacy, please see our earlier post.
One-Click Setup of IoTeX Identity
Ucam uses a unique blockchain-based login, which puts data ownership back into users hands and separates a user’s Ucam identity from their Internet identity. This eliminates the source of most home security camera privacy violations today, but also introduces non-trivial UI/UX challenges. After all, key management remains one of the biggest hurdles to blockchain mass adoption.
With this in mind, IoTeX developed a seamless one-click setup process so people with no blockchain experience can easily get set up. With just one-click, an IoTeX identity (i.e. a public/private key pair) is generated and automatically stored locally. For those of you that already have an IoTeX identity, you can use our mobile (both ios and android), tablet and desktop compatible application ioPay: the official IoTeX wallet.
One Mobile App, Multiple Configurable Ucams
Convenience is being able to manage all your feeds at once in the same place, which is exactly what the Ucam app provides. For homeowners, Ucams can be installed in every room with all feeds instantly viewable on the home dashboard. Each individual Ucam supports custom configuration:
- Motion Detection: if motion is detected while you are away from home, Ucam can send you an alert and auto-save a video clip for later viewing
- Privacy Mode: when turned on, data from Ucam is viewable only on the owner’s mobile device (even if access was previously authorized to others)
Authorizing access to one (or all) of your Ucams from the home dashboard is also a breeze — all you have to do is generate a single-use QR code to authorize access within the Ucam app and send it to the user you wish to authorize. As the Ucam owner, you may revoke anyone’s access to any Ucam at any time simply by toggling “Privacy Mode” on/off, which resets the encryption key that is stored locally on your device.
Monitor Your Home With Ucam
One of the most compelling use cases of Ucam is monitoring your home in real-time while you are away — we’ve put all the tools you need to do this effectively at your fingertips! Click into any Ucam from the home dashboard to enter full widescreen mode, where you will see a number of great features:
- 1080p HD Video: encrypted livestream from Ucam to mobile device
- 360° coverage: pan, tilt, and zoom controls to remotely control Ucam
- Take Photo & Video: record scenes from your livestream feed (note: users can also record rolling footage of Ucam feeds)
- Two-way Audio: talk directly with whoever is at home — baby, pet, nanny, etc.
- Night Vision: of up to 36 feet of visibility, auto-activated in low-light situations
The final piece of the puzzle is over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates for Ucam, which allows IoTeX to push new future features to users with ease. In the future, we plan to add many more amazing features to Ucam — have an idea for a new feature? Drop us a line at [email protected] to let us know.
What’s Next?
Now that we’ve shared our journey in creating Ucam, privacy and security highlights, and all of Ucam’s great features in this blog, we are ready to begin the official countdown to Ucam pre-order in early February! Anyone that pre-orders Ucam will receive special benefits, so make sure to subscribe to the waitlist for all the details.
Over the coming weeks, we will continue to dig deeper into the functionality, privacy, and security of Ucam to showcase just how monumental this product is — stay tuned!
For more details on Ucam, please visit https://iotex.io/ucam
About IoTeX
Founded as an open source platform in 2017, IoTeX is building the Internet of Trusted Things, where all physical and virtual “things” — humans, machines, businesses, and DApps — can exchange information and value at global scale.
Backed by a global team of 30+ top research scientists and engineers, IoTeX combines blockchain, secure hardware, and decentralized identity to empower intelligent IoT networks and machine economies. By serving as a decentralized trust fabric for IoT, IoTeX will empower the future decentralized world by “connecting the physical world, block by block”.