Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Pro and Video Doorbell 4 Now on Pre-Order
Ring is back at it, running rings around competition with new product introductions – this time with a new floodlight cam and another new doorbell. The Floodlight Cam Wired Pro borrows some features from the recently released Video Doorbell Pro 2 – including the 3D Motion Detection with radar and the Bird’s Eye View aerial view. It is currently available for pre-order for $249, shipping on May 6. Ring also announced a new $199 Video Doorbell 4. This battery-powered (or wired, if you choose) doorbell has full color pre-roll video, 1080p, and 16:9 field of view. It is currently available for pre-order and will start shipping on April 28.
The NPD Take:
- With the introduction of the Floodlight Cam Wired Pro, the price of the original Floodlight Cam drops to a new $199 price point, so a $50 savings over the Pro if you don’t need the 3D Motion Detection or Bird’s Eye View. The Doorbell 4 upgrades the Doorbell 3 Plus black and white pre-roll, but the Video Doorbell 3 Plus is supposed remain available (as is the Doorbell 3), but with both the new 4 and the 3 Plus at $199…why not go new?
Works With Arlo Will Start Working Again?
According to Pocket Lint, Arlo will be bringing back the Works with Arlo program this year. Originally launched back at CES 2019, the program was intended to enable third party smart home device integration and control through the Arlo app as a central interface. Since then, however, the program took a back seat as the company focused on its core offerings – such as rolling out new product and building out Arlo Smart.
The NPD Take:
- Assuming the relaunch of Works with Arlo will have a similar intent to its original, Arlo is once again be looking to position itself as a smart home platform. This could be good news for Arlo customers…who haven’t already come up with another way to control their smart home ecosystem (Alexa? Google Assistant? HomeKit? SmartThings? IFTTT?). There are clearly several other already established platforms that consumers may already have set up – and Arlo will need to offer something very special to differentiate and convince consumers to shuffle around their set-ups.
Chipolo Introduces Tracker for Apple’s Find My Network
Chipolo’s One Spot is the first Bluetooth tracker that can work with (and, in fact, exclusively works with) Apple’s Find My network. The One Spot is an updated version of the company’s One tracker, with the same replaceable battery, 120 decibel ring tone, and water resistance. The One Spot also includes some Find My specific functionality, like a “lost mode” that allows users to tag an item as missing…which then notifies other Find My users. Preorders are supposed to start in June, but no pricing has been announced yet.
The NPD Take:
- This is quite the curious development given the rumors of Apple’s (imminent?) launch of its AirTags item tracker. It doesn’t have the ultra wideband that AirTags is supposed to have…but other than that (and the Apple branding, of course) seems very similar. Chipolo is a much smaller player than Tile, and this could give them a leg up on market share.