Someone's Watching: D-Link Releases New PoE Network Camera

D-Link is making the paranoia chronicled in Rockwell's 1984 RandB hit "Somebody's Watching Me" a reality, unveiling a handful of new surveillance cameras to keep tabs on the office and the home from any location.

D-Link Wednesday unveiled its new fixed dome network camera designed to make monitoring discreet, to protect against tampering and to connect to a variety of external devices like switches and alarm relays.

According to D-Link, the D-Link Fixed Dome Network Camera DCS-6110 (pictured) is an IP-based network camera for professional indoor surveillance and security applications. The camera uses a VGA Progressive CMOS Sensor for high quality video and features a built-in Samba client for NAS, meaning there is no need for a direct connection to a PC or any other hardware or software to capture and transfer video.

The DCS-6110 is equipped with PoE support and can receive both power and data over a single Ethernet cable, which allows the camera to be placed in areas that aren't close to a power outlet. The camera is encased in a dome, to prevent tampering.

The newest camera from D-Link also supports simultaneous dual streaming of MPEG-4 and Motion JPEG to provide high quality and bandwidth efficient compression formats. MJPEG delivers greater file integrity, making it suited for detailed monitoring, while MPEG-4 video has smaller file sizes, reducing the amount of bandwidth used.

The Fixed Dome Network Camera (inside view pictured) supports 3GPP mobile surveillance, which lets users view a live video feed from an Internet-ready mobile phone that has a 3GPP player installed, meaning video can be viewed remotely and on the go.

The camera features a 3.7 mm to 12 mm Varifocal lens and 3-axis lens adjustment for wall mounting.

Additionally, the camera includes a free version of D-Link D-ViewCam 2.0 management software, which enables the management of up to 32 network cameras, setting email alert notifications, setting recording schedules and trigger motion detection to record directly to the hard drive. The management software also lets users upload a business floor plan and create a layout of camera locations.

According to D-Link the DCS-6110, which retails for $699, is available through D-Link retail outlets, VARs, solution providers and distributors. It is also available through D-Link's online store.

The DCS-6110 joins other recent camera releases from Fountain Valley, Calif.-based D-Link. Earlier this month, D-Link said it is shipping the first device in its D-Life product family, the Internet Surveillance Starter Kit DHA-390 (pictured). The camera kit enables remote viewing of live streaming video from a Web browser.

The kit comes bundled with an Internet camera and two Powerline networking adapters giving users a way to monitor their home, children, and pets. It offers email alert snapshots, live video monitoring over the internet on a PC and the ability to share camera feeds though a Web interface. An expansion kit is also available that comes with a camera and a single Powerline adapter for users who want to expand their surveillance.

The D-Life cameras plug into existing power supplies for connecting to the network router and then out to the Internet.

The kit retails for just under $500, while the expansion pack runs roughly $400.

D-Link this month also started shipping the D-Link SecuriCam Pan/Tilt/Zoom Network Camera DCS-5610 (pictured), a full-featured network surveillance camera designed for whole-room home and office monitoring and management over conventional closed-circuit television. The DCS-5610 also supports PoE.

The IP-based SecuriCam can be configured to record video to a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device when motion is detected, or it can be scheduled to record at certain times through the day. It also offers an autostart motion detector that can be configured to send an email alert when triggered and is capable of streaming live feeds to an Internet-ready mobile phone or PDA.

The DCS-5610 features 2.6 times optical zoom, 4 times digital zoom, SIP 2-way audio and resolution up to 640 x 480 at 30 frames per second. It can be mounted on a ceiling or wall for maximum coverage, making it ideal for whole-room monitoring.

Like the new DCS-6110, the DCS-5610 also supports 3GPP mobile surveillance for on-the-go monitoring and supports MPEG-4 and MJPEG for lower bandwidth consumption. It is managed using a Web interface or with the D-ViewCam 2.0 management software.

The DCS-5610 is available through D-Link retail outlets, VARs, solution providers, distributors and D-Link's online store for a suggested retail price of $769.99.