New App Lets You Turn Your iPhone into a Baby Monitor
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CREDIT: Evoz |
If you have an iPhone, you might not need your traditional baby monitor any longer. Today (July 13) Evoz launched its free baby monitor app for iPhone. Using a pair of iPhones, the Evoz monitor alerts parents to their babies' cries without the distance limitations and interference problems of today's standalone baby monitors that have remained largely unchanged for more than three decades.
The idea for the Evoz baby monitor originated when one of its founders, Avishai Shoham, moved into a new house. After putting his baby to bed, he and his wife wanted to join a barbecue in the yard but the baby monitor’s range didn't go far enough.
To remedy the problem, Shoham ended up calling his wife’s cellphone in the baby’s room from his phone and listened in on the baby, walking around that evening with the phone stuck to his ear. He realized there had to be a better way.
Unlike monitors that alert a user when any noise is made, the Evoz app is able to differentiate between a cry and background noise.
The app uses an algorithm derived from the crying sounds of hundreds of children of different ethnicities, ranging from newborns to children age 1 1/2. The company ran its crying tests with background music, traffic noise and other disruptive sounds to teach the software to isolate a baby's cries.
Evoz uses two devices, which can consist of two iPhones or an iPhone paired with an Evoz receiver. An iPod Touch or an iPad can also be used for the receiver. Parents can listen in around the clock or have a text message sent or phone call made to them after the baby cries for more than 30 seconds.
Expect video monitoring to be added in 2012. An Android-based app will be available in the coming months.
The Evoz app is available free from iTunes. The Evoz receiver is available for $120 and will ship Sept. 28. Parents can add an unlimited monitoring subscription for $6.99 a month.
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