If you are a resident of Britain – beware! Big Brother may be watching you. There are more than 60,000 cameras deployed, operated by local councils. Director of privacy campaign group, Alex Deane, confirmed that a study aptly titled Big Brother is Watching revealed, ‘Local councils across Britain are creating enormous networks of CCTV at great expense, but the evidence for the ability of CCTV to deter or solve crimes is sketchy at best.’

The sad part is that though the councils have spent a great deal of money in installing the cameras, they often don’t work properly, the footage is not clear and cannot be used for legal purposes, sometimes the cameras are turned off and sometimes nobody is manning the control rooms.

Even worse only one crime is solved per 1,000 cameras installed. One senior Met officer, Mick Neville, described London’s CCTV network as an ‘utter fiasco’.

People are also concerned that their privacy is being violated thanks to their everyday, normal activities in public places being filmed without their knowledge and that their images are on record. More on this

In an ideal world there would be much fewer cameras but with extremely high quality output on the ones that are deployed and which should be placed strategically. The technology is not very advanced when it comes to clarity making some of the footage redundant. But given the rise in terrorism scares, it would be counter-productive to cut the number of cameras because of the need for extra vigilance everywhere. Either way, what is definitely required is that all the footage filmed can actually be used when required or else it would seem a waste of resources.

In today’s day and age, security is of paramount concern with the danger of all kinds of criminal activities increasing at home or in the workplace. As such a good surveillance system can be of immense use when danger strikes.

So, this new this DVR kit from Maplin is ideal surveillance equipment for the security of your house, office or shop. It can be placed indoors or outdoors, depending on your needs. It comes with four security cameras which can be placed in any way so that all the happenings can be recorded.

This surveillance equipment comes with four cameras which will work day and night, in colour and the recorder has a 250 GB hard drive. It can be used with any television or monitor, so you are spoilt for choice if you are buying one. The cameras have a 5 meter night vision range which makes them even better for use and security. Easy to use, it comes with a remote and also has a motion detector and video loss alarm system.

You can upgrade the hard disk to 750 GB storage, which gives you a lot of video time and the cameras can be set to record continuously or according to a time schedule set by you or even only if there is any motion.

There are a couple of inconveniences with this system, however. The cameras do not have audio and also need wires to be connected (cables are supplied with the kit), which can be a little untidy given many systems these days are of the wireless variety. Currently this product is available at discounted prices so if you are in the market for a complete security system, you can get a good deal on this one. For a short period there is a discount of £100 on the system.

“What have you got, eyes in the back of your head?”

Well, maybe not humans, but the new “Digital Window” camera sure comes close to making the old saying a reality. Scallop imaging security cameras, they’re called.

It is named after the shells of scallop species that have upwards of a 100 eyes, which don’t actually see, but rather detect motion from all directions, as a defensive device, telling the scallop when to close its shell.

Made by Tenebraex, a Boston based company specializing in military optical equipment, the new camera takes images from five image sensors, approximately the equivalent of five cell phone cameras. Each with a 40-degree view, when combined, the five views make up around 180 degrees.

This is not the first commercial system that has 180 degree views but the Digital Window is by far the least expensive and should revolutionise the technology by cutting costs. By utilising two sets, you can attain a full 360 degree view.

It has been awarded US Patent No. 7,262,789 and other patents are pending.

With an Ethernet powered box it features a seven megapixel, 15 frames per second, 180º view. Because of its range of view, it doesn’t have to move, so you never know when you are being watched. You’re ALWAYS being watched.

With its situational awareness capability, it’s a bit like having the ability to be aware of what’s going on around you at all times. The system also has great close-up views which not all traditional security cameras do without distorting the images to some degree. Of course, that would be dependent on the quality of the cameras, but there are very few on the markets available at the moment that provide great clarity in close-up. We have seen CCTV cameras used in streets, car parks, stations, shops which produce blurry views when used in close-up.

Another great aspect of this is that it operates without needing to zoom around thus always having an ‘eye’ on a given area. This is one of the negative aspects of traditional cameras used in shops which can point away thus giving shoplifters, for example, the ability to take the camera out, so to speak, before doing their deeds.

George Orwell must be doing a full 360 in his grave at this news. Surveillance will never be the same when this low cost baby hits the streets. Consider London and the way it is today. This is only going to further facilitate the “viewed attitude.”

The Digital Window is expected to retail sometime in 2009.

According to Daily Mail, one of Britain’s most widely circulated newspapers, some schools in the country are installing surveillance cameras in classrooms. The cameras will be in classrooms of pupils across the age range, from as young as 4.

The firm installing the cameras and microphones may have some sort of conflict of interest as their chairman, Tim Loughton, is the Shadow Children’s Minister (the opposition party). Although he isn’t in the government, MPs, particularly, senior MPs such as Mr. Loughton, can have significant influence, which may well be the case here. Since MPs are well paid these days and have their costs covered, perhaps they should not be allowed to sit on boards of companies while they serve their constituencies, it simply creates conflicts of interests.
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At a cost of £3,000 for each classroom, the question that must be asked is, at a time when the schools are constantly being criticised for churning out pupils that are rather ill-equipped for worklife, couldn’t this money be better spent on improving teaching standards.

Also, is this going too far in terms of privacy violation? Having cameras and audio surveillance everywhere can make pupils and even teachers uneasy knowing their every move is being recorded. How can this be conducive for good teaching and teacher/student relationship?

I suppose this might be a good idea for secondary schools since there have been a lot of cases of violent pupil on pupil attacks, but is this necessary for clasrooms of 4 year old kids. Much of the misbehaviour at that age is still quite innocent and there is nothing malicious in it.

Can you imagine the scene where a teacher of a 4 year old pupil calls his/her parents over and demonstrates video footage of their child disrupting class? I think if a teacher cannot discpline 4 year old kids, then they should perhaps not be in the teaching profession at all.

Since its approaching the end of the year, it might be a good time to take stock and look at where the surveillance market stands as far as spy cameras, the most popular spy gadget in terms of volume of sales, is concerned.

A Guide to Spy Cameras

Home security can be a big concern for some people, and keeping your business or property secure and under surveillance used to be a considerable expense. But thanks to the advances in wireless technology and the miniaturisation of video surveillance equipment you can set up your own network of CCTV type spy cameras on your own property or conceal about your person without breaking the bank, and with tons of convenient features. Here are the key types of spy cameras that are on the market today that you might consider.

Wireless Spy Cameras

One of the neatest and most portable Spy Cameras around is the Wireless USB Pinhole Camera. This tiny camera come with a separate unit that plugs directly into your PC or Laptop and can receive live colour video and audio from the separate pinhole camera Unit and record it at 25fps onto your computer`s hard drive. It can operate over a distance of up to 75m and the unit`s tiny size means it can be placed virtually anywhere you need it without being large and obvious.

The camera can be purchased with a standard pinhole lens, but is additionally available on request with a button pinhole lens or a screw pinhole lens for ultimate discretion. Other larger wireless units are available, which can also record sound and video straight to your computer or to a secure server over the internet. They are able to do this as they have Wi-Fi connectivity to take advantage of the wireless networks that are now available in most homes and businesses. Wired IP spy cameras are also available, but they require an Ethernet connection and therefore the installation is more difficult. The final type of miniature wireless spy camera that is worthy of note is the ZedCam smoke alarm camera.

This is a discrete, believable unit which can be attached to your ceiling in seconds using the supplied double-sided sticking Velcro, and features a no-wires 2.4GHz broadcast which means it is a professional product with a 3.7mm wide angle lens as an option to really capture all that is going on. A variety of professional accessories which are compatible with this camera are also available,offering things like remote mode switching between active and sleep, and even a kit which will trigger the camera to operate whenever a door or window is opened, as detected by a magnetic seal.

Dome Spy Cameras

If you are concerned about the safety of your CCTV or spy camera and want to protect it and conceal its POV then you might consider purchasing a dome to place over it. Most are manufactured from acrylic, and installing a darkened dome will help conceal which way your spy camera is pointing. Depending on what digital cameras or spy equipment you got, and depending on where it is installed, you may require different size and specification of dome, and although most domes can be mounted yourself it is probably advisable to use a professional as having a well finished job will make your equipment even more discrete.

Looking for a secret way in which to get some awesome video footage of what is happening over that tall fence or to spy on anyone anywhere? If this sounds like a gadget that you would love to have, then you should check out the DraganFlyer X6, although you would have to be very well-off to get your hands on one. This ingenious gadget is a remote controlled unmanned miniature helicopter that was designed specifically to carry a wireless still or video camera.

With the DraganFlyer you can even choose the camera you prefer including 1080p HD video camera, 10.1 MP digital still camera with 720p video recording, Low light video camera, and a thermal imaging video camera. You can choose to use each camera and interchange them as needed.

The helicopter has 11 sensors along with thousands of lines of code to allow it to self stabilize during flight. The controls are very easy to use along with being more reliable than other helicopters on the market today.

The DraganFlyer X6 has many of the same options of larger surveillance aircraft used by the United States Federal Government, however, the small size is better for close encounters and of course less expensive to operate and maintain. The fact that it replicates that is an indication of quality of this device.

The good news with the DraganFlyer X6 is that it is so lightweight it can be carried across your shoulder so you will have it readily available at any second you may need to see what is going on over the hill or down the dark alley before you venture off into danger.

This toy isn’t for everyone, however, with the price well in excess of $10,000.

Even though WowWee introduced the Rovio Spy Robot In January 2008 at the CES, it is just now hitting the market through Hammacher Schlemmer for a whopping $299.95.

This awesome Rovio Spy Robot will give everyone the ability to monitor their home wherever they may be in the entire world, if they can handle the price tag. On the other hand, this home surveillance robot is much more affordable over any other type of surveillance on the market today.

The Rovio Spy Robot has the ability to move in all directions easily and can even be controlled remotely using a web accessible device such as a mobile phone, video game, or computer. The robot has a built in camera that streams audio and video with a high resolution of 640x480px, which is streamed in MPEG4 format. The best feature is that you can control the robot to monitor your home and receive still photos that will be emailed to you no matter where you may be.

Along with this, the Rovio Spy robot is the very first robotic system to use the NorthStar smart navigation and positioning system. This little bit of gadgetry works similar to a micro-GPS system so the robot will know its location along with other objects in the home while navigating from one place to another with ease.

You will have the ability to set the Rovio Spy Robot with 10 customized patrols paths in which the robot will follow while maneuvering around furniture or other objects in the way with its infrared sensor. Although pretty expensive, it does sound like a lot of fun and a great Christmas gift!

And although you can get some of the individual functionalities of this robot device cheaper in other standalone devices, this does seem to pack a useful punch with diverse range of functions all in one.

You can see the robot in action here.

The discreet nature of surveillance gadgets just gets more discreet by the year. This birdhouse is one of the more discreet tools when it comes to covert surveillance cameras as it looks like a real bird-house that someone is unlikely to take it for anything else.

Its an innovative way to protect the home or some other property. With this gadget, you will be in constant contact with what might be going on as you can track the cameras via the Internet using the IP address and password from any computer or mobile phone phone and receive actual footage of what is happening at home.

The birdhouse hidden camera can be set to continuous record with up to 4 cameras directly to your computer hard drive. You can see what happened in the past or what is going on at this very moment.

Inside this birdhouse is a high tech CCD camera and FCC approved 2.4 GHz video transmitter that will switch back and forth from bright light to black and white for low light. No matter, who arrives to your home you will have a record of each visitor and know if they were friend or foe.

What happens if a family of birds wanted to call the birdhouse home? You do not have to worry, you can easily ask for a mesh to be installed over the opening. No one will see the mesh but birds will not be able to call your secret hidden camera home.

Keep an eye on any property at all times with this unique and decorative birdhouse. The best way to protect your home is by being smarter than would be thieves and with this birdhouse wireless hidden camera you could just fool the unsuspected..

High Resolution Spy Camera
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I’ve been reviewing spy kit for a long time now, and there have been some massive leaps in what the technology is now capable of. There are often one or two features of a spy camera that impresses me, such as the very well concealed spy pen I recently reviewed.

However, one frustration I’ve hit on a number of times is the lack of a covert, portable spy camera that offers high quality images as well as digital recording. You wouldn’t have thought that would be so difficult, except that all of the spy cameras I’ve encountered have suffered in at least one of those crucial areas.

However, Pakatak have just recently stocked a new digital spy camera that finally meets all of my requirements! The spy camera is a very small digital video recording camera device that offers excellent video quality, and lends itself to a variety of covert surveillance applications. The most impressive aspect of the camera is it’s 640 x 480 pixel resolution, pretty unique to the covert spy camera market.

The Complete Spy Camera Kit
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The camera measures an impressive 66mm x 29mm x 12mm, which is roughly the size of a chewing gum pack. The camera comes with a USB lead (for charging and transferring video files), operating instructions, a 2GB microSD memory card and adaptor, and the software miniCD.

The camera itself has a slot for the microSD card, a mini USB socket, a sliding on/off switch, a REC/STOP button, a MODE button, and holes for the microphone and camera lens. There are also 2 tiny holes that are LED indication lights, which are only viewable when the unit is switched on and you are looking directly at the bottom of the camera.

I found this spy camera pretty easy to operate, although reading the instructions is a must if you want to get going quickly.

• You slide the ON/OFF switch into the ON position.
• You press and hold the REC/STOP button and a timid little LED light comes on. After a few seconds, the light goes out. You then release the REC/STOP button.
• As soon as you release the button, either 1 or 2 LEDs switch on. The red LED indicates that the camera is in standby mode. The green LED indicates that the camera is in high quality (VGA or 640 x 480 pixel) mode. If the green LED is off, it indicates that the camera is in normal (QVGA or 320 x 240 pixel) mode.
• When the camera is in standby mode, press the MODE button to switch between VGA or QVGA mode.
• To start recording, press the REC/STOP button briefly and the red LED should turn to a flashing blue light. The camera has started recording.
• To stop recording, press the REC/STOP button briefly again, and the blue LED turns red again. The camera has stopped recording and has gone back into standby mode. The camera must be put into standby mode before being switched off, otherwise the recording will be lost.

After using the camera for a little while, I noticed that the camera stopped recording and would just flash a red LED. I discovered that this indicates the camera needed charging up. So I plugged the camera into my PC using the USB lead and switched the camera ON. This is so that the camera can charge, indicated by a flashing red LED.

Getting the video files from the camera

It’s particularly simple to get video files from this camera. The spy camera uses the microSD card for storing the video footage. You could remove the microSD card, plug it into the SD card adaptor, then plug it into your PC, but there’s no need. You can just plug the camera into your PC’s USB port. The microSD card is very neatly concealed in the camera, so it’s a little fiddly to get it out anyway (I used the tip of a ball-point pen).

If you plug the camera into the computer in the VGA mode, your PC detects the camera device as a webcam. There is special software provided on the miniCD to transfer video files to your PC when the camera is in VGA mode.

If the camera device is in QVGA mode, the PC detects the camera as a USB storage device. Why the designers decided to give the camera a webcam application is beyond me. So make sure the camera is in QVGA mode before you plug it in. You can then access the video files as you would use any disk.

The VGA mode video footage uses roughly 800kb of space per 1 second of footage, the QVGA mode video uses roughly 300kb of space per 1 second of footage. Using the full 2GB of storage, this equates to 40 minutes in VGA mode or 115 minutes (1hr 55 mins) in QVGA mode. So it looks as if the storage space will get used up quicker than a full charge of the battery. That’s particularly useful if you can swap out the microSD card for a fresh one during an operation.

Thankfully the video files are playable in any PC media player, and the quality of the video in either mode is very impressive. Unless you particularly need nearly 2 hours of recording time, I recommend keeping the device in VGA mode for recording. I’ve done some screen captures for you to see below.

QVGA Mode
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VGA Mode
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Overall I think the spy camera is one of the best-designed covert spy cameras I’ve ever seen. The video quality, the removable storage, the standard video compression codec and the ease of use completely smashes any of my prior favourite spy gadgets. What really seals the deal on this spy camera is the price. £115, which is actually very good value for a spy camera.

This piece of kit is well worth having, and I whole heartily recommend it.

Spy Pen Kit
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Pakatak have been working hard on their new spy cameras recently, and I have great delight in telling you about their new video recording spy pen. This slightly thicker than normal pen has a built in spy camera that is capable of recording video and audio to the internal storage device at a resolution of 352 x 288 pixels. And what’s more, the spy pen actually works as a normal pen too!

Spy Pen – 2 Halves
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The pen measures about 155mm long and about 15mm in diameter. You can use the pen element by twisting the lower half of the pen until the tip is visible. The recording part of the pen is a bit like a USB stick. The spy pen has a built-in USB plug, which you gain access to by gentle unscrewing the middle.

There is a small button on the top end of the pen, which serves as the on/off switch and rec/stop button. There are two small holes on the back of the pen, one allows you to see what state the pen is in via a tiny LED, the other is the reset switch.

On the front of the pen, just above the shirt clip, there’s a tiny 2mm pinhole lens. It basically looks like a high quality executive pen, where the indication light and camera lens have been very cleverly hidden in the pen. In practice, you would put the pen into a front shirt or suit pocket. The camera lens then gets a full view of whatever is in front of you.

The pen is very easy to use, but it just took me a little while to get going. I think I was being a little dense.

• To switch the pen on, press the top button once. A yellow/green LED will light up on the back of the pen.
• To start recording, press the top button once. About 5 seconds later, a blue LED will light up on the back of the pen in the same place instead of the yellow/green LED.
• To stop recording, press the top button once. About 5 seconds later, the yellow/green LED lights up instead of the blue LED again.
• To turn the unit off, hold the top button down for about 5 seconds, whilst in the yellow/green state, and release. The LED will go out.

Turning the unit off whilst in recording mode will mean you lose the recording. I also managed to “crash” the pen, where the unit would not record or turn off. I basically needed to press the reset pen using an unfolded paperclip, which is the hole below the LED light.

The kit comes with a short USB extension lead, which is useful if your USB sockets are on the back of your PC. To charge the spy pen, you basically plug it into your PC. A single full charge of the spy pen gives you around 3 hours of recording time.

Once you have a recording, you need to plug the pen into your PC. If you’re using Microsoft Windows, you will be prompted with a dialog box asking if you want to open a folder to view the files on the spy pen storage device. This is the same dialog box you would see if you used a normal USB stick. You can then access the video files on the spy pen in the MOVIE -> RECORD folder.

The spy pen kit also comes with a miniCD containing an application called Kplayer. This media player is needed to view back the recorded videos. I tried using a range of other players to view the video, but they didn’t work. The video is encoded using the Intel H.263 codec, which is a little exotic.

If you want to convert the video to another format, such as 3GP (which works in Apple’s Quicktime), then I suggest this free 3GP video converter. Just make sure the framerate is 14.985 (i.e. 15 frames per second) and the size is 352 x 288 pixels. Incidentally, 3GP is compatible with most video mobile phones these days, so you could convert any video to store on your phone.

I personally got an irritating mismatch with the colours in the video, almost as if the image was highly saturated with certain colours. After some playing around, I managed to fix that. You need to change the overlay mode (how the image is shown on the screen). Right click on the video in Kplayer, choose Video (Advanced) -> Video Renderer and then something different from Overlay Mixer (Default) until you get the right colours. I found that DirectDraw RGB Surface worked for me. Do experiment with the other options in that menu to see what works for you.

So aside from the small playback glitch, the video quality is excellent. Recording takes up around about 100kb per second, so about 6MB per minute by my calculations. The audio does sound a little “tinny” when you playback, much like that of a mobile phone video recording. However, given the size of the spy pen, and the fact that it’s so covertly concealed, the audio quality is far from being an issue.

For £120, you’re getting a pretty reasonable spy camera that has been very professionally concealed with in an executive pen. With a little tweaking, the playback software is all up and running too. But the amazing 2GB of storage space means that you can have over 5 hours of recorded footage. The spy pen is really easy to operate and is perfect for ad-hoc covert surveillance operations.