Sony has recently released the DAB Radio IP Spy Camera System. Over the last decade individuals as well businesses have been looking for additional security. Some come in the form of entire network security systems for the home or office. Others are just looking for a basic system that can provide peace of mind.

The Sony DAB IP Spy Camera System can be used in an office setting or in your home environment. The capabilities of this item are very impressive. At first glance the device looks just like a regular radio, even upon close inspection it would be extremely difficult to detect that there is a camera system inside. This is an immediate positive as other types of hidden camera systems are not always as undetectable looking as this one.

How might you use it? Are you concerned with your children’s safety? Do you have valuables or specific items in your office that are off limits to others? The Sony DAB Radio may relieve some of your worry, and provide you with assurance. Set up is very easy; Software is downloaded to your PC, or Laptop, and once you plug in the radio and sync it with your PC or other device your up and running.

The Sony DAP IP Spy Camera System is state of the art! It provides a clear colour picture. You can set the camera for continuous recording, timed recording, or motion detected recording. The camera system is also capable of being run by way of remote. This will allow for you to record events as you monitor what is happening. Some people may feel a little weird setting up a private hidden camera system in their home to spy on workers, or child minders, but safety and security is extremely important today.

Other great features on the Sony DAB Radio IP Spy Camera System include, real time recording, time and date stamped capabilities. One great feature is the remote ability that directs to mobile handhelds such as the iPhone. There are numerous personal settings, including immediate email or contact upon any movement in the area.

As for comparability, there are products on the market that have the same capabilities that the Sony DAB Radio IP Spy Camera System has, however there are not many that are all in one. Most competitors have focused on one area or another, however the negativity of those are the lack of sound, poor picture quality, inability to provide personal preference settings etc. The only real drawback to the Sony DAB is the cost, it is rather pricey at £1,074.00.

Depending on exactly what you require would likely be the main deciding factor here with regard to a purchase such as this. If you are simply looking for a basic spy cam, then the Sony isn’t likely for you. If you are looking for a full functioning all aspects audio video security system then the Sony DAB Radio IP Spy Camera System would be one of the better options available on the market today.

It looks like a smart analog clock which you can place on a desk or even a wall unit or shelving. And it is old-fashioned enough to have numbers, and hands, including a second’s one to tell the time. But inside is it has the latest technology. Despite its innocuous looks, it has a built in video surveillance camera which is capable of recording audio, video and still pictures.

The camera is a motion sensor one and can capture video in a 62º angle from nine feet away with a 720 x 480 resolution. It also has a sensitive microphone picks up sound from 16′ away. The still pictures have a resolution of 1,280 x 960, which is quite sharp. Made by Hammacher Schlemmer, the camera/clock comes with an extra 4 GB card, so it can store six hours of video or 52,000 images.

If that is not enough, it supports a total of 8 GB memory. It is rechargeable thanks to its lithium-ion battery and USB cable and you can download the contents into your computer. Now just think, you can use it as a nanny cam, to see what your spouse or children are up to or in the office to capture all the action particularly if you are not in your seat. In fact, you can put one in every room at home or office, if you need to catch the goings-on or keep an eye on your kids’ activities.

The clock itself looks good, with a nice metallic exterior which would look good on any shelf. The camera is nicely hidden behind a hole above the numbers which actually looks part of the clock design so should not really arouse any suspicion, which of course is always an important part of these types of device.

But although the quality of the video should be good, the angle and distance is fairly limited, but still an improvement on other similar devices.

The original price of this clock is $159.95 from the manufacturer but can be obtained at half that price elsewhere.

There are so many different types of spy cameras now available, all of which promise to be covert, but some are quite often not as undetectable as they claim. However, this one mimics a wall switch, so it has a very good chance of going undetected. But there are some down points to this camera as well.

This camera has video and audio recording of up to 6 hours of recording when it is on. It has a stand-by time of 13 days and works on an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery. It has a range of 3 meters and further than that, it won’t catch what is happening.

It record continuous video or even stills at intervals. The best thing is that when it is on it works on motion detector technology so only starts recording when it detects something is happening. So it does not use too much power, either. You can store everything on a memory card of up to 8 GB. It is simple and easy to use and comes with screws and USB cable.

One problem is that there is a small but quite visible hole where the camera lens point out from which is not ideal and might be detected as there is a glowing LED light when it starts recording. This might be noticeable to those who know what to look for and are weary of these things.

It has a range of 3 metres which is fairly short coverage so may not really be ideal for a room as such, especially a biggish one thus it might be a better idea to have it in a small storage room or something of that sort where valuables are kept and where footage is wanted only when someone enters it rather than round the clock recording.

More can be found on this wall switch camera here.

If you have to keep tabs on your car’s usage or you run a fleet of cars as a business, then this dual camera – the Dash Cam Dually – which will record inside and outside the car can be of great use. It uses infrared technology to capture whatever happens even when it is dark.

The camera comes with a G-shock sensor which could of immense importance if your vehicle is involved in an accident or an impact. It logs all the details thanks to its inbuilt GPS receiver along with the location, speed and direction of the car so that you know exactly what happened and when.

A 2 GB SD card provides sufficient memory to the camera, comes with a card reader and also makes for easy viewing. You can set the camera for continuous or emergency recording.

(Below is an image showing a shot of the inside and out simultanously)

At $385 the Dash Cam Dually is not cheap, but if you ever need it in an emergency, the price you have paid will be worth it. The camera also looks nice.

This camera is different to vehicle cameras we have covered before which can only record in one direction, do this is definately a bonus.

Of course, this can also be used by individuals for the purpose of security. It can also be used to provide evidence if required in the event there is a crash or an incident that may require an investigation or an insurance claim.

Whether you use it as a nanny cam or for any other covert purpose, it can sit innocuously on your desk or adorn your wall, looking innocently like a clock which it functions as. This sophisticated DVR works on motion sensor technology and so does not cause any unnecessary battery drain.

It provides up to 20 hours of actual video and can last for a year on a stand by basis with just one full charge. It starts working when it senses body heat 30 feet away and ceases recording one minute after it stops sensing body heat or movement.

It records fairly high resolution video of 640 x 480 even in low light conditions. While the package comes with a 4 GB SD card, which is fairly limiting but can be upgraded for an extra cost. And it comes with no power cord which would give the game away – it is completely portable.

And it works as an extremely accurate clock as well; you just have to synchronize your time zone and it will set itself to the correct time.

With it looking very much like a normal clock, this could be used to monitor a baby’s nanny, for example, without arousing any suspicion while it stands proudly on a table or a shelf since its normal but a very stylish looking clock.

The reason why this might be a good option to use as a nanny cam is that its is a clock and unlikely to be moved around which is a risk with other nanny cams like those designed to look like a teddy bear or other toys. However, at $649, you do get the sense that it is quite a bit on the expensive side, even withstanding the fact that it does provide high quality video and being a stylish clock to boot.

Its available here

Nobody would likely suspect the innocuous soda/coke can lying in a room or a car to be camera. It is not only a high end digital camera recorder, but also records audio. Just in between the writing is a tiny lens which would be incredibly difficult to spot to the uninitiated.

The on-off switches are under the can and it comes with a record button and a remote which means that you don’t have to touch the can to start recording. With 4 GB of memory, it can record up to 15 hours of footage. And since the memory is built in, you don’t need an extra recording device.

The USB cord will help download the recording as well as charge the device, though it comes with a separate charger as well. There is only one downside to this – its range of view is going to be very limited and it can only record what the lens can view.

The positioning of the item when recording is very important because of the hole on the can. If someone were to notice the hole, they would become suspicious.

My guess is that this only records straight in line rather than having a wide angle recording (there is no mention of the angles), so the placement of the device is all the more crucial. But it seems the hole in the Coke Zero can is very cleverly integrated as one of the bubbles on the can which is much more difficult to tell. This is also from Chinagrabber and the item can be located here.

For covert surveillance recording, the turbo PIR motion sensor DVR hidden camera is a good bet. It is a total security system with a DVR, a built-in color camera, completely portable and wire free.

It can be used in the home, office, property or land or even a nanny camera. You can either use the motion detection function or scheduled time recording. Though it comes with a 1 GB SD card, its memory can be expanded to 32 GB. Though it comes with an AC adaptor jack, if you use 4 AA batteries, you can record up to 17 hours in stand-by mode or 12 hours of continuous recording if you use lithium-ion batteries.

With the extra extended memory, you can use it for almost two years of continuous recording (though you would need to change the batteries or if you use electricity it may go off if there is a power cut). It comes with a time and date search function as well and record very high resolution images, though you can change the resolution according to your needs.

But this type of camera may not be suitable for serious covert stuff even though the camera is hidden because the item needs to be planted in an open area and may not entirely avoid detection for someone who knows a thing or two about spy equipment and they may be able to guess that it it may hide more than it may appear at first sight, but it could still do a good job for everyday operations. Click for the product page

The Zippo lighter is an innocuous item which anybody (who is a smoker or pretends to be one) can easily carry without it being obvious. But under the lighter is a hidden camera which also has a colour and sound digital video recording system.

It is so simple to use that it has only one button to stop and start recording. The recordings are time and date stamped. And the covert camera can be charged via USB cable through your computer or laptop – two hours of charging gives one hour of recording.

It gives excellent resolution for video recording and comes with a 2 GB memory card. So if you fancy yourself in the spy mode, or you have a real reason to do some short-term recording, you could get yourself one of these nifty lighters, which is simple to use, but does require your presence for recording, though you could switch it on and leave it someplace and retrieve it after an hour.

What’s good about this product is that it looks a very standard lighter, nothing fancy, which is good given that it is supposed to be a covert piece of equipment, however, its not so reasonable from a price perspective as similar devices are available for a lot less, even if they are not as quite as good as this one, but then again, perhaps the higher quality and very discreet nature of the product is worth the extra price.

Its available from SpyCatcher for just under £225.

The Wireless Shoe Covert Camera by Omejo is actually a sports shoe which is fitted with a camera and it is not exactly wireless either, because there is a wire which leads to a transmitter and which will go under the trousers.

The receiver also works as a tri band GSM cell phone and the camera records in real time and records audio and video, with a date and time stamp. The wireless video signal can be recorded from 250 feet away and can be viewed on a 3” display screen.

It comes with 1 GB built in storage and an SD card reader. What’s more you can listen to music on it as well. All this for $329, which is not cheap by any standard.

What boggles the mind, however, is what you can record with a shoe camera – its angle of vision is upwards after all. Covert spy operations? Unless you want to record something from ground level upwards, or record audio (and there are many other gadgets available for that) it seems to have little more than novelty value, unless you are recording up women’s dresses – and that can surely get you arrested!

Also, the camera lens is on the top of the trainers which can look slightly abnormal even though its very small.

A Sony clock radio which looks like a regular one, but functions as a covert spy cam, this one can record high resolution video or still pictures night or day. With motion detection sensors which can detect motion up to 30 feet away and automatically switching on when it is dark, the Sony cam offers more features than many similar spy cams. It can also help in assess your sleep patterns if you have any sleep disorder.

For instance, you can set it to come on at specific times on specific days only, or when it detects motion or record continuously if that is your requirement. You can also set it to ignore unwanted motion like a fan. It transfers all the images on to an SD card which can be between 1 GB and 16 GB.

The SD card can then be attached to a monitor or television with the cables the device comes with for easy viewing. The beauty of this piece is that it is quite innocuous – a commonplace item which everybody has.

However, at almost $600, the Sony Dream Machine Camera is an expensive piece of equipment. You can probably get a cheaper spy cam with similar features if you do some research.

However, I must stress that, despite the quite discreet nature of this gadget, I have seen products that serve the same purpose that are much more discreet looking when it comes to secret audio/video recording in the home. This looks a bit too high-tech/gadgety in my view and therefore loses a few marks in that innocuous department.