Meet the Hal 9000 of doorbells. (Hopefully this one won't lock you out.)

It’s a common struggle for urban internet shoppers: You order plenty of great stuff online, but you’re at work during the day, and your apartment doesn’t have a safe place for package deliveries. Doorbot, a new camera/doorbell/HAL 9000 lookalike, will notify your smartphone when your doorbell rings — even if you’re miles away — so you can let the UPS guy inside or simply give him permission to leave your package on your step.

The home-automation device, which is currently available for pre-order at Amazon, combines video surveillance with a doorbell. It’s like a video intercom, except instead of video being beamed to a fixed screen, it can go straight to your smartphone. In order to do this, the Doorbot has many of the same components as an embedded system. It connects to your home Wi-Fi, it runs off a rechargeable lithium-ion battery (with an estimated battery life of just under a year), and it includes a fisheye camera. One particularly cool feature is night-vision mode, which lets you see who’s at your door even if you don’t have a brightly-lit stoop. When someone rings Doorbot, you’ll get a push notification on your phone, and you can see who rang and even communicate with them with an intercom-like feature. If you pair Doorbot with a Lockitron lock, you can also unlock the door for guests remotely — which would be perfect for running an Airbnb or loaning out an extra room to friends.

The Doorbot comes with a theft-resistant mount and looks fairly easy to install. During the process, you can choose to wire it so it draws power like a conventional doorbell — you know, if you’re nervous about disconnecting it every year to recharge. On the other hand, if you don’t fully mount and wire it, Doorbot can detach and be used as a wireless video camera away from the doorjamb.

A few Doorbots started shipping as rewards for a successful crowdfunding campaign, but the first commercial shipment won’t be available on Amazon until December 1. You can pick one up for $200. There’s a package with an included Lockitron for an extra $150, too.

Via: Wired