FLIR ONE Starts Pre-Orders For Its #iPhone #Thermal #Imaging Camera

#GNN - If you ever wanted to experience how the Predator sees the world, now’s your chance, and all you’ll need is an iPhone and the FLIR ONE case.

The FLIR ONE case packs a full thermal imaging camera that sees variances in temperature on the infrared spectrum, and works with either the iPhone 5 or iPhone 5s, along with the FLIR ONE companion app. It can show you a live view of the world broken down by relative heat, and it’s coming to Apple Stores and Apple’s online retail portal in August, with pre-orders at FLIR ONE’s website kicking off tomorrow.

We got some hands-on time with the FLIR ONE when it was first previewed at CES this year, and the tech was impressive even in that pre-launch state. The FLIR ONE provides a good option for various applications, including finding thermal leaks in homes and commercial buildings, as well as water leaks, and for finding lost pets in the dark, hunting wild game, or just generally creeping out and looking for people in the dark. Both consumers and contractor/surveyors/professionals have reason to get this thing, and FLIR ONE has built-in a few software features to make it more than a one-trick pony, with time lapse, paint and panorama functionality via the official app.

FLIR ONE has a built-in battery good for two hours of continuous use, and adds only 3.9 ounces to your phone. It also comes in Space Gray (available first) and silver or gold to match your phone’s look (those two are coming later). Pre-orders for the U.S. kick off tomorrow at 9 AM ET, with a price of $349.99.

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Google Looking At Dropcam And The Home Security Market, Says The Information

Google has reportedly ben interested in Dropcam as an acquisition target, according to a new report by The Information today. The supposed purchase would help Google with its aim of getting into the home security market, and would be tied to Google’s Nest division, which seems to be turning into Google’s smart home and consumer Internet of Things play.

The Information’s report is light on details, saying only that Google has “considered” acquired Dropcam, and that it isn’t clear if there have been any talks between Google and the company or what the status of those talks may be. Dropcam makes connected home security video cameras, with two-way audio functions, remote monitoring, and cloud-based subscription video recording and storage capabilities. The startup has raised almost $50 million in its five-year history, and its camera hardware is a popular seller at Amazon, the Apple Store and more.

Nest building home security hardware would make a lot of sense, given that it first tackled home climate control then moved into fire detection and prevention with its smoke detector (which was recently recalled). A connected security system is a logical next step in terms of home automation options, given that the home security market in the U.S. is estimated to be around a $15 billion business annually. It’d be interesting to see the company go outside rather than develop its own product (as the hardware design and development capabilities at Nest were part of what drove the acquisition) but Dropcam has a successful, well-liked product already in market so that’s quite a shortcut.

The most interesting upshot of all of this could be to see Google and Apple become close-knit partners once again. It sounds like Google is focused on building out a hardware network of smart home devices, while Apple is reportedly set to unveil a software platform to undergird the same. This could mean the two become thick as thieves again in the future, especially if Google takes the logical, platform agnostic approach (while also supporting Android as an IoT OS) and Apple continues to play nice with third-party hardware (it hasn’t ejected Nest from its store yet, for instance). The two recently agreed to cease their patent war in terms of upcoming smartphone devices, so maybe there is indeed a warming of the previously cooled relationship.