By Andrew Liszewski

Convinced that someone’s stealing your mail? Using your pool while you’re at work? Or maybe the dog’s been raiding the fridge while you’re away. Whatever the case, you won’t be able to confront the culprit without catching them in the act, so I suggest filling your home with these compact wireless cameras from Panasonic. The BL-C230A provides a constant 640×480 H.264 full motion video stream which can be monitored from a browser, anywhere in the world, using a personalized secure address that Panasonic provides for free. The website interface also allows you to remotely pan and tilt the lens, or zoom the image (digitally) to get a better view when you see shenanigans going down.

But even the paranoid have to sleep and can’t monitor a live video feed 24/7, so the BL-C230A includes built-in body heat, motion and sound sensors that will keep an eye out for suspicious activities for you, and can automatically trigger the included recording software to capture the event. Unfortunately again peace of mind comes at a premium, and this camera will set you back $299.25. So I’d recommend buying two and pointing them at each other, so if one of them gets stolen, you’ll know about it!

[ Panasonic BL-C230A Wireless Network Camera ] VIA [ GadgetGrid ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Designer Marc Graells Ballve claims this anti-theft armor he designed for scooters called ‘Protect 486′ was actually inspired by mother nature, particularly the armor worn by armadillos. But anyone who saw Tim Burton’s original Batman film will find a striking resemblance between the Protect 486 system, and the armor deployed by the Batmobile while Batman was out cleaning up the streets of Gotham. I’m not accusing him of ripping it off or anything, I’m just saying. And while it looks like a half-decent idea for protecting your ride from vandals, theft and even rain, I have to wonder what effect the extra weight and drag would have on the scooter’s gas mileage.

[ Protect 486 Scooter Armor ] VIA [ I New Idea Homepage ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Like their larger counterparts, ioSafe’s Squadron line of disaster proof hard drives keeps your data safe through all but the worst of calamities. They’re fireproof to 1400° F for up to 15 minutes, but also feature a reflective heat shield that deflects over 98% of the radiant heat from a fire, prolonging the life of the drive. They can also survive being submerged under 5 feet of fresh or salt water for 24 hours. And since the drives feature a considerable amount of additional padding and extra material surrounding them, the company’s ‘Air Flow Cooling’ vent system keeps the drive running at normal temperatures during day-to-day use and can immediately seal shut in the event of an emergency.

But unlike the massive external drives offered by ioSafe, the Squadron drives can actually be installed in a standard drive bay on your desktop PC. The only downside to the extra protection is the Squadron’s price and capacity. The largest SATA version currently available is just 320GB in size, which will cost you $309.99 when they start shipping on May 17.

[ ioSafe Squadron Hard Drives ] VIA [ GadgetGrid ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The MobiCam Digital appears to be an upgrade to Mobi Technologies’ MobiCam AV which, quite frankly, looks right at home somewhere in the mid 90′s. So besides a much needed facelift and a move away from an analog video signal, the MobiCam Digital allows you to remotely monitor up to 3 different cameras from a distance of up to 450 feet. The cordless monitor features a 2.4 inch LCD pivoting display and its rechargeable lithium-ion battery is good for a solid 8 hours.

The cameras feature a wide angle lens for capturing as much as the space they’re monitoring as possible, and a set of IR LEDs circling the lens provides visibility in complete darkness up to 30 feet away. The receiver/monitor also includes an AV hookup for connecting it to a TV, and an optional MobiCam Internet Kit will broadcast the live feeds online, allowing them to be monitored anywhere in the world you have a net connection. The MobiCan Digital ‘starter kit’ includes the monitor and a single camera for $189.99, while additional cameras are $99.95 a piece. And if you opt for the internet kit you can add an additional $59.95 to your bill.

[ MobiCam Digital Wireless Monitoring System ] VIA [ Baby Chic 101 ]

By Evan Ackerman

If someone steals your keys, they can steal your car. Yeah, it’s obvious, but there are ways to make your car less accessible. For example, you could remove the steering wheel. Or one of the other wheels. Or the engine. Take that, thieves! I guess maybe it would get a little bit tedious to keep on doing that sort of thing, and some guy named Dan who lives in New Zealand has invented a little device that adds another layer of simple safety to your car. For some reason, it’s called G-Spot, and all it does is sit in between the starter wiring and the ignition and prevent the car from starting at all unless you put your finger in the right spot. It’s simple for you to use but pretty much impossible for anyone else to figure out, which is just what you want in a security gadget.

I’m not entirely sure whether or not you can buy a G-Spot (if only!), but I am sure that you can make one pretty easily by following Dan’s instructions. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it is for the paranoid and anyone with a passing interest in electronics and a free afternoon.

[ G-Spot ] VIA [ Coolest Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

GPS devices have definitely come down in price over the years, but they’re still not at the point where you wouldn’t care if one was stolen from your vehicle. So the Maplock ensures that when you leave your car with a GPS unit still attached to the windshield, it will still be there when you return. A locking, adjustable clamp that fits GPS units from 3.5-inches up to 5-inches in size attaches to the device itself, while a steel cable is looped through the steering wheel essentially tethering it to your car. Now it doesn’t 100% guarantee that your GPS in unstealable, but the bright colors also serve as a deterrent telling would-be thieves to swipe the unit from the next guy’s car instead.

$49.99 available in April, though you can pre-order one from Amazon right now.

[ Maplock GPS Anti-Theft Device ]

By Evan Ackerman

This happy (or is it hungry?) little 4 gig USB flash drive comes bundled with 256-bit AES encryption, and a slick little piece of built-in software that takes over your computer’s webcam when you plug the drive in and checks out your face to make sure that you’re not ugly really you. The setup is simple; all you need to do is take a couple pictures of yourself to familiarize the drive with what you look like, and after that, authentication (which claims to be 98% accurate) takes only about a second. That 2% error, by the way, means that 2% of the time it won’t let you in, and 2% of the time it would let someone ELSE in.

And what happens if you get stung in the face by a swarm of bees or you’re attending a sci-fi convention dressed as a Narn (because come on, everybody goes as Klingons) and need to access the Narn/Klingon translation dictionary stored on your Lockface USB key? Don’t worry, you can also get into it the old fashioned way, with a password.

Which kinda renders the whole facial recognition thing useless as a security measure.

But still, it’s cool. The Lockface USB flash drive is available for $110, so far only in Japan.

VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Chris Scott Barr

I feel pretty awesome when I come home, because I know that I don’t have to mess with unlocking my front door. I just pull into the garage, and walk in. Now if I had a really cool way to open my door, I might just find more reasons to park outside. I mean, if you had a facial recognition system, wouldn’t you want to use it all the time?

Check out this new Facial Recognition Time Attendance System and Access Door Lock (you’d never guess what it did from the name) from Chinavision. It sports a pair of night vision cameras which use advanced 3D imaging to map your face in less than a second. Sure, it’s primary function is logging worker’s attendance, but it does also unlock doors. So for $456, you could have the most badass front door lock in the whole town.

[ Chinavision ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Evan Ackerman

I honestly don’t know whether this thing is totally stupid, or totally brilliant. The MapLock is like a bike lock, except it’s made for your GPS… It clamps onto the face of your GPS device (adjustable to fit most sizes), you loop a steel cable through your steering wheel, and then lock it all down with a key and you’re good to go.

As MapLock points out, if you just take your GPS off the windshield mount and hide it, a clever thief can spot the mount and infer that you’ve got a tasty GPS stashed away somewhere. If you do take the windshield mount off, a cleverer thief will spot the marks left by the suction cup. And even if you take the whole kit and caboodle with you when you leave your car, someone might spot the telltale signs and break in anyway. OMG PANIC!

So, the MapLock seems like a totally brilliant idea: show potential thieves that your GPS is safe and secure, and they won’t bother breaking into your car to go after it. But still, it’s a relatively complicated cable lock for your GPS, and that just seems silly. Here is what I would buy: a system that I can use to lock my GPS to my dashboard semi-permanently while still keeping the GPS usable. Someone get on that, won’t you?

The MapLock (patent pending) will be available in 5 exciting colors for an unspecified price at an unspecified time.

[ MapLock ] VIA [ Navigadget ]