Does this support wpa/wpa2?

As with any wifi device, consider what would happen if someone hacked your passwords and gained access to your wifi camera, and place device accordingly. Turn off and immobilize the device when not using to prevent unauthorized use. Easier to prevent problems than try to retrieve unauthorized pics/video/audio later.

brybry wrote:I want one. Just wish I knew why. Not enuf Woot Wine in me to pull the trigger on this one.

Best reason to get one: http://hackaday.com/2010/03/17/woot-how-to-let-there-be-light-for-your-rovio/

Picked up one of these a while back when rad** sha** was getting rid of them. Got it because I am on the road a lot and wanted to make sure my house was still intact while away. they had some bugs in the firmware initially but seem to have them worked out pretty good now. It uses operated through your wireless router and with the newer firmware will work with later wireless security encryption methods. It parks itself by way of a IR beam that it bounces off the ceiling that it uses to find home. Lately they finally released other IR modules that you put around the house to self navigate though I have not pick up/tried them yet. It is OK though shortly after buying I just got a roommate so never really used much for intended purpose. Don't want roommate thinkin' I checking up on him by driving a little robot around in the middle of the night. Plus might not like what I see. Never got the Rovio to pay rent like my roommate.. So now it is just a toy to play around with.. like I need more darn toys:-)

Zenofex wrote:Does this support wpa/wpa2?

Yes, the new firmware support wpa.

ckeilah wrote:Will it switch from AP to AP as it travels around, or is it tied to one single wi-fi Access Point?

Yes, it can switch from one AP to another provided that they have the same SSID and encryption key. Tried this out at work and it work pretty well. ;-)

I am excited now I have fridge guardian.

To add a bit more about it.. You can drive it around the house with no problems via IE or firefox as long as it has a WiFi signal. To park itself it has to be able to "see" the IR signal on the ceiling. It shows if can see it or if it is "roaming" on the interface page. If you drive it close to the parking spot and hit home button it will start to dance around looking for signal and parks itself most of the time. Not a perfect record for self parking but does pretty good. Unfortunately I left it near my Romba a couple of trips ago and the Rovio recorded some footage that it probably wanted to keep in its private collection. Guess it forgot it was hooked up to the internet. Plus now there is a bunch of 1-eyed 3-wheeled vacuums running around my house plugging in where ever they feel like. Not a good situation.

I heard Nasa sent one of these to mars a few years back.

In our company data center we have a backup 3G wireless internet connection and seperate backup UPS.

I'm going to try to convince my boss to reimburse me for the expense to buy this and set it up so we can monitor and check out the datacenter from home. We do have cameras but there's nothing like a mobile platform to get down there and check stuff out.

=D

I'm getting one. It's just too good a piece of mind to not be able to login and see my house from work.

With my already existing motion-sensitive webcam that sends me alerts when it detects motion I can then use Rovio to investigate.

My dog ran off around Thanksgiving. This is perfect, I'll tell the kids that this is our new family dog. Hey they are 1 and 4...it'll be a couple of years before they figure it out.

But it only works with WEP-enabled wireless, not WPA? http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2337026,00.asp

elpepe wrote:Can this be modified to become a DJ roomba?

Your funny....!! My wife wants a roomba... Now I need to figure out how to get her to believe she needs a Rovio more than a freken remote vaccume cleaner.. jeje..

elpepe wrote:Can this be modified to become a DJ roomba?

Your funny....!! My wife wants a roomba... Now I need to figure out how to get her to believe she needs a Rovio more than a freken remote Roomba vaccume cleaner.. jeje..

This is good comparison between Rovio and Spykee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lJpY9Cz8Ps&feature=related

fast130 wrote:To add a bit more about it.. You can drive it around the house with no problems via IE or firefox as long as it has a WiFi signal. To park itself it has to be able to "see" the IR signal on the ceiling. It shows if can see it or if it is "roaming" on the interface page. If you drive it close to the parking spot and hit home button it will start to dance around looking for signal and parks itself most of the time. Not a perfect record for self parking but does pretty good. Unfortunately I left it near my Romba a couple of trips ago and the Rovio recorded some footage that it probably wanted to keep in its private collection. Guess it forgot it was hooked up to the internet. Plus now there is a bunch of 1-eyed 3-wheeled vacuums running around my house plugging in where ever they feel like. Not a good situation.

Dude, your funny.. Yeah, I'm sure the Roomba and the Rovio will have lots of fun when were not home. I just hope they don't evolve my Wii Remote... Peace..

I've had one for over a year. Some observations:

- The web client works much better on a PC than on a mac or open source browser

- It uses these IR beams to find its base. I have high ceilings that make it hard for it to find its signal.

- Probably more than 50% of the times that I've tried to remotely use it, I ended up having it run out of batteries without managing to get 'home'.

- Taping or otherwise securing the base to the floor helps a ton

- There is a RovioDriver iPhone app that makes for a really fun demo, even if not practically useful

All in all, this is a wonderful toy, but it is that - it's not ready for prime time if you expect to use it for telepresence or something mission critical. At this price point, if you buy it with that in mind, it's a great deal.

The most fun that we've had with it was when my son and I did time trial races around our house with it.

this looks way cooler that a normal pan/tilt/zoom ip cam!

I'm in for one. I mostly need it for the audio since I already have 2 security cameras in the house (both pan/tilt), but neither has audio. Be nice to check the other rooms as well, but mostly to chase the cat and entertain co-workers.

read the reviews on Amazon. This toy looks good, but it's a complete bust!

hackaday should do a infrared led hack for nightvision instead of led's.

between this & my three refurbed Roomba's, why do I need my wife?

Maybe I am lacking in imagination, but other than a high-priced toy, I don't see much of a practical use for this item.

Also, I presume that this "Rovio" is not able to negotiate stairs/steps which seems very limiting to me.

Will the Rovio interact with my Roomba?

Shiftlock wrote:This would be perfect for keeping an eye on the house while on vacation, or even just at work.

Even cooler would be like putting it to work while you were gone. You know, maybe hook it up to an household appliance ... like a vacuum or something crazy like that ... nah! Forget ... dumb idea ...

fast130 wrote:So now it is just a toy to play around with.. like I need more darn toys:-)

"He who dies with the most toys wins!"
- Al Gore (in the same speech he established the internet and global warming)

gwbaker wrote:This device and the ability it gives you with the deals.woot software is really some incredibly neat stuff. But WTFGDSMF are you really going to do with this except impress a bunch of other geeks that think like we do?? I need some praticality to sell that to the wife? HELP!!!! I want one, but dang!

Tell her it's a video security device and that you bought it so that you can keep her safe.

jk

But unless the web access is SSL (https) you would be sending your password for access over the internet unencrypted... not good easy to hack.

found this

http://seclists.org/bugtraq/2009/Jan/112

ADDITIONAL ISSUES

Additionally, WowWee is advised that they should alter the default
configuration to not automatically utilize UPnP to attempt to open up external
access to these devices.

1) In the default configuration no authentication is required until the user
sets up accounts.

2) Proper notification should be displayed to users regarding the potential
risks and ramifications of these settings and they must be involved in the
decision process, by being required to take action action to agree to
expose such devices to external access.

Additionally, it should be noted that the platform uses HTTP Basic
authentication over unencrypted HTTP. Using such mechanisms across the
internet does expose users to network-sniffing attacks, where an attacker
could obtain the credentials or observe the data streams being transmitted.

IMPACT

Users of this mobile wi-fi webcam may unwittingly open their homes up to
anonymous eaves-dropping of their personal lives and communications.

SOLUTION

WowWee must supply an updated firmware that fixes these issues.

WORKAROUND

Users of these devices are encouraged to disable direct external access and
seek other means to secure such access (Authenticated, Encyrpting Proxies, or
Access over a VPN connection for example). It is understood that most
consumers of these devices do not have such means, so WowWee should be
compelled to provide adequate protection and access controls.

Do I need to leave my computer on? Or will it work fine just connected to the WiFi network after configuring.

No need to leave computer on. After it is configured you no longer need the computer.

could see what the cat does all day

Will this battle my Roomba when I am not home?

I, for one, welcome our new robot masters.

Can I spy on my mother-in-law with this? She takes care of my son during the day and I think that she is feeding him chocolate all day long...

Does it go down stairs?

and oh boy! it has deans connectors!!!
What the hell is a deans connector?

Does anyone know what generation of Rovio this is? My research indicates the 1st gen kinda sucked. 2nd gen got it right. So woot, which gen is this?

Shoot if I had a $105 to blow on something I totally do not need it would be this. Too much fun.

What a waste of MAC addresses.