Gizmodo: Home Security

Samsung Luce Lock is the iPhone of Doorware, Apparently

AddyDugdale — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:47:00 EDT

Fans of Jonathan Ive's work may find the EZON SHS-5200 lock, aka Luce, from Samsung just a little bit crispy. Built to US standards, and with an emergency keyhole, this slimline digital door fastening has been hailed as being better-looking than the iPhone. Made of aluminum, its tempered-glass, touchscreen pad only lights up when you press the start button and there's a built-in fire alarm that goes off when the temperature hits 55ºC. Given how hot my MacBook gets after a day's work, that's a feature that Apple should maybe think about installing in their machines. [AVING]

DIY Laser Security System Will Entrap Any Burglar Except Catherine Zeta Jones' Ass

Jesus Diaz — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:40:46 EST

What do you do when you have a few transistors, some capacitors, a lot of mirrors, a bunch of HandiTak and one laser? If you are McGyver, probably a intercontinental ballistic missile interceptor. If you are Kipkay, you'll do a laser-based home alarm system similar to the one used in Entrapment, the movie. And if this wasn't a good enough excuse to post the picture above, you can jump to see the video on how it is all done.

All this is great, but what the heck is El Zorro doing with a Maglite? And does the inventor have a side-job as voice-over actor for QVC? These are the questions that bug me about this whole thing, but Catherine makes up for all of them. [Instructables]

Lutron Rolls Out AuroRa Remote Lighting Package

Charlie White — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 23:34:15 EST

Lutron makes some sweet home lighting gear and now it's offering its latest AuroRa do-it-yourself dimmers and remote control switches in a security-oriented package you can install yourself. AuroRa can link into your security system, flashing all the lights if the alarm is tripped.

AuroRa is based on an RF (radio frequency) remote control system that Lutron has perfected with its RadioRa, high-end lighting control technology that works better than any of the X10 or Insteon switches we've tested.

This kind of quality doesn't come cheap, though—the set of five switches, a table controller, a remote for your car and the security interface will set you back $950. Without that alarm interface, the package is $750. – Charlie White

Axis 207MW: World's Smallest Megapixel Wireless Network Camera is Good For Security, Bad For Civility

Gizloco — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 14:53:02 EDT

Axis has a knack for making small network cameras, and it claims that its latest delivers the best image quality "in its class" (whatever that is) and that it's the world's smallest megapixel (1280x1024 pixels) network camera. Given the adorable name of the 207MW, this camera comes with both wired and wireless (802.11g) interfaces, so installing it should be an simple feat regardless of your network's infrastructure. These tiny network cameras are usually aimed at [crazy] people who want to keep an eye on their homes while away 24/7. Love thy neighbor.

Expect to find this little gem online for just over $500. Perhaps your money would be better spent installing a moat around your house? I imagine it'd offer the same amount of protection, especially since all this camera would let you do is watch the burglary in real time. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [Axis via Crowdedbrain]

Wall Outlet Safe

Jason Chen — Mon, 15 May 2006 15:32:16 EDT

Sometimes hiding things in plain sight can be better than placing it in a thick safe. Place your precious jewelry into this fake wall outlet and thieves will never find it. There's also a lock mechanism to keep the outlet from falling out willy-nilly.

The only problem with this is the ground hole on the outlet is on the top instead of on the bottom, which makes the burglar's game of "which one is different from the rest" quite easy.

Update: Reader Chad tells us the invertedness may be intentional:

I just started to do some house hunting and notice this in the newer houses. The ground on top is to represent a outlet controlled by a light switch.

Wall Outlet Mini Safe [via Ohzigmo]