[Update: Now live] Arlo adding animal, vehicle, and package detection to Arlo Smart plans

Arlo's cameras didn't have any of the AI-powered features of their wired competitors for a long time, but the company started testing those capabilities in 2017. Arlo Smart finally rolled out earlier this year, but it was missing some of the detection features from the beta. Now, the compnay appears to have worked out the issues and plans to add several more detection capabilities to Arlo Smart soon.

At launch, Arlo Smart included person detection, e911, cloud activity zones, and improved notifications. Soon, it will also tell you if it sees animals, vehicles, or a package delivery—which I suppose is a subset of person detection until such time as robots deliver your packages. These triggers let you customize your notifications, so you don't get hit with as many alerts, and therefore don't have to open the app as often.

Arlo Smart still costs the same with the added functionality. It's $2.99 for a single camera, or you can get a Premier subscription with up to 10 cameras and 30 days of video storage for $10. The Elite plan supports 20 cameras and 60 days of storage for $15. The new features will roll out before the end of the year.

PRESS RELEASE

ARLO ANNOUNCES NEW INDUSTRY-FIRST FEATURES COMING TO ARLO SMART FOR ADDITIONAL AI-POWERED, COMPUTER VISION CAPABILITIES THAT DELIVER EVEN MORE PEACE OF MIND

All-new Animal, Vehicle and Package Detection capabilities will allow Arlo camera owners to further personalize their notifications to what matters most to them

SAN JOSE, Calif. — October 25, 2018 — Arlo Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARLO), the #1 network connected camera brand1, announced today it will be rolling out all-new AI-powered detection features to its Arlo Smartsubscription service that works with any Arlo security camera. Utilizing intelligent algorithms and advanced analytics, Arlo Smart will offer users even more personalized, meaningful notifications by way of industry-first Animal, Vehicle and Package Detection capabilities2. These new features will be available later this year, automatically rolling out to Arlo Smart subscribers at no extra cost.

“The introduction of Animal, Vehicle and Package Detection to Arlo Smart marks the next generation of precise AI and video analytics offerings,” said Pat Collins, senior vice president of Arlo products. “By leveraging the power of Arlo’s advanced AI and computer vision capabilities, our users can enjoy added peace of mind and convenience to tailor their notifications to only the important events they truly care about.”

Arlo Smart adds valuable intelligence to Arlo security cameras with the help of powerful computer vision technology that can tell users more specifically what triggered their camera to begin recording. These deeper insights about detected activity, paired with direct access to emergency services or friends and family, allow users to not only monitor, but also take swift action in urgent situations. With the additional capabilities coming to Arlo Smart, users will be able to customize their alerts to cover more specific events, such as package deliveries, vehicles pulling into driveways, or animals wandering onto private properties.

These new capabilities will supplement existing features that Arlo Smart subscribers already enjoy, such as Person Detection and Cloud Activity Zones, which allow users to define specific areas to monitor and filter out false notifications like trees swaying in the wind. Arlo Smart’s Rich Notifications deliver thumbnail clips of what Arlo saw, right on the lock screen of the user’s mobile device. Users can then simply press and hold to view the motion-triggered video clip, thereby eliminating the need to launch the app to view. Arlo Smart also tags and classifies recorded videos with information about what was detected, making it easy to filter and search through footage by category.

In addition to features like Person Detection, Cloud Activity Zones and Rich Notifications, the Arlo Smart Premier and Arlo Smart Elite service plans also enable users to quickly handle emergencies from anywhere. Arlo Smart’s e911 Emergency Call Service lets the user tap on the Rich Notification to connect with first responders local to the camera’s location3, instead of where the user is located. By eliminating the rerouting of emergency calls based on the user’s location, Arlo Smart can save valuable time in urgent situations.

Arlo Smart is available for purchase for any Arlo smart home products and can also extend the availability of cloud recordings up to 60 days. Plans start at just $2.99 per camera per month and range up to $14.99 per month to support up to 20 cameras. For a limited time only, new subscribers can sign up for a one-month free trial of the Arlo Smart Premier plan to check out the added convenience and peace of mind that Arlo Smart can bring.

For more information on the full range of Arlo Smart Home products and services, visit www.arlo.com.

UPDATE: 2018/11/23 11:55am PST BY

Now live Arlo says the newest app version (2.6.3) enables the new Arlo Smart features. Just in time to track all those Black Friday package deliveries. You can grab it in the Play Store right now.