
The Ring Video Doorbell - tempestn
https://ring.com/#
======
mpdehaan2
Looks very interesting in concept, as I see a lot of folks using dropcams for
similar functions, this could be a clever upgrade -- though Amazon reviews are
bad, that's probably going to keep me away.

Web site feedback -- there's a bit of a trend in startup/product websites to
not share enough detail. Here's a few questions I had, since I see company
folks replying, I'll just share here.

On the website, I'd consider addressing do doorbell notifications happen
without the application open (i.e. can it send text messages?), I assume video
is uploaded into s3, how can video be browsed and how is it retained, and how
do replacement batteries work? What is the average cloud recording cost for a
year? Is there a notification the battery needs tobe replaced?. I'd also be
interested in what happens if ring goes out of business or if it depends on
any cloud services - does the device still work, etc. With cars frequently
driving in front of the camera, do those get recorded as new events (or worse,
send events, or still worse, text alerts?), or can the "zone" be configured in
the camera? Also, how is the device mounted? What does it do in the event WiFi
blinks out (will it reconnect)? Can it do WPA?

EDIT: see some install instructions here:
[https://ring.com/installation](https://ring.com/installation)

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huhtenberg
The design is really odd. Just as if they didn't bother at all to step back
and check whether it looks good _in the context_. It doesn't appear to be
compatible with any architectural style whatsoever. It won't work for classic
houses, it won't work for the modern ones too. It may perhaps work for some
futuristic builds similar to that Japanese capsule hotel, but otherwise it's
just some randomly styled gadget that wants to stand out on its own.

~~~
jsiminoff
Appreciate your opinion (really do). The design was driven not just by what we
wanted it to look like but also the physical constraints around some of the
features the product has. The main drivers:

1\. Battery that lasts for one year (5,250mah) 2\. Infrared night vision with
a IR cut filter 3\. Advanced, programmable motion detection that can detect
people up to 30 feet out at 180 degrees from the device. 4\. Powerful WiFi
antenna

Each one of these drives a certain amount of the design. I say this not as a
excuse but just to give some background that the design did have some physical
drivers behind it.

I am very happy with how the device looks and also the feedback from the
customers.

~~~
huhtenberg
To each his own as they say.

I fully understand that this is your baby, but to me, as someone with a strong
liking for good industrial design, the product looks like it wasn't pushed all
the way through. This is, basically, not a Nest- or Lacie-level design. It
lacks polish. This is Home Depot, it merely doesn't look ugly.

To be concrete with the nitpicks [1] -

* Multiple grooves in the top/black part that add nothing to the design and only fracture the overall look. They would've been a bit less intrusive if the camera lens had a bit of vertical padding around it, but that too is missing. The whole top part looks like something that was driven entirely by the engineering constraints. It just completely neglects rudimentary visual balance.

* Rounded vertical edges. Very large radius has no chance of stylistically matching anything on or near a typical door. It would've been less of an issue if the horizontal edges too were rounded, but they aren't, so the design is not even self-consistent. You have an exaggerated smoothness on the sides and blade-sharp edges at the top and bottom.

* Rounded edges wrap behind the device. This implicitly detaches the gadget from the surface it sits on and makes it stick out that much more. This is probably my biggest gripe with how the whole thing looks when mounted.

* Thin black ledge at the bottom that doesn't stretch the full width. It's also missing on other images, meaning probably that some of them are renderings.

* The logo. How would you like to have a branded door or even a door handle? Same here. If you feel like doing some cross-promotion, put the logo on the top side of the device. Those who are interested in learning what the device is will find it.

[1] [http://i.imgur.com/42pd44j.png](http://i.imgur.com/42pd44j.png)

~~~
Gracana
What if it's intended to indicate status? It's a $200 replacement for a sticky
note on your door... Maybe it _should_ be conspicuous, with a distinct style
and a prominent logo. Like, you're not knocking on just anyone's door, your
knocking on the door of someone with a Ring doorbell on their house and a
Tesla charging port on the garage, etc. Maybe it's meant to appeal to that
sort of person.

~~~
zippergz
I live in a neighborhood where Teslas, BMW 7-Series, etc. are far more common
than Hondas. Lots of money, and very status-conscious. And I can't imagine
seeing this on any of the houses on my street. If you are the kind of person
who hires an interior designer to design every room of your house, and a high
end landscaping service to keep the yard looking nice, you're going to care
about an incongruous doorbell too.

~~~
Gracana
Yeah, I agree with that assessment... I'm just wondering if that was the
direction they were going, regardless of how well it's executed.

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IshKebab
There's at least one other of these but it doesn't have great reviews:

[http://www.amazon.com/Doorbot-Wi-Fi-Enabled-Smart-
Doorbell/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Doorbot-Wi-Fi-Enabled-Smart-
Doorbell/dp/B00EP5W22A)

~~~
konradb
The same company that made Ring came out with this first. It was crowdfunded
and the people that stuck out the very long wait were very underwhelmed I
hear. The doorbot facebook page was a lot of very angry people. I guess they
abandoned the doorbot brand and moved to 'Ring' when they felt they had ironed
out the kinks? Hope to try this out.

~~~
jsiminoff
Did not abandon. Still support it. Was a Gen 1 product for sure. Ring is our
V2 and so far has been very well received, great reviews and very happy
customers.

We did do a $99 upgrade for everyone that had bought a Doorbot .

~~~
NotHereNotThere
I've read a lot of the reviews on the DoorBot Amazon page, and frankly, I
would think twice about buying Ring. Not because of the many problems with the
software/hardware that DoorBot suffered, but the lack of response from your
customer service reps.

Not sure if you personally read them, but customer service unresponsiveness is
a common theme in those 1-2 star reviews.

Have you done anything to address this problem? DoorBot was your first gen
product; you HAD to expect problems and made sure people were being responded
to.

Edit: forgot a word.

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knurdle
I had the original doorbot. It never really worked. They made all these
promises about features coming up and never delivered. The mobile apps were a
disaster and never updated. I finally returned it after trying it for a year
which was the only really good experience with the company. Letting me return
the product after a year.

I felt like it was a bait and switch. They got all these people to crowdfund
the 1st product, delivered something that was mediocre at best and never
iterated on it. Then they changed the name and are selling a similar product.
Feels a little shady to me.

I would be really weary of backing them at this point.

~~~
djrogers
Same boat, but I liked the promise of the thing so much I bought ring too.
Works better - still not reliable though.

Push notifications are way more consistent, but I get a black screen instead
of video way too often.

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mikkom
Why did they invest in a domain like that? That can't be cheap..

~~~
jsiminoff
The domain was definitely not cheap. So far I think it was the right decision
to buy it and I believe we have seen enough benefit from it to make it
worthwhile. However we will not know if it was really worth it for at least
another year or two.

~~~
mikkom
You are the owner? Yes the domain is good (really good) but I'm curious, how
do you think you can measure if the domain was worth it?

~~~
jsiminoff
Good question.

We had already been doing a lot of direct business before we changed the name
to Ring (we were formally Doorbot).

I basically made the assumption that if Ring.com increased our direct sales by
X%, how many years would it pay back. It turned out that even at a very high
price for the domain it did not have to increase sales by a lot (single digit)
in order to pay itself off over just a few years.

We launched Ring.com in October and so far it appears that the benefits are
happening however it will never be something that we can 100% be sure of.

I am actually not a big fan of domains anymore but I think a extremely marquee
one like Ring.com was worth stretching the budget for.

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cocoflunchy
Other products in that space (but focused on what's going on inside your
home):
[http://www2.withings.com/us/en/products/home](http://www2.withings.com/us/en/products/home)
and [https://www.netatmo.com/en-US/product/camera](https://www.netatmo.com/en-
US/product/camera)

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elixx
I really hoped/thought this was going to be a doorbell that somehow
incorporated the creepy video from "The Ring"

~~~
JoshTriplett
That could be the door-to-door salesperson autoresponder.

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ck2
Not quite the same thing but everyone should invest in one of those $200-$300
720p security systems with 4 cameras and recorder.

You won't believe the nonsense that goes on around your home when you aren't
around. Trespassing, package delivery theft, lost/stray animals, etc. and of
course burglary.

~~~
lubos
That's awful. Why would I want to watch that in 720p?

~~~
andreiv
How else would you identify burglars, CSI style?

~~~
zyx321
For CSI style, you need a 4k camera feeding an 800x600 screen. Zoom in!
Enhance!

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konradb
To jsiminoff: do you guys still have the lockitron integration that you had
planned for Doorbot? I can see that there's quite a few alternatives now like
those by Schlage - any plans to offer the unified UI that you had planned or
are you keeping things more split up this time around?

~~~
jsiminoff
Have some plans. Will be announcing soon.

~~~
konradb
Thanks, looking forward to them.

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Papa6660
Any chance to jailbreak the Ring to be used with my IP video surveillance
system? I have had the Ring for a couple of weeks now and it works as
advertised but I was very disappointed to find that I can't record or even
view the video on my home network.

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BillinghamJ
Seems like an obvious addition to build the doorbell/video camera into the
existing smart locking systems. So for example you could allow the delivery
guy to leave your parcel inside your home. Or let a friend in when you're
away.

~~~
jsiminoff
Should be announcing some things on that shortly

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JoshTriplett
> The Ring Doorbell attaches to its mounting plate using a proprietary screw
> for security.

That does _not_ give me high hopes for their handling of security in general.
Does it also use proprietary crypto and protocols for security?

~~~
dwightgunning
That's quite a leap. Do you worry about the safety of your car because the
drink holder is made out of low grade plastic?

