Tech Spotlight

10-port hub, camera provide processing power, security

Courtesy of Satechi and Stem Innovation
The Satechi Aluminum Hub (left) provides seven USB data ports and three charging ports. The iZon View (right) from Stem Innovation offers a small security camera with night vision that can be used in a home, office or nursery.
Courtesy of Satechi and Stem Innovation The Satechi Aluminum Hub (left) provides seven USB data ports and three charging ports. The iZon View (right) from Stem Innovation offers a small security camera with night vision that can be used in a home, office or nursery.

I have two different products to tell you about this week -- one to provide processing power and one to provide security.

The first product greatly interested me. I have an older computer that has only two USB ports. I also have a couple of backup external hard drives and several other devices I regularly connect to the computer. The constant switching gets very old, very quickly.

where it’s @

The Satechi 10-Port Aluminum Hub requires a computer with a USB connection and a nearby power outlet. The product retails for $59.99. More information is at satechi.net. The iZon View night vision camera requires an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet and the free Stem Connect app, which is available from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The camera retails for $149.95 but is currently marked down to $99.95. More information is available at izoncam.com.

Satechi provided a simple solution with its 10-port Aluminum Hub.

The hub provides seven USB 3.0 ports and three 5-volt, 2.1-amp charging ports. The hub comes with its own power adapter, which allows it to power and transfer data to and from several devices at once. It also comes with its own USB cable to connect to a computer.

The hub has a long, sleek design with a curved back that doubles as a stand to make the ports easy to access. A blue LED light on the end lets you know the power is flowing steadily to the device. The power cord plugs into one end, and the USB cord for the hub plugs into the other.

The first seven ports from the left are the USB 3.0 ports, compatible with the fastest Universal Serial Bus connections available. These ports are also work with slower USB ports, such as USB 2.0 and 1.1, making it compatible with nearly any USB device out there.

The hub can connect small devices, such as cellular phones, or larger ones, such as printers.

The last three ports, on the right side of the hub, are the charging ports. Since they won't access the computer, plugging a hard drive into them does no good. However, they will easily charge a smartphone or tablet.

The Aluminum Hub is a simple device, but it's a powerful one, and one that's incredibly convenient since it works well with one or several devices at once.

The second device helps with security.

The iZon View is the latest version of Stem Innovation's small cameras. This one takes the original camera and adds infrared lights down the front, allowing it to have night vision.

The iZon camera is small, about four inches tall, and comes with a domed, magnetic base that allows it to be tilted, swiveled or positioned in whatever way is needed. The camera comes with a power adapter and a USB cord that connects the adapter and the camera.

The iZon works with the use of an app, which is available for iOS and Android. While the camera only connects through the app, which can be limiting in that it won't connect with a computer, the app also allows users to access images from nearly anywhere.

The app can be downloaded for free. Users then must set up an account with Stem through the app to access the camera and save videos to their cloud service. It also allows the camera to send motion and noise alerts and automatically upload short videos related to the alerts.

Once the app is downloaded, the camera must be set up. This took several tries, which I found very frustrating. However, I later found there was an issue with my WiFi signal that required resetting my modem, so I can't say for sure that any setup issues were the fault of the camera or app. In fact, once I reset the modem, the camera set up as expected.

One portion of the setup requires the camera to read a QR code displayed through the app. The easiest way to do this is by holding the camera and smartphone 4 to 6 inches apart and making certain the camera is aimed directly toward the smartphone. Otherwise, it will take a very long time to connect the camera, if it connects at all. So if the camera doesn't seem to be reacting, try moving the two apart or together slightly.

Once set up, the camera worked just fine. It produced a decent picture that could be viewed as fragmented images on the main screen, or as five minutes of live video when the camera's view is tapped in the main camera screen. There is a bit of a delay in the live feed, but only by a few seconds. That's on a fairly fast WiFi signal. It may run a bit slower on slower wireless Internet.

The Settings tab allows you to set up motion and noise alerts, allowing the camera to send an alert to your phone if motion or noise is detected. It also can automatically record about 15 seconds around the incident and saves it to the Stem account so you can see what caused the alert. The motion detection can even be set to a specific area of the picture, such as the front door rather than the entire living room, or the baby's crib instead of the entire nursery. The motion and noise sensitivity levels can be adjusted, so every little thing doesn't set the alerts off.

The iZon does have its limitations. Live video can only be viewed five minutes at a time while away from the same WiFi signal as the camera uses. The night vision's infrared light works fine for a small room, but it struggles in larger ones. It's not the sharpest video, and fast movement often comes out blurry. It's not going to do the job of a security system that costs several hundred dollars. It's designed to be a low-cost alternative to these products. So long as that's what is expected, the camera won't disappoint. It's a nice way to keep an eye on things, whether you're in the next room or in the next state.

Don't try to use the camera out a window at night, however. The infrared lights will reflect badly on the glass, giving you a nice picture of the front of the iZon. It's not made to be an outside camera, either. The best use for the night vision is inside a smaller room.

These products may be very different, but they both produced good results and made things a lot easier.

Melissa L. Jones can be reached via email at mljones72@me.com.

SundayMonday Business on 01/19/2015

Upcoming Events