I have a confession to make…I’m afraid of clowns. Don’t judge…I know it’s strange for a grown man to be afraid of clowns. Why am I telling you this? Because it relates to the app I’m reviewing today. A couple of years ago I started finding miniature clowns on my desk. I would get up and be away from my office for 10-15 minutes and when I came back there would be a clown on my desk or my monitor or my chair. I had some suspects…but I wasn’t sure who the culprit was. So I went to the main suspect and told them that I had turned on my webcam and recorded them leaving the clowns…they laughed and confessed to the crime.
I didn’t really have my webcam on…but if I had Manything installed on an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad then I could have caught them on video. I don’t know about you but we have a few old smartphones and iPods laying in drawers and desks in our house and office. With Manything, you can turn those devices into video monitoring devices easily.
Manything is the creation of a group of very smart and successful business people in the UK. The service lets you start streaming on the device and then view the stream on your online account. You can use unlimited devices and easily switch between the streams. You can then create clips and easily share them with family, friends, coworkers, or the police.
Manything for Business?
There are many potential uses of Manything for business users, here are three.
- Monitor your office after hours – You can see what’s going on while you’re not there. Professional video monitoring is expensive to deploy and maintain. With Manything all you need is an old iOS device with a camera.
- Monitor a problem location – If you have a back alley or rear exit door which needs monitoring you can place the device in a mount and keep tabs on that area.
- View a Meeting/Training – This is pretty cool. If you have people who work offisite but need to attend a meeting, then set up a feed of your meeting and let them log on and view. It’s much easier than setting up a video conference and will work in a pinch.
Right now Manything is in beta and they are providing unlimited storage for free. However once they come out of beta they have several pricing plans to choose from.
- Free – 1GB Storage (approximately 4 hours of video)
- Starter $2.95/month – 3GB Storage (approximately 12 hours of video)
- Standard $7.95/month – 10GB Storage (approximately 2 days of video)
- Premium $14.95/month – 50GB Storage (approximately 1 week of video)
These prices are very reasonable especially considering that each plan includes unlimited devices, sound and movement detection, live monitoring, and clip sharing.
I am in a great situation, my daughter is starting high school this year and wants an iPhone. I have agreed to get her one with the condition that I get her iPod Touch. Now, her iPod Touch has a shattered screen but it is her prized possession. The cool thing about Manything is that it doesn’t matter if the screen is good or not. I can install the app and place it where I want and I have an instant streaming camera.
Manything is a great concept and I think it will go far. I did an interview with James West, the co-founder of Manything, last week and he indicated that an Android version of the app will be coming next.
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