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Withings baby monitor smart enough for your phone

Smart Baby Monitor can communicate with an existing connected device (iPhone, iPad, smartphone, tablet, e-reader, LCD TV) to relay audio/video and parameters like temperature and humidity.

Elizabeth Armstrong Moore
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is based in Portland, Oregon, and has written for Wired, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include climbing, billiards, board games that take up a lot of space, and piano.
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore
The monitor will be available in late March. Withings

LAS VEGAS--New parents who skipped CES this year to stay at home with the little one, your timing was just a few months off.

Withings unveiled its Smart Baby Monitor at the show today, and says it expects the devices to start shipping in late March. (Pricing details are to be determined.)

The monitor, which looks like a cute, little-kid version of a spy gadget, is unlike traditional baby monitors in that it does not involve close-distance communication between devices. Rather, the high-resolution 3-megapixel camera with extra-wide lens (not to mention night vision with infrared LEDs and temperature and humidity sensors) relays real-time data to any connected screen (iPhone, iPad, smartphone, PC, Mac, tablet, e-reader, LCD TV, and so on) via the best network path available (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.).

If parents still don't feel like they can let loose and head to Vegas, the Smart Baby Monitor comes with a microphone that lets them interact remotely with the object being monitored (you know, in case your phone isn't cutting it). Parents can also control the music (Withings suggests lullabies) that plays in the room via the monitor, right down to fine-tuning playlists in real time.

Finally, parents can set various parameters, such as movement, temperature, and sound, to trigger alarms. Over the top? Maybe. But this sleek device is already two awards deep into CES 2011.