Canary, the maker of connected home security cameras, issued a firmware update today that it says will give users a more accurate look at what's happening in their home. The update will reportedly provide users with a more up-to-date stream. Until now, users experienced a five-second delay when streaming, now they'll be seeing what's happening exactly when it happens. This stream is still encrypted, Canary says.

The company is also releasing "two-way talk," which lets the observer of the house interact with whoever is inside. Basically, it creates a Wi-Fi phone call. It's worth noting that, unlike the Echo Show, which pretty much does the exact same thing, the Canary has no video component, so it's just a voice call. The Canary will chirp whenever someone is about to call into the device. Canary Talk can also handle multiple people calling at once. Within the app, it'll show who's talking. You can see a demo here:

In addition to all that, users can now also access their device's live stream through Canary's desktop app, which is located at my.canary.is. For now, Canary Talk and the desktop app are only available for Canary users using the all-in-one device with a Membership. In September, the features will come to paying users who have the Canary Flex. 

This update certainly makes a lot of sense, to the point that it almost seems dated. Nest already lets users watch their video stream from their desktop and communicate with people near their device. Granted, Nest's two-way talk is more basic, but still, this is functionality that already existed on other security camera platforms. Ultimately, though, it's good for Canary users, so I'm glad the company is bringing it to them.