No Peeping Toms: Oppo says new feature on Find X5, X5 Pro can spot hidden spy cameras in a room
India Today
Oppo has shared details on an upcoming feature on its ColorOS that will let users locate a spy camera that may be hidden in their vicinity. Here is how the feature will work.
Oppo is addressing a serious issue, especially faced by those who travel a lot, in a new update to its ColorOS operating system. With ColorOS 12.1, Oppo has introduced a new feature that will let users scan for any hidden cameras planted by peeping Toms in any enclosed area. The feature is already seen in action on Oppo's recent flagship phones - Oppo Find X5 and Find X5 Pro.
Hidden cameras have often been recognised as a nuisance that has plagued a lot of enclosed spaces usually accessible to the public. Typical examples of this include changing rooms, spas, public washrooms, and even hotel rooms. Miscreants tend to plant small cameras in a hard-to-spot niche in a room, which can then record unsuspecting victims who use the facility afterward.
Oppo now has a solution for people to be aware of such a trap. The new ColorOS version lets the users weed out such spy cameras by scanning for wireless signals in a room. The signal detection method has been specifically designed to find hidden electronics or electronic components in a user's vicinity.
Sharing details on the new feature in a post on Weibo, Oppo mentions that the ColorOS 12.1 brings a new way to find hidden cameras. At present, we can see it in action on the Find X5 series but only through a dedicated app named Hidden Camera Detection app.
The app by Oppo is said to be in a beta version on the Oppo App Market as of now. Once downloaded, it asks users to turn off the Wi-Fi and hotspot of their phones in order to initiate a scan for a spy camera. It may even require the users to switch the lights of the room on or off. As Android Authority reports, this may be meant to detect infrared light coming from any of these spy cameras, that lets them record a video in the dark at night.
If it detects a spy camera, the app will then direct the users towards its location through hot and cold-type indications. Meaning, it will beep louder and louder as the user moves the phone close to the spy camera or will lose intensity if he/she moves away from it. Through this, users will eventually be able to locate the hidden camera once the phone is closest to it.
The beta status may mean that the app will be exclusive to the Find X5 and X5 Pro, at least initially, or till the time Oppo rolls out the new ColorOS 12.1 to more devices around the world. Once it does, we can expect the app to be a more mainstream feature that may not just benefit the Oppo users but also those using a OnePlus smartphone.
