Miku: Difference between revisions

Miku is a private for-profit company that was founded in 2018 by Eric White.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 Oct 2019 |title=Our Founder Shares Why He Built the Miku Smart Baby Monitor |url=https://mikucare.com/blogs/blog/founder-eric-white-miku-baby-monitor |url-status=live |access-date=4 Apr 2025 |website=[[Miku]]}}</ref> Miku sells smart baby monitors with features such as night vision, sensors for temperature, humidity and ambient light, a 1080p camera, 7-day video storage, and audio/video recording capabilities.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Specs |url=https://mikucare.com/pages/specs |url-status=live |access-date=3 Apr 2025 |website=[[Miku]]}}</ref> Both the Miku Smart Baby Monitor (standard model) and Miku Pro come with a 12-month manufacturer warranty from the date of purchase.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Miku Inc. Limited Warranty |url=https://mikucare.com/pages/warranty |url-status=live |access-date=4 Apr 2025 |website=[[Miku]]}}</ref>

!Year

!Related Article

!Related Video(s)

|Miku Charges subscription for features that were previously free

|10/01/2023

|After being Acquired by Innovative Health Monitoring, a subscription service was added to Miku on October 1, 2023 to allow users who had already purchased their Miku Smart Baby Monitoring device to continue using previously free features through the Miku app such as Live Breathing,Sleep Tracking, and push notifications when your baby wakes up. Miku users who had already purchased Miku Care+ were not affected by this new subscription.

|Ongoing

|[https://old.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/16zkzj9/my_400_baby_monitor_has_locked_previously_free/ My $400 baby monitor has locked previously free features behind a monthly subscription]<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 Oct 2023 |title=My $400 baby monitor has locked previously free features behind a monthly subscription. |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/16zkzj9/my_400_baby_monitor_has_locked_previously_free/ |url-status=live |access-date=4 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref>

 

==Miku Charges Subscription for Previously Free Features:==

[[File:Miku email to customers.png|alt=Miku Email to Customers on September 15, 2023|thumb|Miku Email to Customers on September 15, 2023]]

Through the acquisition of Miku Inc by Innovative Health Monitoring LLC, Miku sent out an email notice to all of their users on September 15'th 2023 detailing changes to the access Miku customers have to features on their Miku device starting October 1'st 2023. According to Miku, "For customers who did not previously subscribe to Care+, many of the features you have been receiving for free will now require a monthly subscription fee. " <ref name=":1" />  

===Changes Made:===

According to the Miku email to customers, the new breakdown of feature changes is as follows:

#*Live HD video and audio streaming (available locally only unless the customer's smartphone or tablet is operating on the same wireless network as the monitoring device)

#Updated Subscription Membership features At '''<u>$9.99</u>''' per month:

#*three days of video storage;

#Offer access to higher tier memberships that include longer term video storage at the following levels:

#*Monthly Membership + 30 days of video storage ($14.99 per month);

#*Monthly Membership + 1 Year of video storage ($19.99 per month); and

Many customers were displeased with the subscription service added to Miku. Leading to products being returned and customers emailing Innovative Health Monitoring to voice their opinions with the company.

Due to these subscription changes being instituted through automatic updates to the Miku mobile application, turning off automatic updates and refusing to update the Miku app would keep the features that were now locked behind a subscription.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Miku bought out and now charging a subscription for basic features. |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/daddit/comments/16jr4vy/miku_bought_out_and_now_charging_a_subscription/ |url-status=live |access-date=4 Apr 2025 |website=[[Reddit]]}}</ref>

===Broader Implications===

==References==