The mobile phone has had a long evolutionary journey from being just a phone to functioning as a camera, mp3 player, digital assistant, what not…and a personal style statement as well. Now this ubiquitous device can serve as your surveillance system too. 3rd-i, a provider of mobile security camera solutions, is going to launch the first ever mobile phone-based security system in the UK this month.

The system works this way – you first position tiny cameras in areas in your home, office etc. that you want to monitor. These 360-degree cameras are configured on your mobile phone so that when you're, say traveling, you can just press the assigned buttons on the mobile and get live video footage from the cameras. The video is streamed live to your mobile and can be accessed from anywhere in the world, depending on your mobile’s network coverage. And even when you are not watching them, the cameras can detect intruders based on infrared and motion sensors. As soon as an intruder is detected, the control center will send an alert to your phone. These images are stored at the control center for a month from the time they're captured, so that if you have switched off your phone, you can still obtain the evidence in case you've had a break-in.

The 3rd-i mobile security system will be available this month across the UK, and is priced at Ł200, which is very reasonable - considering what you would be spending if you were to hook up a CCTV system to serve the same purpose. Check out a usage demo on the 3rd-i site.