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Filed under: Accessories, Software, Internet Tools, iPhone

iCam brings video from home to the iPhone

I was intrigued by Lauren's post the other day where she briefly talked about using the iCam phone app [App Store] to do some baby monitoring. I wondered what else I could do with this US$4.99 app, so I gave it a try with great results.

One nice thing about iCam is it can integrate up to 4 live video streams on your iPhone, even if the cameras are stand alone webcams or cams attached to different computers. In my case, I had a D-link webcam, a desktop mac with a Logitech webcam, and my MacBook Pro with a built in iSight camera.

I was able to bring all 3 onto a single screen on my iPhone and keep an eye on my house and parrot while I was out for dinner.

Here is the setup. You have to download an app called iCamSource to run on each computer that hosts a camera. It's free. If your computer is hosting 2 cameras, you make a duplicate of the app and run it in a second instance. In my case, my desktop machine had the attached USB webcam, and I was also linking to the D-Link camera that has a built in web-server and a device specific IP address.

With the USB webcam, it was easy to find in the software by name. You enter a unique user name and password. For the second webcam, the D-link, I had to specify an IP address, followed by the required code to bring that camera up. Each webcam does it a bit differently. I asked the iCam support people, and after a few tries we found the right combo for that particular camera. Support responses were very quick, by the way.

Continue readingiCam brings video from home to the iPhone

Filed under: Hardware, Video

Logitech releases Mac-only webcam; cats, dogs reported living together

Apologies to Dr. Peter Venkman, but it's hard to believe that it's taken this long for a webcam vendor to encroach on the vacuum left by the discontinued iSight, even though we have hints that a new model of the Apple camera might be on the HD horizon. Logitech has now announced the QuickCam Vision Pro for Mac, featuring "premium autofocus technology and Carl Zeiss® optics." No word on whether the camera will feature fine Corinthian leather or Posi-traction, but there's hope.

Seriously, though, the camera does offer a voice coil motor for autofocus, RightLight exposure technology and a 2 megapixel sensor; this should allow for VGA-quality (640x480) videoconferencing and 720p HD (960x720) local video recording. Snazzy! Logitech expects to ship the unit in July for an SRP of $130.

Update: Commenters point out that the product is quite similar to the QuickCam Pro 9000, which isn't billed as Mac-compatible but actually works just fine with Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5; it's also list-priced $30 cheaper. Hrm.

[via Engadget]

Filed under: Hacks, iPhone

Use your iPhone as a webcam

Mac developer Ecamm has posted a sneak peak of iPhoneCam, an application that uses your iPhone's camera as a wireless Mac webcam. You can stream video from your iPhone over its WiFi to any Mac video application, including iChat, Photo Booth, or Skype.

I have participated in one iPhone chat and while it's not exactly the most comfortable way to use a webcam, you've got to admit using an iPhone is way up there on the cool quotient. You can watch a demo video here.

Filed under: Multimedia, Software Update, Apple

10.4.9 Adds USB Camera Support for iChat; Xbox Camera Works

Here's a nice, easily overlooked tidbit from the release notes to the 10.4.9 update that we mentioned before: Apple has added support for USB Video Class cameras in iChat without the need of a third party driver a la iChatUSBCam from ecamm. A user in the MacRumors forums reports that the the Xbox Live Vision Camera (~$40) now works natively with the Mac. This should presumably be the case with other USB Video Class cameras as well, and while I would probably prefer a model from Logitech, the Xbox camera is widely available and relatively inexpensive. With iSights now unavailable this lends credence to the rumor of some sort of USB iSight replacements (or maybe Apple is just going to stay out of the webcam business altogether, given that iSights are built-into so many models now).

[Via Digg]

Thanks to those who sent this in!

Update: Be sure to note that iChat in 10.4.9 only works natively with USB Video Class, not every USB webcam is Video Class.

Filed under: Retail

Watch Apple Store Boston's construction live

If you're excited about Apple Store Boston (I sure am), then check out this webcam which will be providing live images of its construction. As of this writing, demolition has begun! Check back often to track the process of this year-long project.

As we say here in Massachusetts, "Wicked awesome."

Filed under: Hardware, Video, Cult of Mac, Apple

New Get A Mac Ad surfaces online


Apple has released a new, online only (at this moment), Get A Mac ad. This time PC is being upgraded with a webcam and assures the Mac that one day he'll be as high tech as the PC. The tech installing the web cam points out that iMac and MacBooks come with a built in iSight much to the PC's consternation.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Video

WebcamTweaker

WebcamTweaker is sort of like PhotoBooth for video. It lets you create movies with a number of different filters. You can also use it to create timelapse movies. Today marks the release of a new version of Webcam Tweaker which introduces new filters and support for the Apple Remote.

WebcamTweaker is a Universal app, requires Tiger, and costs $15.95 (though that includes free upgrades for life).

Filed under: Hardware, Software, iMac, Internet Tools, Open Source, Macbook Pro

Gawker - record, share, combine time-lapse movies with an iSight

Gawker is a really interesting open source app that takes a very simple, yet powerful, approach to capturing time-lapse videos from an iSight camera - be it your own or someone else's. As you can see in this image, Gawker can utilize smart networking abilities of Bonjour to see if any other Macs on your network are running Gawker with an iSight, or you can enable iSight access over the web. You even have control over image quality, resolution and fps.

Check out the project's examples page for some intriguing samples of what this software can do, such as sped-up footage of snow melting in Colorado and a PowerBook hard drive replacement.

After a little tinkering, I must say Gawker is darn slick and drop-dead-easy to use. But before you ask: I'm not sure if other cameras are compatible. Head over to Gawker's project page for more information.

Tip of the Day

Holding the Command key (aka the Apple key) and pressing Tab will cycle through your open applications. It's easier to Cmd-Tab if you are Copy (Cmd-C) and Pasting (Cmd-V) to and from various applications.


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