Tech n Gadgets Blog: APP OF THE DAY: WebCamera (iPhone)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

APP OF THE DAY: WebCamera (iPhone)

Ultra portable webcam solution
APP OF THE DAY: WebCamera (iPhone). apps, mobile phone apps, WebCamera, Mobiola 0

Monday signals the start of another week's worth of App of the Days here on Pocket-lint and, as such, we've been scouring the Android Market, looking in the App World, checking out the Marketplace and also casting our eye on Facebook to see what's new in the world of apps.

But it's a slightly older app that has caught our attention today, one that has recently undergone a slight tweaking and is on sale at a discounted price......

WebCamera

Format: iPhone
Price: ?1.19 (for limited time)
Where: App Store

No doubt your laptop has some sort of webcam built in to it. But no doubt that that webcam probably only has a 0.3-megapixel sensor, and is only capable of highly pixelated imagery.

Plus, it's fixed above your screen so is hardly mobile - and therefore gives your recipient only a static window into your world.

Today's App of The Day - Mobiola's WebCamera - addresses those two issues by turning your iPhone into a portable webcam; one which offers a much higher resolution, and also allows you to move around a bit more.

It works by using your Wi-Fi connection to hook up to your laptop. You need to download a free (small) program from Mobiola's website, but once you've done that you're away.

When you start up the app, you'll be able to select your iPhone as your webcam device (and microphone too) from many popular video chatting clients, including Skype, Yahoo, Windows Live Messenger and AIM. It also works with video production software such as Boinx TV, CamTwist, and Camtasia (but not iMovie).

You have the choice whether to go full 720p (which is a bit naff really as the app struggles to deal with the frame rate), 480x360 or 192x144. We found the medium setting to work really well, with nice clear video. You can also switch to your iPhone 4's front camera too.

You can also record video and take snap shots, which are immediately saved to a desired location within your computer.

It's a neat little app and also offers multiple alternative uses. For example, you could use an old iPhone or your iPod touch as a security camera, and it would also work well as a video baby monitor.

It misses a trick by only allowing you to work within the same Wi-Fi connection - it would be nice if you could take the app out and about and instantly ping images and videos back to your computer from another Wi-Fi connection.

But we suppose that isn't really its raison d'etre - it's a webcam at heart and in that case, it does exactly what it sets out to do.

Grab it now, whilst it's on sale at ?1.19.

Tags: WebCamera Mobiola Apps Mobile phone apps