Viewing Motorised Webcams on iPhones & Android.
I’ve been playing about with motorised webcams this week.
I have a Panasonic BL-C111 IP camera, which looks like any other motorised webcam, but has a web server built in too. This means it doesn’t need a PC to operate, it only needs to be plugged into your router. You can then log in from any other internet connected PC and pan & tilt the camera around. The Panasonic camera gives a great image & can output its video stream in MJPEG or MPEG4 modes – it’s really impressive.
Even better still, you can now get apps for iPhone & Android that allow you to view the camera remotely, move it around & take snapshot photos to the memory card in your phone. The Panasonic BL-C111 is available for around £129 & a wireless model is also available. The free trial app I tried on my Google Android phone can be downloaded from Android Marketplace, just search for “IP Cam Viewer” by Robert Chou. Once downloaded to your phone you can move the camera left, right, up & down just by dragging your thumb over the touch-screen.
If the Panasonic option sounds a bit expensive, you can do things cheaper still. If you already own a motorised Logitech Sphere webcam, you can load up “My Webcam Broadcaster” from Eyespyfx.com for free, and then just pay 5 Euros for the Android or iPhone app to remotely view & move the webcam around. If you don’t have the Logitech Sphere the software will use your laptop’s built-in webcam instead. So for a total outlay of 5 Euros you can see what’s going on in your home when you’re not there, all on your smartphone. Nice!