Recently I have switched from WebcamXP to iCam. iCam is for Mac and Windows and you can view the video streamed or previously captured to your iPod Touch or iPhone. If you have a Java Enabled Browser, you can view the stream. However, I haven’t been able to view my videos on my Mac yet.
iCam is a webcam software for your PC and iPhone/iPod Touch, which allows you to stream your webcam video live or you can review what was captured within the App. The images are stored on your hard drive. But instead of using my hard drive to store the images, I use DropBox. iCam needs to be installed to your PC or Mac to be able to view the streaming video or the captured images.
DropBox is an online storage, free for 2Gb, and it synchronize your files instantly to Dropbox server. If you don’t want Dropbox to share your files publicly, it won’t, unless if you set it to share publicly. But by default, it’s private. Dropbox is compatible with Windows and Mac.
If you want to sign up with DropBox, you can get an extra 250mb by following on the link: https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTY0MzYyNTI5.
DropBox iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch Application is also available on the AppStore for free.
The iCam iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch Application is available on the AppStore for $4.99.
If you have BlackBerry, you won’t be able to stream videos like you can on the iPhone/iPod Touch. Instead, you have to use DropBox by going to http://www.dropbox.com and login and select the folder where your iCam images are stored. Or you can just use MobiScope or WebCam XP. MobiScope and iCam is device specifics, while WebCam XP is compatible with all Smartphone.
DropBox is a good alternative in case the iCam UDP Port is blocked by your Network Administrator; you can still view the capture still images from your iDevices or BlackBerry.
The iCam combination with DropBox, you can be assured that the images on your PC is stored safely online. If you have a webcam setup in your home or at your office and your PC or Laptop get stolen, your webcam images with it, leaving yourself clueless on who took your PC or Laptop. With DropBox, everything is stored online and you can view the captured images and find the perpetrator who stole your stuff. It’s more for your insurance.
Before I decided to use DropBox, I’ve been using my Network Drive, Buffalo Linkstation Live 1 Terrabyte and just recently, I was asking myself, what happens if that Network Drive gets stolen too? Even though it’s hidden well, the network cable is still visible and if the thief can steal the router, he can route the network cable back to my Network Drive. So the DropBox is a Backup for the Backup.
Once you have DropBox installed, you can open the folder by going to your My Documents Folder and find My DropBox for Windows. If you use OS X for Mac, it’s in the DropBox folder in Finder. I use DropBox in both Windows and Mac and I can sync one another without being on the same network. That’s another advantage of DropBox.
Update: Dropbox is made for the new iPad.
