Adding your private IP cameras to Live Cams.

This is a tricky topic to approach so I'll cover the basics and perhaps write some more detailed blog posts in the coming weeks. Adding your IP camera to Live Cams can be very easy and straightforward if you are using one of the more common devices, but many older models require some patience because they require special handling or setup.

Lets start with an easy one. Let's pretend you have a Canon VB-C50i camera and it's available on the internet using a static IP address at:

http://204.117.196.50:65304

Try the link above and you'll see the camera interface for the WonderWorks Pigeon Forge Web Cam - Tennessee. This camera is already included in the app database but serves as a good working example of how to add cameras.

NOTE: If your camera uses an address without the ":" after the host in a browser then it is using the default port of 80. This example assumes that your camera settings have been customized to use a different port.

To add this you would:

1. Press the 'Select" button from the main screen in Live Cams (the thumbnail view).
2. Select "My Cams" to view your private camera list, which will be empty the first time you view it.
3. Select "Manage" to enter the camera management screen.
4. Press the + button to add a new camera to the list.
5. Scroll down to the section called "IP Camera" and find Canon - Generic. This profile should work for all Canon models except the VB150 which has its own profile listed below.
6. Enter a name like "Pigeon Forge Test".
7. The host should be entered as 204.117.196.50 (don't enter any url characters like http:// or others, we just want the host name or ip address here)
8. Erase the default of 80 for the port and enter 65304 instead.
9. Leave the username and password blank and ignore the camera number field. Save the camera.

You should get an error message saying that the camera exists. If you were entering your own camera it should save successfully and then you could find it by selecting "My Cams" from the thumbnail screen. If you entered something wrong or need to change settings (or delete the camera) you would select the grey box from the thumbnail screen and then use the "gears" icon in the video screen to alter settings.

That's it. If you are using a different brand then it can be tricky to know which profile to use. I generally create a generic "catch-all" profile for each brand to be used for the majority of cameras that follow a standard. If there are some models within that brand that require special processing or protocols then I create additional profiles for them and try to give it an appropriate name.

Common App Problems - How to Resolve Them

Quite often I receive emails from people who cannot load the app or when the app loads it doesn't display any cameras. In both cases its likely that the database is corrupted and the only solution is to remove the application and reinstall it.

To remove the app:

1. Launch iTunes on your computer. Navigate to the applications section of your library.
2. Highlight the Live Cams application and press delete. Answer yes to verify that you want to delete it.
3. Sync iTunes with your device so that the application is also cleared from your device.

To re-install the app:

1. Launch the App Store and search for Live Cams.
2. Even though it appears as though the store will charge you again to download it will not. Click the purchase button and don't worry about the price that is displayed. Apple tracks your purchases and will not charge you a second time if you have already purchased something.
3. Wait for the download and install to complete and then launch the app.

My camera only works at home, how do I access it from somewhere else

This is a very common question and although it is a simple concept to understand it is really hard to explain unless you are technically inclined.

The short answer is this:
Live Cams connects to your camera by an IP address and a port or a host name and a port. If you enter an IP address it is most likely only valid when you are connected to your home network. This IP address is not valid on the internet and therefore your iPhone/iPod cannot find your home network or camera. You need a dynamic DNS name (host name) that will always point to your router so that Live Cams can find the network where your camera is installed. After this you will also have to open the port so that the request for video will pass through your router and be sent to your camera.

That's short? I guess not, it's still rather complicated. Here's an article with greater detail that may answer your questions:

http://www.networkwebcams.co.uk/blog/2007/01/09/dynamic-dns-or-do-i-really-need-a-static-ip-address/

I recommend signing up for a free dynamic DNS account at http://www.dyndns.com

Dynamic DNS Lessons.

The most common question (by far) that I get via support requests is the following:

"My private camera only loads on my Wifi network. I can't reach it on 3G or on the Wifi at work. Why not?"

The reason is due to the way that IP addresses and TCP networks work. In order for your home computers and cameras to be reachable from the internet you must have a way to get to your router that hosts your home network. This can be done with either a static IP address or a dynamic DNS account. More on this topic later.

Getting there from here


If you are using Live Cams on a 3G or cell network and you want to get video from a camera at home then you will need to go through your router first. Requests for video go from your iPhone/iPad through the internet to your home router. The router then passes the request through (if properly configured) to your camera. The camera responds and sends the video back through the same way that the request arrived.

This is a fairly simple description of how the data flows, but the trick is configuring your router to pass the data through and configuring Live Cams to find the router in the first place. There are two ways to do this.

Static IP Addresses

Some ISP (Internet Service Providers) offer static IP addresses to their customers, but most do not. If you are a business then you are likely capable of getting a static IP. This is an IP address like ###.###.###.### that you can assign to your network router that will never change. Once your router is configured to use this number it is always easy to find from anywhere in the world. This is only part of the solution though, as you will also need to configure port forwarding to get data to/from your camera behind the router.

Camera Resolution.

Many people ask about the resolution settings for various cameras in either Live Cams or Live Cams HD. There is an important setting within the application (and in your camera firmware) that must be used to obtain optimal results.

Higher Resolution versus Faster Video


You will see this option in the settings screen and may have wondered what the effect is. Essentially there are three different resolutions used within the app when possible:

1) On the thumbnail screen.

The application requests low resolution video or stills in order to display as many thumbnails as possible while keeping the responsiveness reasonable. Your iPhone/iPod/iPad requires a lot of CPU in order to crunch larger images down to fit in the thumbnails. Most of the time the app will request 160x120 images for this screen.

2) On the video screen, with the Faster Video setting.

As the video screen loads, it shows the existing thumbnail as a placeholder while the request for video is made to the camera. This image looks chunky and blurry because the thumbnail is stretched to fill the screen while maintaining aspect ratio. The video request is made for 320x240 resolution if the camera allows the resolution to be dynamically adjusted. This keeps bandwidth low and allows for a higher framerate on your portable device. Again, CPU usage is the key.

Pinch Zoom!!!

As many of you have noticed, the latest versions of Live Cams and Live Cams HD support pinch zoom on the video screen. This allows you to digitally zoom (stretch the pixels) any camera in the app.

To use this feature, simply use two fingers and pinch or expand while touching the camera video. The image will stretch to a maximum of 4 times magnification and will shrink back to original size. Once magnified you may also use a single finger to pan around the image and see parts of the picture that are now offscreen.

The pinch zoom effect does not currently work while you are using the "Control" feature to perform PTZ functionality. We hope to add this in future versions of the software.

If you take snapshots you will still get the full image saved to your photo album even if you are zoomed into a particular area of the video frame. This will allow you to save the full resolution image to another computer and you can again zoom and crop the original as you desire.

Live Cams - Adding Cameras.

Some people still don't get it!!!

App reviews are fun to read. The reviews are a good indication of people's perception of your product. Even after 2 years on the App Store we are finding that some customers still don't understand what they have purchased or how it works.

Today I'd like to discuss the perception that the app is faulty because some of the cameras don't load. This is not true :) The software requests video from each camera and simply can't show the images if the camera does not respond. Keep in mind that your iPhone, iPod or iPad is connecting directly to the cameras and it is not reading a cached copy of the video from some server in-between.

There are numerous reasons why a camera may fail to respond:

1. The owner pulls the plug and the device is powered off.
2. The network connection at the camera is faulty.
3. The owner has configured the camera to respond only during certain operational hours.
4. Your device has requested the video over a slow connection and the request times out (over 60 secs)
5. The owner has changed the IP address or port and our database is using the old address.
6. Too many users are trying to use the device at the same time and it is overloaded.

The most common scenario is #6. The hardware that the cameras are based on is intended for private use and is generally not capable of scaling to large numbers of viewers at once. You are sharing the cameras with hundreds of thousands of other people using Live Cams in addition to people connecting from websites on the internet and users of other competing applications (at least 10 other companies have stolen our data in the past year and now offer similar products).

If your favorite camera is not responding, chances are good that it is a favorite for many people and it is simply busy. Try again later and hopefully the camera will respond.

What do I enter for the "Host or IP" field when adding a camera

The Live Cams application requires only a few items of information in order to connect to your cameras. You are probably used to typing a "URL" into a browser to log into your device. The URL is a long string that defines an address and a protocol for your webbrowser to connect with. For example:

http://backyard.viewnetcam.com:8080/login.htm

The first part (in pink, "http://") specifies the protocol for the browser to use. In this instance we are using a standard HTTP protocol.

The second part (in yellow, "backyard.viewnetcam.com") is the host name.

The third part (in green, "8080") is the port. For http connections, ports use TCP as the transfer protocol.

In Live Cams you would enter "backyard.viewnetcam.com" in the host field and "8080" as the port.

Here's another example:

http://backyard.viewnetcam.com/login.htm

In this example everything is the same except the port is missing. When the port isn't specified, webbrowsers assume a default port of "80" and use this automatically. It works the same as if you had typed "http://backyard.viewnetcam.com:80/login.htm"

Secure connections on HTTP use something known as SSL (Secure Socket Layer). If your camera is configured to use SSL (also known as HTTPS) then you can toggle this option on when entering or editing your camera information.

If your camera does not use a host name but uses an IP address instead, the same logic applies as the examples above. For example:

http://192.168.1.115/index.htm

This camera uses a "Host or IP" of 192.168.1.115 and since the port isn't specified, it uses the default of 80.

http://192.168.1.115:8080/index.htm

Locking the screen orientation on your device.

Many people have asked for a screen orientation lock feature in Live Cams. We have not bothered with this because Apple has added a built-in feature to OS 4.2. When running any app, simply double-tap the home button on your device to get the task switcher bar to appear at the bottom of the screen.
Swipe left to get to the iPod controls and you'll see that there is an icon with an arrow on it. Toggle this to lock your device in or out of the current orientation.

Here is a tutorial on how to do this, along with a description of the iPad lock switch on iOS 4.3:

http://osxdaily.com/2010/12/03/how-to-lock-ipad-orientation-in-ios-4-2/

Because of the technique, this works while you are running Live Cams. If you are watching the thumbnail screen or full screen video and want to stay in landscape mode, just hold the device on its side and follow the instructions above.

Top Tips For Buying iPhone Parts

Where the sources of the line iPhone There are several important factors to be considered, first, of course, is part of the iPhone you want, making sure to use website that stocks this part, as well as provide the necessary guarantees in terms of DOA warranty etc after the site itself, which we will discuss a little more detail, so you can easily obtain the iPhone parts and trust. We know that the Internet has numerous sites and online shops that have a lot of promises, but we know how many of them to justify their expectations?

For this reason, it is important to know that the iPhone spare parts you have in mind can make those promises and deliver them, can be done to verify the information, reviews and other writings UPS - all available online, if not on the site. Feedback as a great way to get a warranty before you buy your iPhone parts, and that means shopping online and offline - is the title of commentary on this great credibility to the site, and not just make believe company statement.

Step-By-Step Guide to JailBreak iPhone Firmware 1.1.4 using ZiPhone and to Fix the YouTube Problem

For all those who had a problem jailbreaking their iPhone with ZiPhone 2.5, can checkout the latest version ZiPhone, v2.5c which has been released by Zibri which fixes some of the issues.
If you are facing a problem with YouTube post the jailbreak as reported by some of the readers, then you can also checkout the excellent step-by-step guide to fix the YouTube problem by none other then an iPhone Hacks reader, SpikeyMikey303.

Based on feedback from readers, ZiPhone is the easiest methods so far to JailBreak iPhone Firmware 1.1.4 and hence also very popular with iPhone owners.
However, quite a few readers here @ iPhone Hacks have reported that they are having problems with YouTube post Jailbreaking their iPhone and had asked me if I had a solution to fix the YouTube problem (an issue which many faced with previous versions of the iPhone firmware as well). Unfortunately I am no iPhone hacking genius I am just a passionate iPhone fanboy and a humble reporter of all the hacks, applications and news on the iPhone.
But today I have some good news as iPhone Hacks reader SpikeyMikey303 has figured out a way to fix the YouTube problem on his Jailbroken iPhone running Firmware 1.1.4. He has also gone a step ahead and has been kind enough to send me an excellent step-by-step guide to fix it which could help other iPhone Hacks readers.