Use Android Cam For IP Cam

If you have ever needed an extra camera, or even a quick way to monitor something, the IP WebCam app is just what the doctor ordered. Unlike most other software to turn your cellphone's cam into a web cam, this software can be used with Windows or Linux. All you need is a connection to your phone (USB or Wifi), VideoLAN to grab the stream, or Java installed on your system. IP Cam offers password protection, but will not work with passwords containing consecutive letters or numbers. It also includes the ability to use the front cam, and offers resolutions ranging from 640 x 480 to 800 x 600. It delivers pretty good video, and can even be monitored from other Android devices and across the web.

Setup is really simple. Here it is step by step:

• Install VideoLAN (it can be found here)
• Install IP WebCam on your android device
• Open the app and set up the options
• Start the server
• The app will display an IP address after the server is started. Type it into the browser on your computer (for example: http://192.168.110:8080)
• When you first connect, a webpage will appear with a list of options (shown below). Choose "Open stream in media player" and open the playlist.m3u file with VideoLAN. For Ubuntu the path will be /usr/bin/vlan. Windows will be similar to C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe. If you can't find it, just search the file system for vlc. Or select the "Use java browser plugin". If you have Java installed, the video will appear in the webpage.

I can tell you that Linux's Movie Player will not open the stream. After that failure, I decided to install VLC for the stream for it's ability to capture and save the stream. Also, you can't simply capture the output by entering the playlist url into VLC's Media >> Open Network Stream option due to the fact that the playlist appends a number to the playlist name (ie: playlist1.m3u, platlist2.m3u). If there is no need to record the stream, the Java viewer will work nicely. It has good quality video, but it seems a little slower than VLC.

I haven't played around with the USB option (or any of the other options) to check out performance. I wanted a functional, and portable, web cam. This software also features disabling visual notification of the video server running, changing the default port, and the ability to stream only sound. To capture the sound stream, type the given url into VLC's Media >> Open Network Stream option. After prompting for a password (if any) it will open the sound stream and play it.

IP Webcam really impressed me. It's easy to setup and use. There are other softwares that offer this service, but this is done in a cross platform way. This software could transform almost any Android device into a virtual spy device ;).