webcam

Usually if you use your iSight camera with one program, you can't use it with another. ManyCam Virtual Webcam helps change that as soon as you install it. This handy app removes many iSight camera restrictions and provides multiple ways to enhance the overall Webcam chat experience, with some helpful (and some silly) features you'll absolutely enjoy.

After installing the application, ManyCam takes control of your iSight camera: it will become the video source of the chat programs you use, such as Yahoo Messenger or Skype. Now, if you want to make your video chat more fun, you … Read more

Camtasia for Mac makes it easy to create professional screencasts (capturing all actions on screen) for demonstration videos, instructional videos, and other screen-recording projects.

The interface is fairly easy to understand right away with your media, transitions, animations, and effects on the left side, the work area (what they call the Canvas) on the right, and a video timeline on the bottom. You can quickly create a screencast at launch by first selecting sound and Webcam preferences, then hitting the red record button. The Webcam feature lets you personally "present" your screencast in a picture-in-picture window and you … Read more

A Rutgers University student was sentenced to 30 days in jail today for spying on his gay roommate's romantic encounter, an act that may have been related to the roommate's subsequent suicide.

Dharun Ravi, 20, set up the Webcam several times, urged others to watch and tweeted about watching his roommate, Tyler Clementi, "making out with a dude." The 18-year-old Clementi jumped to his death from a bridge a few days after learning about the spying.

Ravi, who faced up to 10 years in prison, was charged with 15 counts, including invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, … Read more

Paltalk Messenger streamlines communication by putting instant messages, video chats, voice calls, and SMS all into a single user interface. While it may not be the most user-friendly program out there, it's certainly one of the more powerful.

If you've used an IM client like Trillian or Pidgin, then Paltalk's interface should feel familiar, with its vertical towerlike orientation, list of contacts, and status bar. The difference is that Paltalk does a lot more than those programs do--which is good. So, in addition to the typical IM contact list, there's a Chat Room panel, as well … Read more

Past Webcams, Logitech's C910 for example, have offered 1080p video recording, but the new Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 is the first to let you make video calls at full HD resolution.

Logitech cites a partnership with Skype as the enabling factor for the C920's 1080p video calling, and you need to use Skype 5.7 Beta for Windows for full quality transmissions.

Standard video recording on the C920 is similar to that of the previous models, with compression coming by way of the H.264 standard. Logitech says the camera can also capture digital still images of … Read more

Last year, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab unveiled a novel pulse-measuring technique that used a low-resolution Webcam. It worked by imaging the human face to detect the slightest changes in brightness resulting from blood flow.

Electronics maker Philips is now is bringing a strikingly similar technology to market with its Vital Signs Camera App, though with the rather important disclaimer that said app should not be considered a medical tool.

The app, released last week for 99 cents, uses the iPad's built-in camera to detect those tiny changes in color--which Philips calls "micro-blushes"… Read more

Adobe Systems is working on a fix for a Flash-related vulnerability that could be used by Web sites to surreptitiously turn on a visitor's microphone or Webcam.

The problem is in the Flash Player Settings Manager on Adobe's servers and not with software on customer computers, Adobe spokeswoman Wiebke Lips told CNET today.

"Engineering is currently working on a fix," she said in an e-mail. "Note that this issue does not involve/require a product update and/or customer action. (In other words, there will not be a security bulletin.) It's a fix we … Read more

No, the world's highest Webcam doesn't belong to the pot-loving @Qwikster Twitter user who's giving Netflix fits. It can be found gazing out onto the far reaches of Mount Everest.

The Webcam sits on Kala Patthar, a mountain in the Himalayas, at an altitude of more than 18,000 feet. This vantage point gives it a clear and spectacular view of Everest's western face--when conditions are right.

A recent view of the Webcam showed a gray mass with a vague outline of Everest visible.

With no electrical outlets handy way up there, the Webcam is solar-powered. It's only active during daylight hours.

Mobotix is the company that provided the type-M12 Webcam. It is designed to deal with some pretty tough weather conditions like blasting winds and below-freezing temperatures. My puny Logitech QuickCam has a pretty easy life of luxury in comparison.… Read more

It's becoming a genre. Adorable senior couples get their charming faces into a Webcam as they seek to overcome software interfaces designed by little boys who have seen neither abacus nor, indeed, a razor.

Rita and Frank, meet Bruce and Esther.

Here, we even have subgenres, as we veer toward PG-13. Yes, Grandpa Bruce lets rip with an impressive belch--and later gropes his wife.

But even that might not be the most memorable part of this endearing and disarming video, which, of course, is reminiscent of an earlier turn by the now Net-famous Rita and Frank.… Read more