Iphone surveillance iphone security cameras

Smartvue today announced that Smartvue for iPhone is now available on the Apple App Store, allowing users to enjoy cost effective video surveillance using almost any network camera (here are a list of some supported cameras and settings).

The application capabilities including:

• Works on EDGE and 3G.
• Works on Wi-Fi
• Support for unlimited number of cameras.
• Zoom with iPhone “Pinch” and “Squeeze”
• Point and click ease of use

If you have $40 and a recent Mac with an iSight camera, then you have the makings of a simple home surveillance system thanks to Witness. Developed by Orbicule, Witness is a surveillance app that turns your Mac's camera into a motion sensor. The application runs in the background on your computer and will begin recording video or photos if motion is detected.
The system includes a free remote iOS app compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. When an intruder is detected, Witness will send a notification to your iOS device and your web browser if it is open. Photos and video captured by the Witness app are available online and can be viewed using a web browser or via the Witness Remote application.
While it is not as robust as a dedicated multi-camera home surveillance system, Witness is an inexpensive alternative that would work well in homes where the computer is located near the door or other routes of entry. Besides intruder detection, it can also be used to spy on others in your house or office, which is especially useful if you want to find out who is lifting all the pens from your desk or stealing the cookies from the cookie jar.

If you're fortunate enough to own an Apple iPhone, then you already know just how much it improves the quality of life -- or shackles it to modern technology. If you're reading this article, however, you're more than likely a fan. Apple's famed smart phone has become quite the trendsetter, raising the bar for the multimedia cell phone market with its sleek design and a bevy of cool, third-party applications.

All this is well and good. Yet perhaps you're not content with simply using your iPhone as a means of communicating, surfing the Web, taking photos, playing "Super Monkey Ball" and listening to the latest Black Eyed Peas album. If only there were a way to transform your iPhone into a security camera!

Let's ignore for the moment that your $200 to $300 iPhone is significantly more expensive than, say, a webcam. Let's also gloss over the fact that while many actual surveillance cameras may cost in this price range, they also don't tend to contain your personal correspondence and that "OMG ur hot" photo you took of yourself in the mirror last week.

Yes, in the face of all acceptable logic, you can fulfill that insatiable MacGyver craving in your soul and turn your phone/fashion accessory/status symbol into an instrument of security, espionage or blackmail.

Just how do you pull off this feat? Paw your touch screen and slide over to the next page to find out.

Turn Your iPhone Into a Spy

Again, it's difficult to argue that turning your iPhone into a security camera is a sensible move. Leaving it out to help protect items from theft makes about as much sense as building a scarecrow out of corn and earthworms. Yet maybe you have some nefarious scheme in mind to catch a roommate or spouse in the act of, say, putting the milk carton back empty -- or worse. Hey, you're the one looking to breach some trust. You have your reasons. Just don't blame us when iPhones are stolen or hearts are broken.

To carry this task out, you're going to need a jailbroken iPhone with the Cydia application and a computer with Veency viewer. Remember, if you jailbreak (or hack) your iPhone, you not only void your warranty and violate Apple's copyright; you potentially open your phone up to added security threats and risk ruining the gadget completely. To learn more about this process, read How to Jailbreak an iPhone.

Once you've jailbroken your iPhone and installed the Cydia app, you'll be able to download and install Veency iPhone VNC Server on it. VNC stands for virtual network computing, meaning this program helps you link your iPhone to your computer, allowing you to view your iPhone's display in a window on your desktop. See where this is going?

­Once you've installed the viewer on your computer, you can input your iPhone's IP address (found under the Wi-Fi section in settings). At this point, it's critical that you click "accept" on your iPhone to allow the VNC connection to take place. This means that there's no activating your phone remotely.

Now that you're viewing your iPhone's display on your computer, you can use an iPhone video recorder application such as Cycorder on your hacked iPhone. This turns your camera's 2.0 megapixel camera into a video camera. Once you've set this up, you should be able to observe the live video feed from your iPhone on your computer screen. With a networked iPhone and computer, you'll be able to turn the video camera on and off, as well as adjust settings, play music and do lots of other stuff. Naturally, the amount of video recorded is limited by the storage capacity of your iPhone (they generally boast 8 or 16 gigabytes).

Special Thanks
Special thanks to Brian Hardy of Big Nerd Ranch and iFoneHelper Ramtin Khoee for their help with this topic.

Congratulations, you've turned your fancy phone into a lackluster webcam. Now you're ready to potentially destroy or lose your iPhone -- and possibly solve a few mysteries or invade some privacy along the way.

Apple iPhone to Improve Video Surveillance; Special Report Examines Benefits to CCTV and Security Operations

Today, IPVideoMarket.info releases a special report on the key impacts that Apple products including the iPhone and Xserve will deliver to CCTV and video surveillance.

Over the last month, interest in Apple’s role in video surveillance has increased dramatically. Apple is co-hosting a panel titled “The Future of Video Surveillance” September 16, 2008 at ASIS, the largest security management seminar in the world.

The special report examines Apple’s products and what benefits they can offer video surveillance solutions. The report determines that mobile video surveillance is the area where Apple will create the most significant impact. While mobile video surveillance is highly valuable to security, traditional PDAs and phones had limited success. According to the report, the iPhone (and the iPod touch) have the ability to create a breakthrough to finally deliver quality mobile video surveillance.

“Seemingly everyone wants to know how Apple will impact video surveillance,” states John Honovich, founder of IPVideoMarket.info and a panelist on “The Future of Video Surveillance” event. “This report should help the community better understand the key areas where Apple will have the biggest impact. Apple is poised to significantly improve video surveillance. Smart professionals should carefully understand and adjust their actions to maximize this emerging trend.”

IPVideoMarket.info monitors news on Apple’s role in video surveillance and many other leading topics such as: IP cameras, megapixel cameras, NVRs, DVRs, IP video surveillance software, intelligent video, video analytics, storage clusters, wireless, PSIM, and IT convergence.

The site also monitors in-depth coverage of key video surveillance companies including 3VR, 3xLogic, ACTi, ADT, Aimetis, American Dynamics, Agent Vi, ArecontVision, Avigilon, Axis Communications, BRS Labs, Cieffe, Cernium, Cisco, ClickIt, Dedicated Micros, DIGIOP, DvTel, Envysion, Exacq, Flir, Gentec, Grandeye, IQinVision, Intransa, ipConfigure, Firetide, FluidMesh, IBM, Immervision, Indigovision, Intellivid, Intransa,ioimage, IQinvision, LenSec, Milestone Systems, Mobotix, ObjectVideo, Orsus, Panasonic, Pelco, Pivot3, SightLogix, VideoIQ, Video-Insight, Vidsys and Vivotek.

About IpVideoMarket.info:

IpvideoMarket.info provides a single source for information on Video Surveillance and CCTV news and analysis. Automatically aggregating and organizing news from across the web, IpVideoMarket.info ensures that readers never miss important information and can easily stay informed. With original analysis and reports released weekly, readers gain an unprecedented level of insight into key trends, products and companies.

As technology continues to move forward, so do customer expectations. Of all the questions we have been asked over the last couple of years, the most common by far has been ” Can I view my security cameras on my cell phone”. Up until now, the answer has been no. At this time, as far as I am aware, none of the high end DVRs in the market can be viewed by anything other than Mobile Windows cell phones. At least, until now. We are now ready to introduce our first Mobile Video Viewer. This software will allow anyone with a web enabled cell phone that uses a web browser capable of viewing images to see and even control PTZ (Pan-tilt-zoom) security cameras over the internet. This is the perfect Iphone application and will work with most cell phone that can surf the internet.
The software is free, but there is a one time license fee for each DVR. You can test the software first to make sure it works with your cell phone and then purchase the license after testing if you wish. The software is actually a video server that connects from any PC to your DVR and it streams video to your cell phone. The set up is very easy to do and we also provide free tech support. Think about the things you will be able to accomplish when you can view your surveillance cameras from anywhere on your cell phone or IPhone. You can check in on your employees while driving to work, check on your children while out to dinner, or keep an eye on your pet while traveling. The Mobile Viewer software will allow you to connect to multiple DVRs at one time and you can also set up cameras in groups. For more information on our Iphone and Cell Phone DVR viewer, please check out our website www.SecurityCameraKing.com. **UPDATE** We are excited to offer our new cell phone viewing sofware that is compatible with iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian based cell phones and PDAs. Visit our website for more details.
***UPDATE*** We are proud to introduce our FREE software app for viewing your DVR on your cell phone or PDA. This app is compatible with iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian based cell phones and PDAs. CLICK HERE for more information.

About a month ago, I wrote a blog entry on DIY iPhone Controlled Security Cameras for home surveillance. I had setup a couple of Wi-Fi enabled IP cameras and purchased an iPhone app to allow me to view them remotely. I also tested out some security camera recording software. For the most part, it worked as advertised except for the fact that I was unable to get the cameras to successfully connect to an e-mail server to send snapshots to me when the camera's motion sensors were triggered. I had 24/7 streaming video recording until a few weeks ago when the outdoor camera lost it's Wi-Fi connection and did not come back online.

I had put fixing the camera on my to do list but hadn't gotten around to it. Then, last Friday, my house was robbed. The crooks stole a mounted LCD TV right off of a brick wall in our sun room. Fortunately for us, that was all they took. They had kicked through a dead-bolted door to enter our house. My second camera in our kitchen did not capture anything because the thieves never went past the initial room that they had broken into. I think that they may have seen the camera and did not want to enter it's field of view.

I was very disappointed in myself for not fixing the camera sooner as it would have surely taken their picture as they came up our driveway. I'm surprised they didn't notice the outside camera. They may have thought that it was a fake one as I know a lot of people purchase fake cameras as deterrents.

I have since fixed the outdoor camera and I've setup an account with an online storage provider to dump camera video to an off-site location (in case my computer gets stolen). Whether the thieves saw the cameras or not, the end result is that my house was broken into. My next home security purchase will be a lot more low-tech. I'll be buying a couple of iron security doors, and some clear security laminate for our windows to make them "smash resistant". As with computer security the goal is the same for home security: slow the criminals down so they''ll either move on or get caught.

On the bright side, the thieves broke the cable receptacle off of the TV as well as the HDMI port as I found both of them lying on the ground. They also left the remote control behind and the police told me that most pawn shops won't take a TV without a remote. In addition to all of this, we had thrown away the tabletop stand for the TV since we had wall mounted it and didn't need it anymore. I hope the crooks enjoy watching static on my three year old TV that is most likely propped up against a wall.