Monday, May 9, 2011

Audio and Public Cameras

With the recent introduction of audio support for some camera models in Live Cams Pro it appears that there is some confusion. Let's clear it up:

  1. None of the public cameras can or ever will support audio in the app. Out of the 5000 active cameras we've only found about 5-10 that support audio in a format that the app can handle. Even if we allowed it the cameras are only capable of streaming audio to a single client at a time. Obviously this would cause more frustration than it is worth :)
  2. 1 way audio for Axis devices works if the device is configured to output G.711 format. We are actively trying to get the other formats working and will release an update when we do.
  3. We have succeeded in getting Foscam audio working (1-way) but there is a nearly 10 second delay in loading both the video and audio. Because of this we have chosen not to release this yet. Again, too many people would be frustrated by waiting over 10 seconds too long to hear their baby crying via their iPhone/iPad.
  4. Linksys WVC210 devices are similar to Foscam, we've had it working but the code is still unstable and causes the app to crash randomly. We've held on to this one until we can perfect it.
For the time being, audio is 1-way only and is supported by certain Axis, TRENDnet and DLink profiles. 

See our feature matrix here:

We are very busy working on audio because we feel it is the most important improvement we can continue to make in the app. Devices using G.726 format (Panasonic & others) are also in our radar.