Live Cams Pro v2.0 Coming Soon ...

We have been indicating Live Cams Pro v1.94 would be the next version released but this is no longer the case.  There has been significant changes to Live Cams Pro that we decided that it was worthy of an increment of the major release version so we named this upcoming release Live Cams Pro v2.0.  This new release has the same underlying functionality with some enhancements such as video recording, preliminary RTSP support and a significant change was made to include an improved easy to use user interface.

Future blog posts will have more information on the timing of the Live Cams Pro v2.0 release.

iBaby Monitor profile added to Live Cams Pro

We've just updated our camera profiles to include the new iBaby Monitor cameras from www.ibabylabs.com. The devices are fully supported in Live Cams Pro and include 2-way audio, squelch, local notifications for volume alerts, PTZ, background audio when the app is closed and advanced camera settings like image control and alert setup.

The cameras are simply clones of a very well known Chinese brand. We shall name no names but will simply state that we have worked with the chipsets on many compatible devices for over 3 years now :)

Known bugs in Live Cams Pro v1.6

Apple reviewed and released the 1.6 patch yesterday and the high priority bugs were eliminated. We have now been working on the 1.7 release and can report on a few of the bugs that are being addressed:

Known 1.6 Issues - Fixed in v1.7

1. Foscam audio playback is poppy/scratchy/clicky in version 1.5 and 1.6
2. Foscam audio output quality improvements
3. Cisco/Linksys audio fails on some devices causing a crash.
4. JPEG/MJPEG URL profiles fail to allow "/" characters
5. Audio output does not work on Axis devices using HTTPS
6. Home Surveillance mode is missing an option to allow startup with favorites

Additions in 1.7

1. Linksys/Cisco audio out (tested on WVC210)
2. Advanced settings screens now use a label and a button to launch hyperlinks instead of a simple label
3. Added the ability to launch group 1 or group 2 cameras when starting in home surveillance mode (in addition to all private cameras or favorites)

Our next release should be the last update before the holidays and we hope to have it completed and tested this week.

Update (Dec 12, 2011) - The release has been submitted to Apple (followed by a review that usual takes them 6-8 days before the app appears on iTunes) 

Live Cams Pro v1.5 (+ v1.6 patch)

Our latest release is now available in the app store and it is quickly generating a lot of interest.

We'd like to report on several bugs that have been reported so far:

1) Anyone who had an unlicensed version of Live Cams Pro prior to 1.5 should wait for a patch to be released before making any in-app purchases. The app fails to recognize the purchase even though the payment is accepted by Apple. Users with licenses or new users of 1.5 have not reported any issues, this is only a problem for people who have updated an old copy before purchasing anything. If you have already run into this problem don't worry, your purchase is still valid and on record with Apple. When the 1.6 patch is released you can use the restore purchases option to resolve the issue.

2) Sort order for private cameras and favorites is not being honored. They will all appear alphabetical. Your previously assigned sort order has not been lost, it's just not being respected when the cameras are loaded.

3) URL-based camera profiles complain about protocols being present in the url when a camera is added.

4) Editing group names for private cameras always changes the name of the first group instead of the one originally selected.

5) Private cameras cannot be deleted from the list mode.

6) Control button sometimes doesn't appear (or never appears) for a PTZ device.

7) Audio no longer works for Apexis or Wansview cameras (this has been resolved without the need for a patch. Simply shut down the app and restart it to obtain the new configuration).

8) Astak Mole cameras fail to display video. This can be resolved by shutting down the app and restarting to fetch the latest config.

9) SecuritySpy camera import complains about requiring a camera name but the field is disabled.

All of these have been reproduced and resolved on our development systems but we will need to release a quick patch to Apple in order to get the software out to the customers. This can sometimes take 2-3 days.
The patch will be labelled as the 1.6 release and it was submitted to Apple on Sunday Dec 4 at 11:12am EST.

As always, please report bugs to our support@eggmantechnologies.com email account. Thanks!

Live Cams Pro - App Ranks (revised Nov 2)

Recently we've had a great deal of visibility in the app store thanks to some top iTunes ranks in the major markets and some articles in the media. Here are a few of the highlights:

November 4, 2011 - The #1 top free iPad app in Greece

November 2 2011 - #2 iPhone app and #3 iPad app in Greece, top free overall category!

October 17 2011 - #1 iPhone utility in Italy, #14 overall app

October 14 2011 - #1 iPhone utility in Canada, #2 overall app

September 19, 2011 - My brother Chris and I are featured in a local business magazine. We don't work together but instead have separate successful mobile app businesses! My wife Lorrie and I run Eggman Technologies and focus on business/utility apps while my brother Chris makes games at his own company.

September 19, 2011 - #2 iPhone app in Spain (overall), #1 utility app

August 31, 2011 - #1 iPad app in Germany (overall), also the #1 utility for both iPhone and iPad

Live Cams Pro has been downloaded more than 750,000 times since being released on May 5, 2011. We have continued to push the product forward and have released several new versions over the past 5 months. Our next release is version 1.5 and this will mark the end of the free downloads for Live Cams Pro. The product holds a 4-star overall rating in iTunes and the current version is 4.5/5 with 88% of our reviewers giving it at least 4 stars out of 5.

We're not done yet! More enhancements are on the way.....

Thanks for your continued support.
Sincerely,

Barry Egerter - CEO/President
Lorrie Egerter - Director of Technical Support

Live Cams Pro to become a paid app soon, get it now!

After six months in the app store Live Cams Pro has matured to become a quality and stable product. We continue to take customer feedback so that we can improve the product and provide the features that our customers demand.  As such, we are moving Live Cams Pro into the paid apps category in iTunes.  Customers believe that paid applications are of higher quality and more feature rich than free applications and this move reflects that.

Live Cams Pro version 1.5 will be a 99 cent download (US/Cdn $) with an in-app purchase for the private camera features. It will be ad-free and we will adjust the normal $3.99 fee for the private camera license to $2.99 so that the total price is effectively the same.

We understand that private camera owners will no longer be able to try the private camera features without making an up front purchase.  The application will allow you to enter your private camera details and test the functionality before making the additional in-app purchase for a private camera license (as it currently does.)

To summarize:

1. Live Cams Pro will become a paid app at $0.99 cents US.
2. The app will not contain any ads!
3. The app will include all of the public camera features without restrictions.
4. In-app purchase for private camera owners will be $2.99. Users will be able to test their devices within the app by adding details and playing with it before making the in-app purchase to remove the banners.

Live Cams Pro 1.5 nearing completion

Live Cams Pro v1.5 is currently under final development stages and entering the test cycle. Among the various bugfixes and improvements are:

• TWO-WAY audio for Axis, Foscam, INSTAR, HOOTOO, and select Trendnet, Wansview, Dericam models. More models to come soon!
• One-way audio added for 
• Cisco/Linksys devices like WVC200 and WVC210, PVC2300
• Sanyo (VCC-HD2500 tested, supports G.711 ULaw, ALaw and Linear PCM formats)
• Level One (WCS-0040/FCS-0040/FCS-3051/FCS-3031/WCS-0020/WCS-0010/FCS-0010)
• ACTi devices (tested on ACM models, should also support TCM devices)
• Baby monitor features such as push notifications when audio exceeds a predetermined level! You can set the app to fire an alert and an optional sound. The app must be running in the foreground or background with audio for this feature to work properly. If you are listening for baby cries or your pets you can simply launch the camera video, start the audio and then close the app. 
• New settings available! Under "General" there will be an option to have low-res camera images stretch to fill the screen (the current behaviour) or to appear smaller and in their native resolution. This will allow low-res cameras appear clearly on iPad screens and it will still allow you to stretch them digitally by using a two-finger pinch gesture. Many of the public cameras are low-res and this new option allows them to look very sharp on iPad displays.
• On the main app screen you can now toggle the toolbar on or off by tapping a button. Some security teams are projecting the app display onto an HDTV and do not wish to see the toolbar while monitoring video. The thumbnails/map/list content will resize to fill the extra space if the toolbar is hidden.
• Motion detection for FOSCAM compatible devices! When the app is running in the background and playing audio you can also receive local push notifications for motion events. An alert will display on your device which notifies you of the event and then allows you to launch back into the app to view the live video.
• The app now allows for 20 seconds of video/audio for unlicensed private camera users. This gives enough time to evaluate the basic features but prevents people from using the app without paying for the private camera license. After 20 seconds the audio will stop but the video will continue behind a translucent message. You should be able to continue playing with PTZ and advanced camera features to further evaluate the product.
• New camera profiles added for some Chinese devices without a logo or brand name.
• Axis cameras now properly handle multi-camera PTZ (on 241Q models for example)
• Additional bugfixes and UI enhancements.

We are continuing our efforts to port the Live Cams products to Android and hope to have a release before the end of the year. If time runs out we will put out an initial version with a limited set of features and gradually introduce the remaining ones as time allows. Our port is targeted at Android 2.2 and will also be designed for tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

In other news we have also released a Nokia Symbian version of Live Cams for Symbian^3 and S60 5th Edition devices (like the N8-00, E7-00, 5800 XpressMusic, X7-00 and C7-00). This version of the product is public cameras only (no private camera support) and is available in the Ovi store. We will be updating the product to improve the UI in the next few months and we will continue to expand the offering from its initial release.

Private Camera licenses now 25% off in Live Cams Pro

Act now and purchase your Live Cams Pro license for private camera usage at a 25% discount!

Don't forget that this is a permanent license for our most powerful Live Cams Product to date.

You can buy a single license and then install the app on as many iPhones/iPads/iPods as you own!

Simply use the "Restore Purchases" button on each extra device to activate your existing license.

Getting the most out of Live Cams Pro

Here are a few quick tips for new Live Cams Pro users:

Hide or Show Thumbnail Labels
A simple swipe upwards on the thumbnails will remove the labels from the screen. This is useful if you want to maximize the viewing space available on your iPhone. To bring the labels back into view, swipe down on the thumbnails and the labels will reappear. Settings are saved when you close the app so that it looks the same when you launch it again later.

Install the app on multiple devices (iPads, iPhones, iPod Touches)
If you have more than one iOS device then you probably want to have a copy of Live Cams Pro on each one. Simply download the app onto each device and make your initial license purchase using iTunes on one of them. On each additional device you can press the "Restore Purchases" button in the store tab to bring your purchases into effect. This is also how you can recover in-app purchases if you replace or re-install your existing device.

Keep your camera information up-to-date on all devices
Any private cameras or favorites that you have are stored locally on your iOS device. This is not posted to a server or shared with the world in any way. If you want to have the same information on another copy of Live Cams Pro, use the IMPORT/EXPORT functions in the settings screens. A wireless transfer of your data will take place (using Wifi or Bluetooth) from one device to another when you choose "Import" on one and "Export" on the other.

Advanced camera features can be accessed on the iPad thumbnail screen!
Double-tap on a private camera thumbnail when on an iPad to bring up the advanced options for a particular camera. For many models you can alter contrast, brightness, resolution, alarm settings, LED settings and more!

Drag the PTZ or Advanced Settings window out of the way
Tap and hold the title bar of the advanced settings menu (or the open space in the PTZ window) to drag the window out of the way. On the iPhone this can only be performed on the PTZ window.

Use "List" mode when travelling abroad to save $$$
Roaming charges are bad enough when you are simply sending emails and text messages. If you are using Live Cams Pro to monitor personal surveillance systems then you will probably want to change the app to show text-based lists of cameras instead of the usual thumbnail mode. Video will only be loaded when you select a specific camera. The app automatically reduces the refresh rate of thumbnails and video on cell networks but it can still be costly if you are pulling images from a high-resolution camera.
Individual frames of video can be as much as 2 or 3 megabytes.

Foscam Audio (1-way) coming in Live Cams Pro v1.2, Panasonic and Sony in v1.3

We've finally cracked the issues with decoding Foscam audio and have submitted Live Cams Pro version 1.2 to the app store. It was submitted on June 3rd (5 days ago) and is still listed as "Waiting for review" by Apple. Hopefully this will be released soon!

A word of caution, Foscam uses a highly compressed audio format which results in poor quality playback (although if you've heard it in Internet Explorer then you already know what to expect). Also we've noticed that the built-in microphone on these cameras is either of poor quality or poorly placed within the housing. As a result the volume of the audio is very low. We tested our 8918 unit with an external microphone and noticed a substantial improvement. If you are using these cameras as baby monitors then the external microphone is a good investment in peace of mind :)

Two-way audio will be under development after we add audio for a few more brands. At the time this article is being written we have completed one-way audio for Panasonic Profile 1 (non-iPro devices) and the first 2 Sony profiles. These will be released as v1.3 shortly after v1.2 is approved.

Our price remains at $1.99 US for the private camera license in Live Cams Pro. This is essentially the $2 upgrade fee we would have charged for audio and other enhancements if they had been introduced into the two separate apps in the past. The new app is a universal binary, requiring us to release it as a new product. Having a single application binary that works on all devices is better for our customers and easier for us to test and roll out as well. Our full-time efforts are still focused on producing the most powerful IP camera product on the iOS platform, we appreciate your support!

Customer requests - the reason for Live Cams Pro

There is much confusion within our Live Cams community with the recent release of Live Cams Pro. We need to help everyone understand the direction we are going and the reasons for the approach.

"Why did you release Live Cams Pro as a new application instead of simply updating the other apps?"

One of the most common requests we have received in the past few years is to produce a universal binary so that people can buy a single copy of the application and install it on all of their devices. This  reduces the cost of owning the product and allows them to expand to all of their mobile devices. As we stated in a previous blog, we were early adopters of the iOS and had produced separate copies of Live Cams (with the iPad release being submitted as Live Cams HD). This was fine for a while but it forced users to pay for both releases to allow them to use it on two platforms. We listened and spent the past 6 months combining the two into Live Cams Pro (and adding a lot of new features at the same time).

"I don't see why I should be forced to pay for another version of Live Cams." 

"You should spend time enhancing the product instead of finding ways to rip us off as loyal customers" 

This is absolutely the farthest from the truth. We have invested a great deal of money and time in bringing this new product to reality and it was entirely based on customer requests. We purposefully released the app as a free download so that everyone can fully evaluate it before making a purchase decision. Our existing products required "blind faith" or the ability to see it on someone else's device before making a purchase decision. This is unfair and we felt it was better to give everyone a free peek at the app. Apple does not allow time-based trials so our approach required us to limit features in some way. The "unlicensed" banners were created so that everything in the app would work the same as the paid version. There are no secrets or hidden capabilities with this approach, simply purchase a "license" to remove the banners.

Our intent is to let people enter their private camera information, check compatibility and then purchase if everything works as expected.

Software piracy of our previous apps has been quite intense and this new approach prevents people from stealing the code without making a legitimate in-app purchase.
Existing customers are not required to make a purchase if they don't feel the enhancements are significant enough. Purchase of the app is optional, we're not sure why everyone feels that they are forced to buy it!

Current app reviews claim that we are trying to insult our customers and have not spent time enhancing the product. For those who truly believe this we are sorry. We have spent over 2000 hours in the past months preparing this release. We have purchased a fairly large inventory of IP cameras in order to effectively integrate and test the private camera features. We have also invested in additional staff for tech support and software development. As much as we'd love to give out products for free, there is a cost associated with all of this.

To summarize, anyone who has not currently purchased our products should download and evaluate Live Cams Pro. It is a very powerful engine that we can expand rapidly as additional device models and features are added. For those who have already purchased our products in the past you have the option to invest in the new app. If you don't find the enhancements worth the $$ then there is no harm done and you can continue to benefit from the existing applications. We continue to add functionality to Live Cams Pro in the hopes that private camera owners will find a reason to purchase. Our primary focus is on audio support and the ability to adjust your camera settings from your mobile device.

If we had been able to simply update our existing apps the new features would have been implemented as an in-app purchase. We have permanently fixed our Live Cams Pro prices at the same value in order to equalize the cost to our existing customers. We ask for your support in order to continue our efforts to improve the product. Publicly attacking us for free updates to older technologies is not a good way to support a business that is providing a quality product. Doing so has the opposite effect and may cause the demise of those who worked hard to produce this software.

Sincerely,

Barry Egerter
President / CEO of Eggman Technologies Inc.

Crash resolved in Live Cams Pro for French Language Users

Shortly after the release of Live Cams Pro a critical bug was discovered for users who have set their devices to French language. Pressing the "Settings" button on the main screen crashed the app because the iOS was looking for a file that did not exist. We have fixed this issue and are attempting to get a patch out to Apple for approval asap.

The workaround for the meantime is to set your device to English and the crashes will not occur. We apologize for the inconvenience and should have caught this during our pre-release testing.

While we understand the frustration those users are encountering we would appreciate feedback via support rather than the current approach of sending 1-star reviews claiming that we are thieves and that the app is a scam. This is very deceiving for people who are reading the reviews and it damages the reputation of the business unnecessarily. A crash is a bug, not an attempt to steal from our customers.

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:

http://www.eggmantechnologies.com/featurematrix.php

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.