Pathik Shah

This tutorial will show you How to use your mobile as a Webcam.

Many of us don’t have Webcams and might want to use your mobile as a Webcam to save on some cash and also to put your mobile camera to better use.

You will need to install your Bluetooth stack / drivers – Microsoft, Bluesoliel, Widcomm etc if you plan to use Bluetooth to connect your phone and PC. You will also need to install Nokia PC Suite in case you are using a Nokia phone.

There are two applications to use your mobile as a Webcam:

1. Mobiola Webcam

http://www.warelex.com/products/Webcam/
http://www.warelex.com/products/Webcamlite/

Mobiola Webcam is the most popular Webcam software for mobiles, it is compatible with many phones – Symbian S60, S60 V3, UIQ, Windows Mobile, Blackberry etc. In case it isn’t compatible with your phone, but your phone supports J2ME, you can use the Mobiola Webcam Lite version. It runs on almost all J2ME phones. In case, you have some prehistoric phone with no J2ME support, then it’s time to dump it and get a new phone.

Just download Mobiola Webcam / Webcam Lite from the above links after selecting your platform. Install the Mobiola Web cam setup on your PC and transfer the mobile sis / jar file to your mobile and install it. Be sure to give it all the access permissions it requires during installation.

Just start the Mobiola application on your mobile and PC. From your mobile, select Options > Connect and select the connection method – Bluetooth, USB or Wi-Fi. We would recommend connecting via data cable as it is faster. After you are connected, you can use the mobile camera as your Webcam. Just start your favourite application and in the Video / Webcam options, select the Mobiola Webcam / Your Phone. You can adjust the video quality, contrast and brightness from Options > Settings.

2. WWIGO (Webcam Wherever I Go)

http://wwigo.com/download.php

WWIGO is also a nice little application that allows you to use your mobile camera as a Webcam. It supports connections via Bluetooth only though. Just download the application from the above link and install it. After installation, navigate to your Program Files directory and get the WWIGO mobile application from there. Transfer it to your mobile and install it.

Now start both the PC and mobile WWIGO applications. Now select an GPRS access point in your mobile, and select Options > Connect. Select your PC as the Bluetooth device and let the PC and mobile WWIGO applications connect.

After the connection is done, you can use your mobile camera to record videos as a Webcam. To use it as a Webcam, open the Webcam / video settings of your application and select WWIGO as the Webcam. You can adjust the video resolution and zoom levels from Options > Settings

That’s it, You are done. Happy Chatting.

Note: Yea, I know there are loads of similar tutorials everywhere. But as I was running out of ideas to write on, I thought this would be fine.