Which 720p 16:9 webcam should I buy?

Updated on 14 Sep 2010 by Andy Bryant

Updated on 19 Sep 2010 by Andy Bryant

I’d like to buy a new webcam that does 720p, and shoots in widescreen (16:9) format - for use on Skype or for grabbing content that I can either capture; or broadcast via ustream.  I understand that USB2.0 isn’t good enough to do 720p live, but I’d still like to be able to use the widescreen format; and be able to capture content for editing later.

I currently have the excellent Logitech Pro 9000 - and find it to be both an excellent webcam with mic for Skype.  The only real problem I have with it - is that it isn’t widescreen, and I can’t hook it on my laptop and swivel it 360 degrees.  It only points in the direction that the laptop screen is pointing in.

Click to read more ...

Random Googleable webcams

Yet again, someone demonstrates the power of Google to find things that wouldn't otherwise be findable, and the complete lack of default security settings in internet appliances. BoingBoing reports that a simple search of a text string associated with a particular web-cam will provide links to thousands of un-secured net cams, from Axis and Canon.

Fleming put togther a tool to provide easy access:

"I couldn't resist making a little thing that picked up a bunch of them from the google API, and then grabbed the first picture from each of them, and geocoded the IPs a bit to see where they were from. Makes it much easier to access, and it was pretty easy. So, see here, and my blog post about it here. "