Database Info

Wireless Webcam for most HTC Devices

I posted this over at HoFo but figured a few may enjoy it here too...
I started playing with the CoolCamera software by Ateksoft and realized that it can act as a wireless webcam.
So....
I loaded it up on my T-Mobile Dash, configured it to connect to my home PC by forwarding port 2047 on my router to a spare PC. I installed the PC webcam software on that PC, but also installed Microsoft Windows Media Encoder v9.
I set the encoder to stream from a device, and selected Coolcamera from the device list (since I had installed the camera SW it added a driver for it) and then set it to "content is pulled" and opened another port on my firewall for the outgoing stream, and started the encoder.
So now anytime I want I can launch Cool Camera on my phone, and whatever the webcam sees, can also be watched by anybody with a PC by opening WM and pointing it to my home URL (which is through DynDNS so no IP required) "http://mycoolcamera.dyndns.org:1043" or if you don't use a DNS service "http://192.168.0.1:1043" or whatever your external router IP is.
Not sure what good it is, it's very slow over Edge, more like a slideshow than video, works a bit better over WiFi, but lacks audio, and isn't a very good picture either way.
It is however pretty cool to know I could prop up my phone anywhere and see what it's seeing from any PC, anywhere, anytime. It also shows you what you can do with these devices, some free software (the demo camera app will run for 25 secs. at a time) and a rainy Sunday afternoon.
-JMS

Yup, CoolCamera is GREAT. I've also published several articles on it; see for example http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/in...icle_on_ateksoft_coolcam&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 and http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=970&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

yeah. I second that... coolcamera is great. really worth it's price, way better then the builtin software

_Nomad_ said:
yeah. I second that... coolcamera is great. really worth it's price, way better then the builtin software
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, what am I missing? The screen is less cluttered, but I could not find:
1) a help file or manual?
2) a way to quickly/easily toggle the flash on and off
3) anything really standout - what's great about it for you?
-the menu system is fairly non-intuitive - touch screen to bring it up, then use cursor keys to move/select????
-menu system hiccups - like blank lines you have to skip over when given the choice of post-picture options (save, discard, etc)
-very limited key mappings (e.g. no way I saw to map things like flash enable/disable)
-still susceptible to the "I changed from camera to video camera by accidentally touching the cursor keys" problem
Honestly, unless I can find some documentation and functionality, it looks like a nice freeware app, but no way it's worth $18 at this point.
I didn't try CoolCapture - which you don't seem to be able to avoid loading - or CoolWebWhatever - which is of mild interest (and maybe included if you purchase before Friday?)
Richard

What a wonderful software! Just tried out WebCamera Plus. Works great with my messenger..! Thanks for this thread OP.
btw, I have HTC Prophet (O2 XDA Neo)

rsolomon said:
-very limited key mappings (e.g. no way I saw to map things like flash enable/disable)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, it doesn't support flash in many models, as has also been pointed out in my review.

Menneisyys said:
Yup, it doesn't support flash in many models, as has also been pointed out in my review.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not my point, sorry - it DOES support the TyTN/Hermes flash, but the enable/disable switch is buried several levels deep in a menu. Anyone using a point and shoot camera would expect to find a simple one-button switch to enable/disable the flash - I expect the same here, and didn't find it.
Richard

rsolomon said:
Ok, what am I missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FWIW, this wasn't intended sarcastically - I honestly figure if so many people love this and I don't, then I must be missing something....
Richard

rsolomon said:
Ok, what am I missing? The screen is less cluttered, but I could not find:
1) a help file or manual?
2) a way to quickly/easily toggle the flash on and off
3) anything really standout - what's great about it for you?
-the menu system is fairly non-intuitive - touch screen to bring it up, then use cursor keys to move/select????
-menu system hiccups - like blank lines you have to skip over when given the choice of post-picture options (save, discard, etc)
-very limited key mappings (e.g. no way I saw to map things like flash enable/disable)
-still susceptible to the "I changed from camera to video camera by accidentally touching the cursor keys" problem
Honestly, unless I can find some documentation and functionality, it looks like a nice freeware app, but no way it's worth $18 at this point.
I didn't try CoolCapture - which you don't seem to be able to avoid loading - or CoolWebWhatever - which is of mild interest (and maybe included if you purchase before Friday?)
Richard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... My main reason would be the greater speed when using the camera. For me the htc camera app will need about 8 seconds from the time that I start the app to when I have an actual picture. Coolcamera cuts this down to about 2 seconds. And I love the fact that it automatically changes to night mode in low light conditions. The added quality settings is also something I find very useful and I overall find it to be a much more capable camera app then the htc one.
Hope that clarifies it a little

ugh.
how to connect my PC to CoolCamera?(my WM Device)

I can't get it to capture my phones screen as a webcam on my touch pro2, it says camera and camera+

Large type?

OK, the eyes are about the third thing to go when you get older, and I need reading glasses these days.
I've tried searching, but no luck.
Is there an OS or software out there for my wizard that is optimized for larger display type? The HTC home plugin has a nice big clock- maybe bigger than it needs to be, but seems to conflict with calendar.
It would also be nice to see who is calling me without having to squint and guess a little before I answer it.
I have done some VB programing in the past, but haven't tried it for WM yet.
Any ideas?

Have you tried going to start-->settings-->system tab-->screen-->text size tab and turning the text size all the way up?

Yup, that was the first thing I did. Maybe I have to actualy try to write some code and make a today plugin or two.

dcyale said:
OK, the eyes are about the third thing to go when you get older, and I need reading glasses these days.
I've tried searching, but no luck.
Is there an OS or software out there for my wizard that is optimized for larger display type? The HTC home plugin has a nice big clock- maybe bigger than it needs to be, but seems to conflict with calendar.
It would also be nice to see who is calling me without having to squint and guess a little before I answer it.
I have done some VB programing in the past, but haven't tried it for WM yet.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For larger Caller ID, I use Photo Contacts Pro. It is extremely nice.
http://www.pocketx.net/products/photocontactspro_ppc

Hand Gestures \o/

I was on Twitter, and people were discussing some of the biggies of Windows Mobile 7, with some rumors and all.
One of the things mentioned was hand gestures. I was curious about this, and thought about my Fuze's ambient light sensor, so I thought I'd give this a shot
It's proof of concept, but what do you guys think?
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_JAFskYwME

Nice work!!!

Impressive! I see you're using only vertical gestures in the video but I suppose horizontal gestures would be possible too?
It looks like this is running on Windows Mobile 6.5 with TF3D2? I don't know if that effects things - I'm on stock WinMo 6.1 with TF3D1 but would be interested in trying out something like this. I'm a noob at serious development but I'd be happy to help test if at all needed.

kryptech said:
Impressive! I see you're using only vertical gestures in the video but I suppose horizontal gestures would be possible too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's complicated. I'm going to work on designing some more gestures, but all the device can see is that SOMETHING went over it, it can't tell direction, size, etc. So really it's a pattern issue.
kryptech said:
It looks like this is running on Windows Mobile 6.5 with TF3D2? I don't know if that effects things - I'm on stock WinMo 6.1 with TF3D1 but would be interested in trying out something like this. I'm a noob at serious development but I'd be happy to help test if at all needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows Mobile 6.5.3, using HTC Sense. However, none of that really matters, because it is simply simulating key press's.
I'll work on it a bit today, and hopefully release a build with more than one gesture, for people to play with.
Cheers!

Here's a zip file with the EXE and DLL in it, copy them onto your device and run them.
It's glitchy, and BY NO MEANS ready for normal use, but it's a pretty good Proof of Concept.
http://windowsphonehacker.jaxbot.com/files/Gestures.zip

I gave this a try but didn't have much success. A few times (maybe 4 or 5) it did move as though up/down were pressed but I wasn't able to find a way to duplicate it. I tried different lighting, speeds, and directions but to no effect. I've tinkered with the sensitivity too.
Is there any particular place to which these 2 files should be copied? I had them in a folder in \Program Files\ and also \Windows\
I do have the KforTouchPro_v1.0.0.3 driver installed so I can make the hard keys. (showthread.php?p=2791652). I don't know if this would make a difference.
My Touch Pro is a CDMA phone with Telus up in Canada, FYI.

kryptech said:
I gave this a try but didn't have much success. A few times (maybe 4 or 5) it did move as though up/down were pressed but I wasn't able to find a way to duplicate it. I tried different lighting, speeds, and directions but to no effect. I've tinkered with the sensitivity too.
Is there any particular place to which these 2 files should be copied? I had them in a folder in \Program Files\ and also \Windows\
I do have the KforTouchPro_v1.0.0.3 driver installed so I can make the hard keys. (showthread.php?p=2791652). I don't know if this would make a difference.
My Touch Pro is a CDMA phone with Telus up in Canada, FYI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said, it's highly proof of concept and extremely hard to use. I have a higher success rate, simply because I know all the timings.
Where you copy doesn't matter, I like mid-sensitivity and a wave that allows my arm to fully block out light for a one-half to one-fourth of a second.

I'll try some more with it then. Actually, it was a bit annoying because my mom saw me waving my hands over the phone and when she tried it responded right away! But she wasn't able to get it to work a second time...
As I understand, I just run gesture.exe then I can open another program (like TouchFlo or the program folder) and then your program will emulate key presses as it detects the correct shadow patterns.

kryptech said:
I'll try some more with it then. Actually, it was a bit annoying because my mom saw me waving my hands over the phone and when she tried it responded right away! But she wasn't able to get it to work a second time...
As I understand, I just run gesture.exe then I can open another program (like TouchFlo or the program folder) and then your program will emulate key presses as it detects the correct shadow patterns.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that is how it works. On the screen (after opening Gesture.exe), there's some numbers, Cur and Avg. What range are they in? It might be too dark where you are for it to see a difference.

Any update on this?
Ty

madsurfer1 said:
Any update on this?
Ty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been a little preoccupied lately (school...), but so far it seems it's a bit too unpredictable. Not to mention it requires a lot of light.
I'll mess around with it and see if I can't get some better results.

[Q] "Buy" button missing from Zune

I don't know if I'm the only one experiencing this.
But, the "buy" button seems to be missing from the app marketplace within Zune software
I can still purchase videos and musics from it. But not apps.
I can still buy apps from the phone directly, but not being able to use Zune software to browse through the market is rather annoying.
Any solutions?
Am I the only person with this problem right now?
Are they just doing some maintenance and will it come back soon?
[Solved]
It just came back.

I saw this as well and I think it's just a maintenance thing. Because the phone marketplace is acting wonky too.

magicsgram said:
I don't know if I'm the only one experiencing this.
But, the "buy" button seems to be missing from the app marketplace within Zune software
I can still purchase videos and musics from it. But not apps.
I can still buy apps from the phone directly, but not being able to use Zune software to browse through the market is rather annoying.
Any solutions?
Am I the only person with this problem right now?
Are they just doing some maintenance and will it come back soon?
[Solved]
It just came back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been having this issue for months. It's a pain because I want to get my apps from Zune so I can quickly reinstall if need be. Don't know a cause.

did you resize the screen? if its in a small size window , the buy button wont be showing , try resizing to a larger screen and it will re appear!

Missing 'Buy' button is a programming error...
... as far as I am concerned. There are far too many folks using netbooks and sub-notebooks that do not use a 'something' by 640 or 'something' by 800 as a minimum display size. The Toshiba NB series computers use for their own display a 1024 x 600. Odd size, but very functional for those folks that prefer something smaller and lighter in their briefcases. It is handy that most can attach an external display of more common size to get around this issue.
I and my crew are just such people. I do not limit my folks from modifying their equipment or adding what they like. In fact, all of our sub-notebooks have been upgraded to the 500Gb hybrid drives and W7 Ultimate with Enterprise Office. They work GREAT!! (a little Tony The Tiger imitation there)
So, any time we find a program that fails to function on our screens, it's obviously a failure on the part of the programmers to consider the true variety of users they are serving. Saddly, most 'commercial' programmers today think of only larger drives, more power, and more speed. 'Elegant' code is a thing of the past I fear.
My only hope is that whoever it was that wrote the 'buy' button has the wherewithall to realize the error of their way and either unlock its position so it can float as needed, or go ahead and let the screen overflow and give us a slider so we can make the choice to look further down the page if need be. You don't really have to jam everything into one screen, even though from time to time that can be nice. Figure it out, programmer. It's your job.

Alternative input option for large screen phones ( Instead of touch screen )

Hello
I have been using large screen phones for a while now. I was just wondering if there were any workarounds for one handed use. I have done some research and I am aware of features such as shrinking the screen towards a corner so that all usable area is within reach of one hand. However that defeats the purpose of a large screen phone. I have some ideas about how to go about it and was wondering if anyone knows an app similar to what I've mentioned.
1) Use a virtual joystick. Similar to that Pie Control / Simple pie app, a small Virtual joystick area could pop out from the edge and you can use that joystick/trackpad to control a cursor around the screen. Obviously not for typing, but good enough to click things online. If you try searching for this, the results are flooded by apps that make your phone a touchpad/trackpad for a COMPUTER, or about a million physical joysticks available for gaming on Android.
2) Use the fingerprint sensor to move a cursor around the screen. My old Nexus 6p had an option to swipe down on the fingerprint print to bring down the notification bar. Maybe that same control can work for moving a cursor. Although I'm not sure that it would have enough movement sensing resolution to pull it off.
3) buying an actual physical joystick to move a cursor around the screen. Although currently they work only in a game. You'd need an app or framework to make this work I think.
I would really appreciate it if anyone knows whether such apps exist, or any other apps that help lazy people navigate their giant phones with one hand.

BluTheCool said:
Hello
I have been using large screen phones for a while now. I was just wondering if there were any workarounds for one handed use. I have done some research and I am aware of features such as shrinking the screen towards a corner so that all usable area is within reach of one hand. However that defeats the purpose of a large screen phone. I have some ideas about how to go about it and was wondering if anyone knows an app similar to what I've mentioned.
1) Use a virtual joystick. Similar to that Pie Control / Simple pie app, a small Virtual joystick area could pop out from the edge and you can use that joystick/trackpad to control a cursor around the screen. Obviously not for typing, but good enough to click things online. If you try searching for this, the results are flooded by apps that make your phone a touchpad/trackpad for a COMPUTER, or about a million physical joysticks available for gaming on Android.
2) Use the fingerprint sensor to move a cursor around the screen. My old Nexus 6p had an option to swipe down on the fingerprint print to bring down the notification bar. Maybe that same control can work for moving a cursor. Although I'm not sure that it would have enough movement sensing resolution to pull it off.
3) buying an actual physical joystick to move a cursor around the screen. Although currently they work only in a game. You'd need an app or framework to make this work I think.
I would really appreciate it if anyone knows whether such apps exist, or any other apps that help lazy people navigate their giant phones with one hand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It probably wouldn't be that hard to take one of the apps that allows using your phone as mouse/trackpad for a PC and modify that app to shrink the trackpad area to the size you want and place it where you want on the screen, then modify it so that the app interfaces with your phone's screen and controls internally the same as an external mouse would instead of interfacing with your PC's display and controls over a network. You could make it work by using a double tap or a single tap to the edge or corner of your screen to bring up the trackpad so you can move the cursor wherever you need on the screen and make selections, you could even make it semi/full transparent and overlay whatever is on screen.
But, if you'd rather try piecing something together with existing apps.
The first question I would ask is, do you have a rooted device?
If not, would you be willing to root the device if the method exists for your device?
Some of the tricks you can use to achieve your goal might require root access. Even if possibly only long enough to make the modifications you want and then remove root after you're done as long as what you set up does not require continued root access.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Well what you said about modifying a PC trackpad app for this purpose makes sense. However I have only made some rudimentary Android apps in the past. I don't have nearly enough experience to try what you have mentioned.
My current main device is pretty new and isn't rooted right now, although I have rooted all my past ones. I am of course open to rooting it if there is an existing root app that can do the trick. Did you have any in mind?

BluTheCool said:
Well what you said about modifying a PC trackpad app for this purpose makes sense. However I have only made some rudimentary Android apps in the past. I don't have nearly enough experience to try what you have mentioned.
My current main device is pretty new and isn't rooted right now, although I have rooted all my past ones. I am of course open to rooting it if there is an existing root app that can do the trick. Did you have any in mind?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on what model number you have and what android version you have.
What is your model number and what is the android version?
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

It's one plus 6 @ pie.
I also have Nexus 6p @ 8.1 Oreo

BluTheCool said:
It's one plus 6 @ pie.
I also have Nexus 6p @ 8.1 Oreo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the device name, not the device model number. Go to system settings>about phone>model number or system settings>about phone>hardware info>model number and tell me the model.
It should be A6000 or A6003, it might make a difference in what you need to root the device.
Both of the devices you own have known rooting methods.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Oh my bad. One plus is A6000, Nexus is H1511.

BluTheCool said:
Oh my bad. One plus is A6000, Nexus is H1511.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is the root method for the OP6
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-6/how-to/guide-how-to-root-oneplus-6-guide-t3798577
Once you've done that, then it's down to trying various apps that offer features that can make getting to anything/everything on the phone more convenient for one handed use.
It's hard to give any suggestions to try because some will have features you're looking for but will be missing some that you want, it might come down to using multiple apps to setup all of your controls and features the way you want, some of them require root, some don't, the most effective ones use root. You can also take a look at using the Xposed Framework on your device, it has tons of modules that customize access, placement, appearance and function of various features and apps on the device.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Ok I guess I will root first and then decide