Webcam technology has come a long way but have you ever thought of using your Nokia smartphone to do the same job? WWIGO (Webcam Wherever I Go) is an app that will let you do just that over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. We got our hands on a copy from the Ovo Store and decided to put it through its paces. Check out our Ovi Store: WWIGO review to see how we got on.
Installing WWIGO is a two-part affair. The mobile app can be downloaded from the Ovi Store (or from the WWIGO site. You also need to download and install a PC application (no Mac or Linux support yet, alas) from Movik.com that acts as the 'receiver' for your mobile transmissions.
Downloading anything from Movtik's site requires a quick free registration to get a login name and password. Once both halves of WWIGO are installed and running, you connect by choosing either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi from the Options menu of the mobile app. If using Bluetooth you have to pair your phone with your PC, while wife users need to select a connection point and then enter the IP address of your PC - an annoying bump in the road, especially as you need to do this manually every time you connect with no option to save IP addresses between sessions.
With the WWIGO app running you can capture and record video directly or use the 'WWIGO' device for most Windows apps that will accept input from a camera. Skype, Yahoo Messenger, Movie Maker and others can use your new 'webcam' as long as the connection is up. We did find that the Wi-Fi link was a little flakey at times, but there is a 'quick reconnect' option to try and recover from this.
The resolution of the camera is generally good - everything seemed a little more 'zoomed in' than with the native camera app and you are restricted to a square aspect ration as opposed to the widescreen we had grown used to on our N97. It was a little odd wandering around the house and recording the results on our laptop in a different room - especially via Wi-Fi as you are free to wander much further from the PC. We could imagine a few uses for this app outside of its webcam remit- a quick 'n' dirty security camera would be one, although the lack of sound capture could be a problem.
Its a shame Movtik couldn't include sound capture, as it would have made the app even more useful and would have meant you could use it for both video and sound in a webcam chat - allowing you to wander the house while you talk. This, plus the small niggles like the manual IP entry, mark WWIGO down a bit but all in all this is an interesting app that you may well find a use for.
WWIGO is up to version 1.04 and is absolutely free for a 60-minute trial. However, the full version will set you back £8.00
Check out our Ovi Store: WWIGO review image gallery:
