What is cam? - Definition from Whatis.com

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A cam, homecam, or Webcam is a video camera, usually attached directly to a computer, whose current or latest image is requestable from a Web site. A live cam is one that is continually providing new images that are transmitted in rapid succession or, in some cases, in streaming video. Sites with live cams sometimes embed them as Java applets in Web pages. Cams have caught on; there are now (we estimate) several thousand sites with cams. The first cams were positioned mainly on fish tanks and coffee machines. Many of today's live cams are on sex-oriented sites. For travel promotion, traffic information, and the remote visualization of any ongoing event that's interesting, webcams seem like an exciting possibility that will become more common as users get access to more bandwidth.

Related glossary terms: MIMO (multiple input, multiple output), service set identifier (SSID), SMS spam (cell phone spam or short messaging service spam), forward error correction (FEC), IR wireless (infrared wireless), American Radio Relay League (ARRL), solar fade (sun interference), MISO (multiple input, single output), 802.11m, no-swipe credit card

Contributor(s): Thomas Rene

This was last updated in July 2000

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