Streaming media for portable devices

Abstract

A system and method for allowing hand-held/wireless device devices to (1) provide audio/video conferencing; (2) access AV content through streaming and cloud transfer; and (3) offer hand-held and computer access to cameras and sensors for surveillance using ordinary personal computers as proxy servers is described. In a first aspect, a remote view streaming system which comprises a webcam server which enables streaming video over a network is disclosed. The system includes a portable device. The portable device includes a client application. The portable device is configured to receive the streaming video from the network and display it on a screen. The system includes a proxy server for authenticating a connection between the webcam server and the portable device. In a second aspect, a portable device is disclosed. The portable device comprises a client application; wherein the client application includes authentication information to allow connection to the proxy server and in turn can be connected directly to a webcam server if the webcam server has proper authentication.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A remote view streaming system which comprises:
 at least one webcam server which enables streaming video over a network;   a portable device including a client application, the portable device configured to receive the streaming video from the network and display it on a screen; and   a proxy server for authenticating a connection between the at least one webcam server and the portable device.   
     
     
         2 . The remote view streaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one webcam server comprises a plurality of webcam servers which are paired to the client application. 
     
     
         3 . The remote view streaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one webcam server registers itself with proxy server, wherein the proxy server stores the at least one webcam server information in a relational database. 
     
     
         4 . The remote view streaming system of  claim 3 , wherein the proxy server acquires one or more keys from the relational database and provides the at least one webcam server's information to the client application to establish the direct connection with the client application. 
     
     
         5 . The remote view streaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the client application receives an active list of webcam servers after the proxy server authenticates the connection. 
     
     
         6 . The remote view streaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the portable device comprises a smartphone and the client application comprises a smartphone client. 
     
     
         7 . The remote view streaming system of  claim 1 , wherein the portable device comprises any of a smartphone, PDA, and tablet computer. 
     
     
         8 . A portable device comprising:
 a client application; wherein the client application includes authentication information to allow connection to a proxy server and in turn can be connected directly to at least one webcam server if the at least one webcam server has proper authentication.   
     
     
         9 . The portable device of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one webcam server comprises a plurality of webcam servers which are paired to the client application. 
     
     
         10 . The portable device of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one webcam server registers itself with proxy server, wherein the proxy server stores the at least one webcam server information in a relational database. 
     
     
         11 . The portable device of  claim 8 , wherein the proxy server acquires one or more keys from the relational database and provides the at least one webcam server's information to the client application to establish the direct connection with the client application. 
     
     
         12 . The portable device of  claim 8 , wherein the client application receives an active list of webcam servers after the proxy server authenticates the connection. 
     
     
         13 . A smartphone comprising:
 a smartphone client application; wherein the smartphone application includes authentication information to allow connection to a proxy server and in turn can be connected directly to at least one webcam server if the at least one webcam server has proper authentication; wherein the proxy server acquires one or more keys from the relational database and provides the at least one webcam server's information to the smartphone client to establish the direct connection with the smartphone client; and   wherein the smartphone client receives an active list of webcam servers after the proxy server authenticates the connection.   
     
     
         14 . The smartphone of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one webcam server comprises a plurality of webcam servers which are paired to the smartphone client. 
     
     
         15 . The smartphone of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one webcam server registers itself with proxy server, wherein the proxy server stores the at least one webcam server information in a relational database.