Press Release

EarthCam Announces


Industry Leader Releases 5th Annual Selection of World's Best Internet Cameras

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, December 29, 2003 -- ">EarthCam (www.earthcam.com), the world's leading network of Internet cameras and recognized authority on the webcam industry, has released its fifth annual list of the world's most interesting webcams (www.earthcam.com/top25).

This year's 25 Most Interesting Webcams include a global perspective of people and places from countries that include the USA, Canada, Mexico, England, Spain, Germany, Russia, China and Japan. These unique live Internet cameras offer viewers access to the top of the Seattle Space Needle, the French Riviera and homes of endangered wildlife. Other selections allow you to peek into the Arctic Canada habitat of a beluga whale calf, visit with a Dutch family documenting their live through 10 webcams, or take a tour of the “Big Apple” via numerous NYC DOT traffic cameras that deliver streaming video of key city landmarks.

"This year’s 25 Most Interesting Webcams clearly features the increasing resources people have put towards creating compelling webcam content,” said Brian Cury, founder and CEO of EarthCam. “The 2003 list offers a great selection of cameras that demonstrate the increased level of global adoption and diversity of this exciting new medium."

The 25 Most Interesting Webcams were chosen by a panel of EarthCam producers who selected the best out of hundreds of popular webcam nominees. Generated by submissions from individual webcam owners, fans and EarthCam researchers throughout the year, many of the nominees were featured in EarthCam's weekly Top 10 List (http://search.earthcam.com/topten.php). The criteria used for judging included quality of the image, uniqueness of the content and overall technical achievements in webcam technology.

Top 25 Most Interesting Webcams (in alphabetical order):

  • Amodal Suspension Live Video – Streaming video from the location of the “Amodal Suspension” project piece in Yamaguchi City, Japan. “Amodal Suspension” is a large-scale interactive installation where people can send short text messages encoded as unique sequences of flashes and sent to the sky with a network of 20 robotically-controlled searchlights. Each light sequence continues to circulate until the recipient or somebody else “catches” the message and reads it.
  • BBC Webcams – The BBC has created the ultimate click-through camera tour around the United Kingdom. Choose from webcams showing city scapes, famous landmarks, coastal scenes and traffic views in England, Scotland and Wales.
  • Beale Street Cam – The very first webcam from Beale Street, the Home of the Blues. The robotic webcam gives viewers a live look at the famous B. B. Kings Blues Club, the Budweiser Pavilion, Pat O’ Briens’ and the skyline of Memphis, Tennessee.
  • Beerlover Cams – See who’s grabbing a beer on the world's first Motion-Detected Web Cam inside a real Beer Fridge. Look through the comical archives of beer drinker’s caught in action.
  • Beluga Cam – Peek into the Arctic Canada habitat of the Beluga whales at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre. See clear streaming images of Aurora, Imaq, Qila, and Tuvaq swimming, playing and feeding in the main Artic Canada habitat.
  • City of Nice Webcam – Admire a view overlooking the Promenade des Anglais and the French Riviera from the Nice Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
  • CRTVG Streaming Webcams – 30 Streaming webcams showing tourist destinations in the Provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and Pontevedra in Spain. Provided by The Compañía de Radio-Televisión de Galicia.
  • Discover Hong Kong – The Hong Kong Tourism Board provides colorful, up-to-the-minute webcam glimpses of Hong Kong’s most famous attractions: Victoria Harbour, Causeway Bay, Victoria Park, the Hong Kong Skyway and a stunning view from The Peak.
  • DonkeyWatch Webcam – A unique webcam perspective of the donkeys that are being cared for at the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth, Devon, England. Since inception, over 8,800 have passed through the Donkey Sanctuary's gates.
  • Krismay Cams – 4 webcams provide a small window and digital diary of the everyday life of a young woman. Krismay shares with viewers her webcam photo galleries, vacation photo albums, journal. Meet and greet other viewers in Krismay’s forum and chat.
  • Mexico Rotating Webcams –16 webcams offer crisp and colorful live feeds from key locations throughout Mexico including Zocalo, Eje Central, Bellas Artes, Venustiano, Carranza, and Republica del Salvador.
  • Mount Washington Observation Deck – Enjoy a breathtaking view of New Hampshire’s Presidential Range from the summit of Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast.
  • NYC DOT Cameras – Nearly 100 of New York City Department of Transportation’s traffic cameras offer commuters streaming video of traffic conditions from key landmarks and roadways throughout Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.
  • Panama Canal – The World’s only live webcam views of the Panama Canal. 2 webcams show traffic and operations at the Miraflores and Gatun Locks at the Canal.
  • QuetzalCam – The QuetzalCam effort allows biologists to closely observe the nesting habits of this culturally and ecologically important bird. At the same time, it gives viewers from around the world the opportunity to experience a part of Central America’s amazing Cloud Forest ecosystem.
  • Reef Aquarium Webcam – Bright, vivid panoramic images and time-lapse archives of colorful fish and coral reef in an aquarium in Frankfurt, Germany. Using a Nikon Coolpix 900, the panoramic image updates every 10 minutes.
  • Smithsonian National Zoo AnimalCams – Animal enthusiasts worldwide can explore the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C. via twelve webcams. The cameras offer live streaming video of naked mole-rats, Asian elephants, tigers, pandas, flamingos, octopus, and more.
  • Space Needle Webcam – A one-of-a-kind perspective on Seattle, Washington offering hundreds of awe-inspiring images unique to the Space Needle.
  • Sterlet Cams –10 webcams bring you inside the Sterlet family’s wired home in Holland. Meet the entire Sterlet family including the ferrets, control their lights, see who’s raiding the refrigerator and who’s at their front door.
  • St. Petersburg Cams – 4 webcams showing famous destinations and landmarks in St. Petersburg, Russia. Watch streaming and static views of Vasilievsky Island, the Palace Square, St. Isaak's Cathedral and the Lomonosov Square.
  • Tehran Webcams – The first and only webcams located in Tehran, Iran. These webcams show traffic views from four locations in Tehran and update every couple of minutes.
  • TigerHomes.org Live Animal Cams – 31 "state of the art" webcams enable viewers to observe rare and endangered wildlife inside a privately owned animal sanctuary and in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Animals featured are Madagascar lemurs and all three different color varieties of the mystical tiger.
  • USS Monitor Center Cam – Watch the conservation of the USS Monitor’s revolutionary gun turret, which was recovered by the U.S. Navy, NOAA and The Mariners’ Museum on August 5, 2002. It will spend at least 15 years being conserved at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia.
  • Valle d'Aosta Ski Cams – Over 20 ski cams located in the Aosta Valley in Pila, Italy. Located just above the lovely old city of Aosta, enjoy snowy views of the slopes and surrounding mountains.
  • Webcam Tahiti – Watch international cruise ships, marine ships and yachts dock at the picturesque Papeete Seafront in exotic Tahiti of French Polynesia. While taking in the scenery, book your tropical vacation through Tahiti Nui Travel.

Visit EarthCam to see this year’s 25 Most Interesting Webcams, along with many other great cameras, at www.earthcam.com.

EarthCam.com is the leading network of live webcams and, as the premier webcam portal, offers the most comprehensive search engine of webcams from around the world. EarthCam provides complete infrastructure services to manage, host and maintain live streaming video camera systems for it’s corporate clients. Clients include MSN, Yahoo!, Intel, AOL/Time Warner, ESPN, Panasonic, Ford, NASA, Kodak, Toys “R” Us, This Old House and Discovery.com. As the foremost provider of live images on the Internet, EarthCam webcasts events such as the Daytona 500, Mardi Gras, New Year’s Eve in Times Square and the Super Bowl for the NFL. WebCamStore.com is EarthCam’s full-service e-commerce site dedicated solely to providing webcam solutions. Visit EarthCam at www.earthcam.com.

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