Thu 12 Jun 2008
Flixwagon on iPhone, Qik on WinMo
Posted by shelbinator under Cool things, Geekery, Netroots, Sci-Tech
Live mobile video is breaking out all over. Last week, Qik announced a new version of its video software for a couple of Windows Mobile devices, the Samsung Blackjack and the Motorola Q. This can really expand the pool of potential live streamers — and of course make us Nokia types feel a little less special.
But even more deflating for us anti-iPhone curmudgeons is today’s announcement by Flixwagon that they’ve developed a version of their mobile broadcasting software for iPhone. Great, now the iPhone fanboys will proclaim victory all over again, because some external vendor has been kind enough to fill in where Steve Jobs seems so egregiously lacking. I heard it before when those willing to hack their iPhone pointed to the “solution” of a really tragic, no-audio, sub-10 frames-per-second monstrosity of an app you could download and record limited duration clips with if you were willing to risk bricking your $400 investment and voiding your warranty. The Flixwagon app for iPhone also requires one to jailbreak the cloistered device — this is not something that’s going to be available in the iPhone App Store:
While we don’t condone or recommend unlocking iPhones, as avid iPhone users ourselves we wanted to experiment with ways to enable flixwagon on the iPhone, until the official SDK supports video. We’re going to continue working with the iPhone SDK in the future so we can offer this functionality to all users once video becomes a standard part of the iPhone.
And I guess since you have to beat the phone’s firmware into submission to squeeze some video out of it, the Flixwagon app, like its video capture predecessor, also has a framerate like molasses, somewhere in the 5 fps ballpark, as you can see below:
I know this is a market the makers of Flixwagon really want to tap into, but I wish they’d spend a little less time making software for a device that’s so dead-set against accepting it and a little more time on the next version of their Symbian software. I heard in the end of April, and then again in mid-May, that a new client would be coming “in a couple weeks,” the most notable improvement in which would be the end of the 15-second “hiccup.” Flixwagon uses a kind of local buffering approach to ensure the integrity of the video stream in the face of periodic bandwidth constraints, apparently caching the data in 15-second chunks; as a result, unfortunately, about a half-second of video is not captured every 15 seconds as the buffer turns over, and this can really screw up the intelligibility of whatever your interviewee might be saying. That is the primary, if not the only reason I started using Qik over Flixwagon, and I’ll be thrilled when the glitch is fixed, if we ever see this rumored upgrade to the client.
I can’t tell if the iPhone version of the app has the same hiccup problem yet, because it’s hard to tell with such a low frame rate if you’re actually missing something.
UPDATE: I obviously didn’t do my homework, because Qik also announced on Thursday that it’s releasing a client for iPhone as well. (But hey, Flixwagon wins the marketing points; that I missed this from Qik speaks to a rather muted release.) Can’t tell what the video quality is like because I can’t find the actual video from the iPhone, just this video of the iPhone. Hello, Qik, link plz! The iPhone isn’t listed yet on their Signup page, and I presume as with any other such app you have to lobotomize your device first. But hey, there you go.
June 16th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Meh, other brands may be allowed to do it now, but will they do it at quality on par with an N95? Methinks not; special Nokia-feeling unabated.
BTW, why are you currently leaning towards flixwagon? I prefer Qik but I concede you’ve probably experimented with all the contenders more, so dish!
June 16th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Well, in part it’s just “brand loyalty.” Flixwagon was my first handset streaming video experience as part of the MTV Choose or Lose coverage of Super Tuesday. They went out of their way to get 23 of us set up with a dedicated channel, personal support, pre-configured N95’s (we had to send ‘em back :’( ), etc. They seemed to be the underdog compared to Qik, and Qik had Scoble out pimping their wares, so I figured I’d root for the underdog. The market’s better with two healthy competitors. Plus, in theory I really like FW’s data caching approach to ensure the integrity of your video. If you build up a delay in Qik, when you stop you can’t start a new broadcast or shut off Qik till it clears the cache; with Flixwagon, you can, and it’ll remember to finish sending the buffered video later. If they can do that more seamlessly without the little hiccup every 15 seconds, as they promise to fix in the next version, then I’ll go back to being a Flixwagoner until Qik comes up with something extra wow-inducing. Gotta keep ‘em fighting for our support! (Not like they’ll miss one little Street Teamer and his very rare videos.)
Although I am trying out Kyte now and I think both Qik and Flixwagon might need to keep wooing us.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:11 am
OMG another one fo reals? Well well, kyte does look interesting…
*20 mins later*
FFS could they make it any less intuitive?! I still can’t even get a simple live stream going, tho I must give props overall- finally someone decided to allow after-the-fact upload, THANK YOU! And at least, the high learning curve should discourage use from iPhoners ;}
Also, you’re aware of bambuser as well right? (I don’t see them represented in your webcast page) They are surely the supreme underdog of them all lol
June 17th, 2008 at 2:46 am
OIC now, the live streaming portion of the thing is in private beta *sigh*
/apply
June 17th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Oh, we have to apply for live streaming? Great. I took Kyte for a walk yesterday and fired up this “LifeStream” thing, and then I see this timer crap counting down. I just stare at it like an idiot, wondering WTF is going to happen, and then *snap* it takes a picture. So I see their version of “LifeStreaming” is taking a series of images to put in a sequence. Um, no.
Ironically enough, I was able to use the Chat feature (which is GREAT for mobile interactivity, kudos to Kyte for that) to leave a video comment about my stupid non-video “stream.” Um.
Yeah I tried Bambuser a few weeks ago but the quality was too bad to stir me to write about it.
June 17th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
HAha- I did the exact same thing with the Lifestream function! I foresee using that VERY little- the only thing I can imagine it might be useful for would be time-lapse caps.
But anyway yeah, gotta apply here: http://www.kyte.com/platform/mobile_producer_beta_form
I got in overnight so at least they’re snappy about it.