Is YouTube Looking At Live Streaming Video?

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1. blahblah8888
   

   January 9th, 2008 at 8:27 pm

   then better rename itself youstream… 1st comment

2. Jon
   

   January 9th, 2008 at 8:30 pm

   I see streaming live video as a natural progression but the real question is will the content be any better then the pile of @#$% being produced right now that isn’t live?

   Jon
   http://buzvia.com - Share Influence

3. Boring Market
   

   January 9th, 2008 at 8:56 pm

   I think they are two of the most awkward people on video. Ironic. I think streaming video would take up too much memory (and bandwidth) and there is no logistical way in the new future to have good quality (whatever that is) streaming video on a large site as Youtube.

4. Michael @ Qik
   

   January 9th, 2008 at 9:11 pm

   I’ll let some recent Qik videos speak for themselves…

   http://www.qik.com/video/6570 (SOMA)
   http://www.qik.com/video/6712 (Birdwalking?)
   http://www.qik.com/video/7175 (SOMA at night)
   http://www.qik.com/video/6485 (ScobleBus to CES)
   http://www.qik.com/video/7189 (nice kitchen!)

   The point is, quality can vary widely due to a few factors:
   - connection
   - phone
   - how much of a delay you’re willing to bear while we cram all those bits over the airwaves

   Finally, we are constantly trying to push the envelope with quality improvements. Stay tuned

5. wayne sutton
   

   January 9th, 2008 at 9:28 pm

   Get used to it folks streaming mobile video is coming, I’m looking forward to testing Qik and I think it’s a good idea for youtube to enter into the streaming mobile video market as well. The mobile carriers need to continue to increase there data plans, like sprint’s wimax service.

   Does anyone know what moblie phone Scoble is using with Qik?

6. Burgo
   

   January 9th, 2008 at 9:57 pm

   @3: “I think they are two of the most awkward people on video.”

   I think it also has something to do with the fact that Scoble can be kinda overbearing. That, and his geeky giggle interrupting most of their answers looks like it threw them off.

7. Michael @ Qik
   

   January 9th, 2008 at 10:30 pm

   @wayne: he’s using an N95. The version of Qik that he’s using uses two video modes, with a fairly large gap between them (making it harder to use the really high res mode unless you’re operating under very good conditions or don’t care as much about a bit of a delay — which isn’t the case if you’re chatting with your viewers while streaming like Robert has been at CES). We’ll be adding a new mode in the next release to allow higher-resolution across other phones (not just N95), and adding a new N95/N93 mode that really turns up the quality under common real-world 3G conditions.

8. JeffC
   

   January 9th, 2008 at 10:53 pm

   Good … a Qik person in the conversation. Is it only Nokia phones right now? And what’s the best bang-for-the -buck phone to pick up to start using Qik? This will explode this year in my opinion … if enough people have the right phones.

9. Michael @ Qik
   

   January 9th, 2008 at 11:02 pm

   @Jeff: Only Nokia right now (some others coming any day now, and alot more over the next few months).

   I am an N95 (US model) convert myself. It’s just much more powerful than the other models I’ve tried, and if you want videos like the ones on my page (see qik dot com slash michael — hopefully my links in a previous comment will be moderated soon), right now it’s the best option. We’re just getting into a new release, though — I haven’t tried the new modes on other phones yet, but we’re unlocking more and more of the capability in those units. I think the N95 and N93i both support similar compression modes, but the CPU is stronger in the N95.

10. Bdc600
    

    January 9th, 2008 at 11:03 pm

    ComVu Pocketcaster supports more phones and has better video quality than Qik.

11. Jeff
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 1:22 am

    Michael: For Nokia mobile phones, you can use http://www.bywifi.com to convert youtube’s movies. Its format is 3GP.

12. Xen
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 1:37 am

    @3 video streaming means no video is saved locally on the device. The video is streamed straight to the internet

    @2 Quality content is a matter of context. Live broadcast means sharing what is happening now in your life. A live rock concert or a live capture of your children playing in the playground will be perceived both as quality content but for different viewers (rock fans or loving grandparents).

13. fukeo
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 1:43 am

    Presumably they’ll go for a P2P live streaming application, there are a few around - or would Goggle have enough ‘cloud’ to power it point to point - I doubt it.

14. Duncan Riley
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 2:12 am

    Michael @ Qik
    just a short note that the line was meant as a joke in part, I think what you guys are trying to do is cool, it’s just that Scobles videos quality wise are usually pretty bad. I’d take it the lack of widespread 3G in the US doesn’t help.

15. Jonny
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 2:58 am

    Qik has got a really interesting and cool thing going on, but you should check out the bambuser app. @ alpha.bambuser.com, seriously good stuff

16. Raj
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 3:58 am

    Another Quick. Wasn’t Kwiqq.com enough in the Social media space

17. Charles Frith
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 6:50 am

    There are lots of interesting sides to Qik. But I’m not here to sell them. As ever it needs to be done until it can be understood. The Qik to twitter is particularly appealing.

18. Debbe
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 7:22 am

    @ Duncan
    And Scoble is using a N95! How low can you go?! Qik has bad quality. I bet new players will come up pretty soon with better quality.

19. JeffC
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 8:09 am

    So can anyone tell me the best platform, and best phone, to do live cell video streaming/recording? Scoble’s usually on top of things, so I”m guessing his using that service means they have something going on the others don’t. Maybe as the year progresses, they’ll have the quality issues improved. I haven’t been as disturbed by the grainy quality of Qik streams, as I have by the sheer lack of interesting content. That will change when some fun personalities and producer-types get a hold of this.

20. youboob
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 8:48 am

    Has anyone noticed that Google has received trademark status on “broadcast yourself”? (visit http://www.uspto.gov search trademark status on the term)

21. Michael @ Qik
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 9:32 am

    @Duncan Thanks! It’s true; we haven’t really given him the perfect tools for running around a show floor yet. He has access to a very high res mode, but it requires a really good connection to remain realtime, so it’s not really ideal for live interaction when running around a building like at CES. The new release will provide a high quality mode that is much less demanding (although 640*480 while on good 3G or WiFi will still probably be my main choice — I am addicted to how good that looks).

    If anyone with an N95 would like to get on the list to try the new version once we start distributing it to some testers, let me know (email address should be easy to guess).

22. Michael @ Qik
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 9:47 am

    Here’s an early example of HQ mode http://www.qik.com/video/6570 (more improvements on the way).

23. matt
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 9:55 am

    this is a stupid question.

    Of course Google is looking into live streaming, and of course it will go into their video (youtube) service.

    the real question is whether they can stream to mobile phones using the android platform.

24. ckrantz
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 11:58 am

    Scoble did a good job streaming through mogulus also. And they have a production plattform through flash for multicamera productions

    http://www.mogulus.com/podtech_ces_live

25. Jennifer
    

    January 10th, 2008 at 1:55 pm

    Great to see this active discussion!

    Picking up on Bdc600’s appreciated comment on number of phones that PocketCaster supports — right now, Symbian S60 (Nokia N95, etc) and Windows Mobile (lots of options).

    At CES we announced support for all new WiMAX devices with Intel, and demonstrated live video streaming over WiMAX using Intel’s remote teams. A unique feature they showcased was the ability to embed GPS frame-by-frame in the video stream and display the location real-time on a map.

    If any of you already have a N95 (yes, a great device), and send me your IMEI number (press * # 0 6 #), then I can send you a version that lets you map your live streams using the on-board GPS receiver. General version will be available soon. Appreciate any feedback at jb (at) comvu (dot) com.