Posts Tagged ‘Qik’

The big news in this recent Sprint press release was that The Green Hornet movie will be bundled with the Android-powered glasses-free 3D viewing enabled HTC EVO 3D smartphone.

Exciting Content Coming for this Summer’s Highly Anticipated Smartphone, HTC EVO 3D Exclusively from Sprint

However, buried in the press release are a couple of other interesting 3D features.

HTC EVO 3D makes it possible to become part of the action and then easily and seamlessly post and view high-quality 3D video to YouTube or Facebook, or share moments in real time over the Internet live, via Qik. The 3D content will automatically convert to 2D if the viewer does not have a 3D capable device.

The capability to easily share 3D video via Facebook, Qik and YouTube should encourage people to record and post 3D video.

Skype CEO Tony Bates announced Friday that the video communications company had made its first startup acquisition with the purchase of Qik, a California-based mobile video service that allows users to stream and record video in real time.

In a video announcement on the company’s blog, Bates described the technology behind Qik as complementary, and said Skype would be using Qik’s technology to add recording, storage, and sharing capabilities to its own service. Skype would also be capitalizing on Qik’s existing relationships with mobile phone providers, he said.

Qik launched its first product in 2008 that allowed users to stream live video over the Internet with a mobile phone. They eventually expanded their service to allow two-way mobile video chat, and video email. The service currently works on more than 200 different mobile devices, and even comes pre-installed on some devices. Qik maintains about 60 staff at its two offices in Redwood City, Calif., and Moscow.

At the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, Skype also announced it would be adding group video chat services starting at $8.99 a month, and an expanded API called SkypeKit that will let programmers build Skype services into other devices besides computers and mobile phones. Bates demoed Skype services running on an OnStar automotive system.

The terms of the Qik buyout were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to close before the end of the month.

Qik, whose service lets you stream live from your smartphone to the Web, has opened its beta program to the public. With support for 30+ Symbian and Windows Mobile handsets, Qik integrates with a number of Web sites to enable true real-time sharing of video streams captured with a smartphone.

Along with the public beta, the company announced a slew of service enhancements, including:

* Half-second to three-second latency, depending on the carrier network.

* A Groups feature that lets you share videos with private, public and restricted groups.

* Self-service event pages so you can create your own events and invite guests to participate or view the video.

* An enhanced embeddable player that brings a new look, a new chat feature and the ability to view thumbnails of other Qik videos.

* Integration with the Facebook, MySpace and Orkut social networks.

The service already integrates with live video streaming providers Mogulus and Justin.tv; Twitter, Pownce, Blogger, YouTube, WorldTV, live blogging service CoverItLive and location-based service iPoki.