The Qik newsletter dropped into my inbox this morning with news of the release of the long-awaited Qik Videocamera iPhone app which brings video recording functionality to the iPhone 2G and 3G handsets.
Future improvements promised by Qik include video uploading and sharing from the app but for now it’s just simple recording video files transferable via your iPhone cable.
Here’s my first test from this morning, something funky seems to have happened during upload to Vimeo…
YouTube have just launched a new service called YouTube Direct. It’s an extension of the existing API designed to enable news websites to take advantage of the increasing volume of ‘citizen reporting’ content being published on YouTube.
The main elements:
1. Embeddable uploader
You don’t have to leave the page – the customisable uploader sits on your news corp site (or wherever). Users with an existing YouTube account can log in to YouTube through it and then choose to submit an existing video from their account or upload a new video, as demonstrated in the screenshot.
2. Moderation Console
Does what it says on the tin – it’s a fairly straightforward looking moderation system that allows you to keep track of submitted videos, preview, approve and find out more about each video submitted. Here’s a video demo of it:
Q: Who owns the videos submitted via YouTube Direct?
A: The user who submits the video on your site via YouTube Direct owns the video. The video is uploaded to his or her YouTube account and is automatically made public on YouTube.com. By submitting it through your site, the user may grant you a license to use the video according to a set of Terms of Service that you set forth, assuming it does not conflict with YouTube’s Terms of Service.
Q: What happens if the user decides to remove the video?
A: If a user decides to delete a video after he or she has submitted it to your site via YouTube Direct, then this video will be removed from YouTube, and thus will no longer play anywhere on your site that the video has been embedded or linked to. When this happens, there will be a flag visible in the moderation panel indicating that the video is not longer live on YouTube, and any reference to it on your site should also be removed.
Q: How much does it cost?
A: YouTube Direct is free, but there may be a small cost associated with your Google App Engine account, depending on the amount of traffic being served.
Looks tasty. Will be interesting to see who will use it from both content creators and broadcasters. Read all about it at http://www.youtube.com/direct
On Saturday I went along to the full day workshop & discussion on viral video making and distribution organised by Darklight and the EU Commission. For anyone completely new to the term ‘viral video’ it was particularly useful with a good mixture of speakers from video production to digital marketing to the legal side of media production and an even broader group for the panel discussion at the end of the day.
The entire event was streamed live from Dawson St and you can catch up on the presentations and discussions of the day via the U-Stream channel page or clicking on the videos below. If you want to hit on a specific part of the day, check out the schedule here. For information on the film competition being run by Darklight & the EU, check out www.darklight.ie/democracy.
To me Michael Jackson has always stood out as one of the most amazing singers ever to grace the charts, particularly in his youth. A gorgeous, raw, spectacular talent the like of which only comes around once in a blue moon. Few voices have ever made hairs stand on end the way his voice does.
As Darragh wrote on Culch.ie earlier, his passing & how it spread like wildfire across the various online streams is remarkable in it’s own way. Radio shows have all been touching on the story throughout the day & from what I have read and heard the general mood of people seems to be one of sadness & sympathy that he led a life dogged & affected so negatively by media intrusion from such an early age.
The Telegraph online reports that a flashmob organised over Twitter, Facebook and other social media streams is being organised for 6pm on Liverpool St in London. People are gathering to do his trademark “moonwalk” before attending a party to celebrate his life. Richard Galbraith is apparently going to Qik it live here.