January 12th, 2009

Qik – Stream Video From Your Cell Phone

I first took a look at Qik a little while back and ended up extremely disappointed because it did not work on my SonyEricsson k800i. The next best alternative at the time was Kyte.tv (which by the way is also pretty cool), and so I signed up for that. Then today in the office Tyler started talking about Qik and I realized that I could now install Qik because I recently upgraded to the Nokia e71. BTW Qik might even be available on the k800i now. So I downloaded and then installed it

What Is Qik And Why Is It So Cool?

At its core, Qik is basically a cell phone app which you can use to stream live video to the web. Once you have installed the app on your cell phone you hook it up with your Qik.com username and password and then you can start streaming video immediately.

Something that I really like about Qik is the fact that all my live video streams are stored on my Qik.com profile and once the streaming is finished, visitors can then go and download them in 3 different formats (.mp4, .3gp and .flv).

Qik is also perfect for something like a live QnA session. People can goto your Qik.com profile and join the live chat and ask you questions while you are streaming. Every message sent will then be displayed on your cell phone screen in real time.

I did have a few troubles with Qik on a slower connection. The audio and video did not sync well. So when streaming you should make sure that you are connected via wlan (if your phone supports a wireless lan connection) or over a 3G/HSDPA connection.

A “Quick” Qik Demo

I tried for the last 30 minutes to record a video (definitely want to do a lot of video this year) but because of the crappy lighting combined with a very slow connect tonight, I was not able to get a video of sufficient quality. You can check out some of the current videos on my stream but their quality isnt too hot either. I really need to get a faster internet connection.

I will try do a proper Qik demo tomorrow when the light is better and hopefully my connection speed is back to normal.

Where To Download Qik

You can download Qik by accessing d.qik.com on your mobile phone. I could not find a list of supported phones but I know that most Nokia video phones will work. Once you have downloaded the app you will need to create a profile at Qik.com (I actually think you might even be able to sign up directly from your cell phone).

And then, once all that is done, go ahead and follow me on my Qik.com profile. I will be sure to follow you right back.

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