What is Qik, you ask? From the FAQ on their website, “Qik is a little piece of software that enables you to stream videos directly from your phone to the Web. Use it to stream engaging videos to your friends in Facebook, Twitter, etc. or as your camcorder to capture entertaining and special moments.” Qik is currently in beta on a handful of mobile phone platforms including Symbian and Windows Mobile Smartphone, and the company is planning to release it for more devices including the iPhone 3G and the HTC Touch Diamond.
I’ve been pleased to have the opportunity to participate in the private beta testing for Qik on the Windows Mobile platform, and now that it has entered public beta, I’d like to highlight a few of the key features it offers.
Usage: Qik allows you to share live streaming video directly from your mobile phone. It integrates seamlessly with most popular micro-blogs such as Twitter, Pownce, and even YouTube. I have been using it on my Blackjack 2 in a 3G area on AT&T, and have found the service to be very good.
The Application: The Qik application is very intuitive, and there are only a few options available. Upon starting Qik, you are presented with two soft keys: Stream and Options. Clicking Stream will instantly begin streaming the live video to the Qik site, where viewers can watch it as it is being uploaded. Video quality settings allow you to choose between High Quality or Minimum Delay. I have found that the minimum delay setting works well for my needs since the recording quality of my Blackjack 2 isn’t greatly improved with the High Quality setting.
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Privacy: Some may be concerned about the privacy of the videos they are sharing , and would like the option to share their videos only with a private audience. In the options panel you are able to select whether your stream is public or private, and you can even make this selection while streaming.
Stream info: You can add a title as well as a description for your video. This can be a generic title and description (i.e.Bill’s Live Stream) or, as I did in my embedded video below, include a title and description for the specific video you are recording.
I wanted to share the quality and experience with you, so I recorded a short video from my youngest daughter’s t-ball game. During recording, the screen tells you exactly how “live” it is by displaying a delay time.
Watch the video
I generally only see a few seconds of delay in my everyday usage, and it has been very reliable even during the private beta.
Once your video is on the Qik website, you have a variety of options including posting to YouTube or downloading to your desktop. Qik is one of those applications that you wonder how you managed without it. There have been times where I’m out, and would really like to share a live moment with someone who isn’t able to attend. For instance, my wife wasn’t able to make it to one of our daughter’s games, so I took my trusty Blackjack 2 along and streamed it using Qik.
If you would like to participate in the public beta for Qik, you can access it from their blog post
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