UPDATED: Livestreaming is all the rage today, be it from a handset or a home computer with a webcam. But one of the major challenges to overcome is how to view that live content on a handset without re-encoding it. Vimeo today took the same approach that YouTube did for the iPhone — it went back to certain video content and re-encoded it for mobile handset playback on iPhone and Android devices. While that works, it’s not ideal. Wouldn’t it be nice if a company could provide a method for livestreaming to mobiles without a lengthy re-encoding process?

Lo and behold, enter Livestream and its Procaster beta application for Mac and PC. I just got my hands on the software a short while ago, so I have a “quick and dirty” video — don’t worry, it’s not that kind of dirty — to show you some of the basic capabilities. I was up and running in just a few minutes with Procaster. The application uses any attached webcam and microphone and livestreams from your computer. OK, that sounds like most of the other livestream platforms, right? But here’s the kicker: your live stream from Procaster can be viewed immediately on an iPhone by using the H.264 HTTP streaming built into the handset’s Quicktime application. That’s the bulk of what I show you in my brief video demo because it’s just too cool.

With Livestream Procaster, you can set up your own channel and chatroom to go with your video. I see a multitude of uses for this as I allude to in my short video demo: I’m thinking of trying this out at the Consumer Electronics Show to give you some show floor experience in real time, for example. And this solution could come in handy for tips and tricks because you can easily switch between the webcam view and a screen sharing view. Or you can display both in real time to an iPhone. The possibilities are endless and with the H.264 HTTP streaming, it opens up the floodgates to mobile viewing as well. Livestream’s full press release follows and you can find their beta application right here. Livestream will be using the new Procaster features at our NewTeeVee Live event tomorrow, so you can follow along on your iPhone! It is, after all, NewTeeVee Live, not NewTeeVee Recorded.

Update: After my post went live, I realized that I had an early look, so check out Procaster starting tomorrow.

Livestream Launches Free iPhone Service

Delivers ‘One Click’ Live Streaming to the iPhone

No need for iPhone users to download any application

NEW YORK (Nov. 12, 2009)—Livestream, the leading live Internet video platform, today announced the immediate availability of its free service for streaming live to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Using Livestream Procaster, users can stream live from their webcam, video camera or even broadcast their PC or Mac desktop. Livestream producers can start streaming live to the addressable iPhone and iPod Touch audience over 3G or Wi-Fi connections, with less than five minutes of setup.

Livestream is the first to offer a turn-key streaming service that uses the new H.264 HTTP live streaming functionality included in the native QuickTime player that Apple has pre-installed on the iPhone. This means that Livestream producers do not need to obtain iPhone App Store approval to launch their own iPhone live streaming channel, nor do their viewers need to install any application. Streams are viewed using the iPhone’s Safari browser.

Livestream has also provided a simple Representational State Transfer (REST) API for developers to integrate live streaming into their own iPhone websites or their own iPhone applications. Livestream Procaster includes a free streaming encoder, which means that no third party application or license needs to be purchased in order to stream live to the iPhone using Livestream.

“A key breakthrough is that the service doesn’t require any proprietary player or application to be installed on the iPhone. Producers are free to integrate the iPhone live stream with their own website, iPhone portal or iPhone application using the API provided,” explained Livestream CEO and co-founder Max Haot.

Streaming live to the iPhone requires less than five minutes to install. Producers simply download and install Livestream Procaster for the PC or Mac from www.livestream.com/procaster, connect their video camera or webcam, select iPhone 3G Quality, and press Go Live. User can view the live streams on their iPhone or iPod Touch by pointing their Safari browser to the channel they want to view atiphone.livestream.com.

Livestream will first use this new feature at NewTeeVee Live, the conference for online video influencers being held on Nov. 13 in San Francisco. Viewers can watch it live at iphone.livestream.com.

To get started or for more information visit www.livestream.com/iphone.

-X X X-

About Livestream

Livestream (www.livestream.com – formerly Mogulus) provides everything needed to easily webcast live, build an engaged audience and monetize these efforts. Founded in 2007, the company is based in New York and includes Gannett Co. as a minority shareholder and investor.

Producers can use Livestream to create live, linear and on-demand Internet television to broadcast anywhere on the Web through a single embeddable player widget. The service comes in two flavors: Free (ad-supported) and Premium (ad-free, white-label, higher-quality). Unique features include the ability to mix multiple live cameras, overlay graphics, and desktop streaming with 3D effects.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Sue Huss, for Livestream

sue.huss@comunicano.com

619-379-4396

Today is the day that Esquire’s Augmented Reality application hits newstands. Using a software download and image codes in the magazine, you can get a dose of AR. It’s an interesting concept although I’m not sure it adds value just yet. Still, when I saw a video demonstration of it, I thought was pretty wild to see. And then I got to thinking — if the software keys off of a simple black and white image in front of a webcam, could I duplicate the effect with a quick drawing?

Sure enough, my first attempt — which isn’t even all that neat of a drawing — did the trick as I tried it on camera. In the video you’ll see the Esquire AR software pick up my hand drawn image, which is really just an 8 x 8 set of cubes. There’s a little meter in the AR software to show how well it’s tracking the AR image and my sketch is getting 100%! I like how you can turn and tilt the AR code and the software moves the images to match on screen. Chalk this one up with the remote controlling a car with an iPhone bit — it’s not very valuable, but it was fun to try! I may have to run out and buy the magazine to see what other AR bits they have.

I’ve been playing a little with the latest Moblin release this afternoon and I’m actually thinking of trying to run it full-time on a netbook. There’s a few holes yet, but it does offers me much of what I’m looking for in a smartbook — a lightweight operating system and good browsing experience. My wireless broadband modem isn’t working, nor is my sound or my Bluetooth, so there’s a few gotchas just yet. The Bluetooth might be easily fixable in my netbook BIOS, but no sound on the Toshiba NB205 is a reported known bug.

In this 11 minute video, I think you’ll see why I’m walking away impressed. The user interface is intuitive, although it will take some getting used to, and the overall environment is fluid and snappy. Bear in mind that I’m running a live image from a USB drive, so an actual installation should perform even better. Maybe it’s time to turn the Toshiba into a triple-booter: Windows XP, Windows 7 and Moblin!

I have demonstrated Parallels Desktop on the Mac that I use to run Windows 7 alongside OS X. A new version of Parallels Desktop, version 5, was released yesterday and among many new features offers better Snow Leopard and Windows 7 support. One of the new features of Parallels Desktop for Mac v.5 is the Crystal mode, which allows the Windows 7 environment to be “hidden” while running. In the video I demonstrate how this works, and show the ability to run Windows programs like Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer on the Mac desktop.

Today is Windows 7 launch day and it is appropriate to show how I run Mac programs on the Windows 7 desktop. I know, you can’t really do that, but if you are running Windows 7 under Parallels Desktop on a Mac you can. In this video I show how I can access any Mac program from the Windows 7 Start Menu, and even how I pin oft-used Mac programs to the Windows 7 taskbar. It’s a slick way to run Mac programs without leaving the Windows environment on a Mac. Happy Windows 7 launch day!

I’ve been admiring the ARCHOS Internet Tablet with Android from afar lately. A current Android device is appealing, but I’m on the fence between adding a CDMA Android phone that I can swap with my Pre or simply getting a standalone Android unit. That’s when it hit me — why not repurpose my Samsung Q1UP to run Android to get a feel for such a device? I did just that over the weekend, thanks to the community at Android-x86. I found a port of Android 1.6 that’s really geared for netbooks like the original Eee PC 701 and got it working on my UMPC. You can run the port from a Live CD or USB drive, so you don’t have to remove your current operating system.

My first impressions — Android is blazing on a 1.33GHz Intel Core Solo, just like you’d expect. It seems like the battery lasts longer on a charge as well, but I haven’t had time to really test that theory. Of course, this ported implementation isn’t perfect on my device. In fact, there’s enough that’s not working for me to say: only do this for fun right now. I can work on the web over Wi-Fi and the built-in keyboard and mouse work great. No touchscreen yet though, nor any sound or Bluetooth either. The biggest killer that I’m focused on solving? No buttons map to the Menu screen in Android. I’m talking to developers on that because it’s completely limiting my usage. Oh and so is the lack of persistent data storage among other glitches. Have I scared you away yet?

Even with the problems, this has me leaning towards a non-phone Android device. I already have two phones and there are times I’d like to use the browser on a bigger screen on the couch or in a coffee shop. I don’t need the pocketable web because I already have that in my phones. Hmmm….. decisions, decisions.

As an avid runner, I went out and bought a Nike+ sensor as soon as I upgraded my original iPhone to a 3GS. That solution worked OK, but I think it’s lacking for me in some areas: it has to be calibrated for accuracy, works only with certain shoes and can only be used for running or walking activities. Looking for something to compensate for those limitations, I found RunKeeper in the iTunes App Store. There’s a free version and a $9.95 RunKeeper Pro version. At half the price, I find RunKeeper Pro to be a far better value than the Nike+ sensor because of its flexibility and fewer restrictions.

In this video, I show you what the application looks like and talk about how it works by using the GPS in your handset. Some have complained that the application eats up your phone’s battery too fast, but I simply turn my iPhone display off, which helps tremendously. I did an hour-and-a-half bike ride with the application and only used up around 25% of my battery. Oh, that’s right — you can use this for cycling, which is something else I like to do. You can’t do that with a Nike+. After showing you the application, I share a walkthrough of the online tracking and logging that’s done automatically. It offers a great summary of workouts and dives into some details for those that want more.

This little screencast is a showcase of some of the utilities I use every day to make my life easier. In the video you’ll see:

• App for the milk- free desktop app for Remember The Milk
• Remember The Milk Gmail gadget
• SoundSource
• Pandora One desktop app
• MacJournal

The blogosphere seems to have written off Windows Mobile 6.5 already, and there’s merit in the opinion. But I don’t want to rush any judgments so I’m not condemning it on day one. Initially, I see very little improvement given the time between the last upgrade and now. And I can’t understand why we need two browsers on a phone in this day and age. Choice is good — but when choice is required because the native browser isn’t as good, that’s a problem.

In any case, I’m sharing my first look at the platform on a loaner HTC Pure that Microsoft sent me. I received the device very recently, so instead of running towards a quick opinion, I’m walking to my final destination. Here I’m showing the general interface, some of the top level functions and the new Windows Mobile Marketplace. Over the next week, I’ll be putting my Palm Pre and Apple iPhone on the shelf to truly live the WinMo experience.

I like to do screencasts, those short videos that are recordings of my desktop. These let me show how I use programs, and allows the viewer to follow along. This video is a test of a new method I am trying on the MacBook, using the program Screenium. Screenium does a lot of different things, but its chief function is to record high-resolution recordings of the desktop.

I like this method as Screenium can record an overlay of video from the web cam, and that means you can see me while watching the desktop action. This test video is only four minutes long, and I doubt you’ll ever see both OS X (Snow Leopard) and Windows 7 in such a short video screen cast.

I would like to get your thoughts about this method, so leave me a comment. If enough people prefer this method over others I’ve used in the past then I will be happy to switch.

James and I got an early look at Vringo’s newest beta for Android phones. Vringo takes ringtones a step beyond by adding video to the tones. Their catalog has a large number of free Vringo’s and the newest ones from Marvel Comics are $2. Better yet is the ability to record, upload and share your own video ringtones right from your Android handset. I gave it a try and it was drop-dead easy to do. I called mine “Annoying Kevin” and you’ll see why in this video demo. Now I think I know why James hasn’t joined my Vringo buddy list.

From what we’ve seen, there may be some minor kinks to work out with how Vringo and Google Voice interact, but hey: isn’t that what a beta is for? Up to now I haven’t been a big ringtone fan — although I do use the CTU phone ring on my Palm Pre — but video ringtones on a larger screen seem appealing, now that I’ve seen them up close. While Vringo is just now landing on Android, it’s already available for a veritable cornucopia of handsets — you can see if your smartphone or feature phone is supported here.

By the way: when I did the video demo, I wasn’t sure if the beta was open to all Android handsets. I just heard direct from the Vringo folks and you have the green light! Hit it up at http://android.vringo.com and start creating some video ringtones. Just don’t make ‘em annoying like mine, ‘k?

My very first Tablet PC love might have found new purpose in life. It was late in 2004 when I purchased a Toshiba M205 with the then very usable 1.5GHz Pentium M processor. Ah… but that was back in the days of XP Tablet Edition. What about 2009 and Windows 7 on this bit of hardware?

I installed Windows 7 Ultimate on the device and find it to be quite useful! My battery won’t really hold a charge, but what was once relegated to a dusty corner in my closet is now a journal-type device with all of the inking features of Microsoft’s newest operating system. Would I use this on a daily basis as a production machine for all of my needs? Nope. But I don’t have another large Tablet PC with an active digitizer, so this is fine for note taking and web surfing around the house. Yes, I could have easily stayed on Windows XP Tablet Edition, but I thought this was a good learning experience.

The initial Windows 7 install didn’t provide me with Wi-Fi, sound or some other updated drivers, but some nosing around on the web got me what I needed without too much hassle. In fact, Windows Update was a big help here, although I had to use an Ethernet cable for the initial connection. I’m impressed at how Windows 7 is moving along on hardware that’s five years old. The 32MB of video memory is a bit of challenge, but otherwise, I think my M205 has found new life with a new OS!

The HTC Hero on the Sprint network in the U. S. takes the Android platform to the next level with the special user interface. In this video you will see the “chinless” Hero and see for yourself how much the HTC Sense interface adds to the package. There is a brief cameo by the Palm Pre to show how the Hero’s web browsing compares to that on the Pre.

I’ve shown the Viliv S7 UMPC on video before, but felt it was worth it to show off the touch interface that Viliv is installing on its UMPCs. The MID touch interface is a program launcher and UMPC control that’s designed to be operated totally by touch. In this video you will see the interface, along with some special Viliv utilities including media players and the FastWeb browser.

We’ve been getting plenty of comments and email questions asking about Windows 7 on a netbook. I do have the final release of Microsoft’s newest operating system installed in a dual-boot method on my Toshiba NB205 netbook, so here’s a short look. There’s no intro, I just dive right into with from a cold boot so you can see how long that takes. Everyone uses their device differently, so there’s no concrete method to show how Windows 7 will work for you on your netbook, but a glimpse of multitasking might be useful.

In the video, I open up Google Chrome, along with a few tabs, Microsoft Word and Excel and finally run a WMV-HD file or two through the paces in Windows Media Player. Again, basic stuff to give you a feel for how the pace of the operating system as we move through different apps. I have the Aero features turned on and show them as well. Bear in mind that I do have 2GB of RAM in my device. I was tempted to run with just a 1GB stick, but for $25 or do so, I highly recommend running Windows 7 with more RAM in a netbook. Even so, I think you’ll see very little of the lag that we saw with Vista on early netbooks.

One of the things I have been enjoying is using the Tablet PC to stimulate the creative process for writing projects. Our friends at WebWorkerDaily recently extolled the virtues of pen and ink mindmapping for writing projects and they are absolutely right about that. Mindmapping is a great free-form way to capture ideas on paper and then run with them. Doing these maps with pen and ink definitely stimulates the creative process, far more than doing them on a computer. Unless your computer is a Tablet PC and you can do it with digital ink using MindManager.

For me the advantages of ink mapping on a Tablet are outstanding. I can capture ideas as they flow, just like on paper, but I also get to use sophisticated tools to organize the ideas once captured. In this five minute screencast I lay out a simple map for a real article I’m kicking around. You get a chance to see the ideas flow in real-time, duly captured in ink on the Tablet. Once the ideas are captured into a simple mindmap, you’ll see how I can turn it all into an outline in ink with one push of a button.