Springdoo turns your 3G handset into a mobile webcam
I’ve been playing around with Springdoo for quite a while. The first version I remember using was an audio email service — you record your message and then Springdoo emails the audio to your choice of recipient. It was flawless and phenomenally well implemented.
Springdoo are back though — with an all new line up of wicked services. The principle one I’m interested in is their SpringCast service that enables you to call up their video shortcode, record a video and have it published on your blog or site right-away.
It is genius. It’s brilliantly implemented and a piece of joy to use.
Here’s the text from today’s release announcement:
Springdoo, a leading provider of audio and video communication tools for social networks, has pioneered a technology which allows 3G mobile users to instantly broadcast videos created on their mobile phone to their friends and family across the web via the 3G short code 88388.
Unlike other solutions on the market which require the downloading of additional software, SpringMobile allows users to simply make a video call to 88388 from a 3G mobile phone, record for up to 5 minutes and hang up. The video then instantly appears within the users’ Springdoo account.
Users are then able to email the video clip or create a video blog using Springdoo’s SpringBlog tool. If the user has embedded Springdoo’s SpringCast Widget on their favourite social networks or blogging sites, then any videos recorded via the SpringMobile service can also be instantly updated to the widget as well, wherever it is posted on the internet.
Wanna see some examples? First off, I create a post via my Apple laptop using it’s integrated iSight camera. All I had to do was create a Springdoo account and then login and press ‘record’. It really was THAT easy.
And then, here is my video that I recorded via my N95:
Springdoo is a piece of genius. I’m going to have a big play with this.
Got five minutes? Get yourself an account and give it a go!
This looks like something I might have used, but without there being an automated forwarding mechanism, allowing video to be forwarded to my blog, or moblog via email, I’m not particularly interested in using yet another service, as opposed to just the core technology.
Posted by alfie on July 24th, 2007 at 2:55 pm.erm…Alfie, once you have the blog thingy in place, it automatically updates with your latest creation. Or that’s how I read it.
Just gave it a go - nice concept, finally a use for videocalling, and the interactivity with the video server is a masterstroke of usability.
My one and only gripe - the crap 3G videocall quality.
Everything I could imagine capturing to share - kids running, dog cycling, house being washed away - all these would look like complete, pixellated crap.
If they implimented SpringMail or SpringBlog for mobile, so I could upload a lovely MP4 image from my N95, now THAT I would go for. But pixellated, washed-out, out of sync 3GPP video? Nope, not in a million years
Hey Mr SpringDoo - any plans to let me email you .MP4 files ?
Cheers,
Mike
Posted by Mike on July 24th, 2007 at 4:18 pm.Mike, I called Adam at Springdoo and asked him about this. They’ve got that functionality!
If you look in My Account, you’ll have a secret SpringCast email address there. I have added mine to my address book and I’m going to give it a go emailing my MP4 directly now.
Posted by Ewan on July 24th, 2007 at 5:12 pm.Mike/Ewan,
I just looked into it and we have .mp4 commented out on our conversion media server for some reason!
I just tested the email facility with 3gp and avi and works fine, video instantly appeared on my caster.
Have sent an email to New Zealand [where our media data is handled] requesting why mp4s are currently commented out and as soon as I hear back I will update on here.
They have most probably been testing and forget to uncomment - we’ll see.
Cheers,
Adam
Posted by Adam on July 24th, 2007 at 5:36 pm.Mike, what I was looking for is a profile or other setting at springoo which would enable instant forwarding of the content once I had hung up from the shortcode recording. As a blogger, I don’t necessarily want *another* widget or online space to share the content I’m creating, I want to store it where I ordinarily do. I can’t find a way within Sprindoo to enable automatic content forwarding to either a wordpress/typepad installation, or to an email address (a common method of posting to a blog) - there is a manual process whereby I can email content, but this doesn’t do it for me. Adam - anything in the dev. pipeline for this kind of functionality?
Posted by alfie on July 24th, 2007 at 6:30 pm.Mike/Ewan,
Should be working ok now with your N95s’
Let me know.
Alfie,
Have you tried subscribing to a SpringCast? You can subscribe with an email address or via a RSS / iTunes feed via the widget of the cast page – the subscribe url is http://www.springdoo.com/subscribe/CAST NAME]! Each time you update your account with a new SpringCast, all your subscribers will be notified via whatever channel they are subscribed through! If you subscribe yourself, you should receive emails automatically of your new Spring Casts.
Hope this helps.
Posted by Adam Freeman on July 25th, 2007 at 9:14 am.