Qik for iPhone has arrived. (iTunes link) Engadget says: The good news is that Qik for iPhone 3GS is now available, and it’s completely gratis to download. The bad news is that it probably won’t do exactly what you want it to. You see, those on Symbian S60 have grown used to a Qik that … Continue reading “Sling, Skype, now Qik – no mojo on iPhone”
Qik for iPhone has arrived. (iTunes link)
Engadget says: The good news is that Qik for iPhone 3GS is now available, and it’s completely gratis to download. The bad news is that it probably won’t do exactly what you want it to. You see, those on Symbian S60 have grown used to a Qik that can actually stream live video to the internet, whereas this app is currently just a “capture and upload” piece. Moreover, it only works via WiFi, so if you’re not near a hotspot once your video is done, you’ll have to wait until you wander back over to one before it automatically begins uploading.
Why is Apple doing this?
It’s very simple. It’s because of this graph from Flickr.
Now, that’s for Flickr. For still images. The Carriers are TERRIFIED that people like you and I will start to do the same with our videos. Our videos which can be many, many megabytes in size, heading up to Qik for immediate streaming down again to dozens or even hundreds of users.
This is exactly why Sling was also ‘disabled’ and limited to WiFi and it’s why Skype has had it’s mojo removed as well – it’s the carriers. They’re as afraid of losing revenue (for voice minutes) as they are about their networks falling over as their hollow promises are realised.
This is why we need rree, muni WiFi everywhere.
I think Apple also wants to play up the “publish to MobileMe capability”.
I don’t think they’re playing it up the way they could. Apple are very pragmatic – despite how the developer community would like to castigate them.
Apple doesn’t break contracts. To get the iPhone accepted on favourable terms (for Apple) they’ll have made concessions to AT&T. And until the exclusivity changes this will affect all of us.
Remember – three years ago the iPhone was not a sure thing.