Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2008 > June > 20 > Entry
Yes, the iPhone can shoot video. Wanna see?
When Steve Jobs recently announced the iPhone 3G, one of the few bummers was that Apple didn’t say anything about recording or streaming video on the new device. Everyone assumed beforehand that because the phone would be on a speedier AT&T data network, that sending video to YouTube or participating in a video chat with a friend would be a given. Some even suggested that Apple would add a second camera to the iPhone, one that faces the front, to facilitate that.
Unfortunately, the camera specs didn’t seem to get bumped at all. (Insert sigh of disappointment). My guess is that in an effort to keep the phone as cheap as possible, Apple decided against beefing up the camera to match pricier phones like the Nokia N95, which has a fantastic set of two camera built in.
But here’s the big surprise. The iPhone, even the current generation iPhone, can shoot and stream video. The hardware is there. You just have to unlock it.
When I heard that Qik.com, a site I’d been trying out with the N95, was working on a similar application for the iPhone (they also recently released a Windows Mobile version), I asked to be let in on the software test.
The big caveat: using the test software would require me to jailbreak my iPhone, voiding the warranty and setting it free in the wilds of non-Apple-approved software. Uh oh.
Well, I went ahead and went through with the jailbreak (sorry, Steve Jobs!). I make the big sacrifices for you, dear reader. I’ll write an entry about that a little later, but for now, you might be wondering: what’s video on the iPhone like?
Here’s a video I shot using the iPhone over my home Wi-Fi connection:
Not too bad, right? When you’re using it, the iPhone’s big, beautiful touch screen is divided into a tiny capture box at the top (what will actually be broadcast) and a large chat window below where people watching your streaming video can shoot you comments as you’re filming.
My limited experience using Qik on the iPhone is that the first video I shot seemed to broadcast in super fast-forward speed with no sound. The second video I shot (the one above) cuts out on the sound, but otherwise looks fine, if a little blurry. (I attribute that to the iPhone’s camera, not the service, which looks great with the N95.)
Bear in mind, this is a very early version of the software and the issues I brought up are being worked on by the QIk team. At the moment, the application only works in a Wi-Fi zone (of course there’s no way to test the iPhone in a 3G network yet) and broadcasts at a minuscule 174x144 resolution.
But it’s a great start, I think. If Apple isn’t keen to announce a video streaming application of its own, we can hope that developers like Qik and maybe Kyte.com will fill the void.
Make no mistake: the iPhone can definitely shoot and stream video. You just saw it for yourself.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment Categories: Baby-daddy, Gadgets, Phones, Shopping
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.
By Sysbase
November 26, 2008 3:43 PM | Link to this
That's pretty good! Nice work. I'm wonder if there will ever be an standard app for this., hmmm..
By Roy Bragg
October 21, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this
What sort of gutless turd posts that kind of stuff about someone's infant? Oh yeah. I remember -- an anonymous internet tough guy. Come back and post your real name & real email addy, ********.
By Omar Gallaga
October 21, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this
If part of your time on the Internet is spent going on tech blogs and posting something derogatory about someone's 1-year-old, I think we can pretty much discount everything else you have to say about any topic ever again.
Get lost, troll.
By S
October 21, 2008 12:34 PM | Link to this
Video not bad??
This is the worst video quality I have seen for years! Pretty useless I would say (and no, its not a nice baby either...)
By JohnNOsa
September 1, 2008 2:21 PM | Link to this
very good
By Omar Gallaga
June 21, 2008 9:32 AM | Link to this
It didn't seem to take any more battery life than shooting photos on the iPhone and using WiFi. It didn't drain away, but then I was close to a power source and wasn't watching battery life. I'll see what happens next time I use it.
And thanks about Lilly!
By Julie Gomoll
June 20, 2008 5:51 PM | Link to this
How much of your battery did that 3:20 suck up?
I see your daughter's already reading the paper. Awesome!