WSJ columnist discusses streaming camera phone videos via ComVU

Jeremy Wagstaff, a technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, discusses ComVU’s PocketCaster service and software that enables camera phones to stream live feeds to the Web.  He also writes a little bit about a column I wrote for “Internet Evolution” about the concept of “serendipitous broadcasting”  — live videos from camera phones — that I consider revolutionary.

Jeremy, who has interviewed me for a few article he’s written, writes in his column:

“I like the idea of serendipitous broadcasting.  After all, journalism is all about being in the right place at the right -- or wrong -- time.

“But it's going to require some coordination.  After all, you can't expect your friends to monitor your Web page on the off-chance you stumble into a riot/earthquake/orgy.  (Although they might, if their lives aren't that exciting.)

“More likely is the idea that this kind of technology could improve the nascent movement of citizen journalism -- where ordinary folks contribute words, pictures or videos to community sites or mainstream media.”

Revolutionary

Jeremy says ComVU isn’t the first company to offer a streaming service via camera phones, but he likes ComVU’s offering better than kyte.  He notes that ComVU is easier to use and can work with a variety of cellular protocols, such as EDGE, 1xEV-DO and HSDPA, as well as WiFi.

Jeremy knows of at least one Asian news Web site that intends to use ComVU’s service, although he doesn’t expect that people will sit in front of a computer watching user-generated live videos all day long.  However, he says the revolutionary aspect is the ability of anyone broadcast live when a major event occurs.

“Would it have made a difference if protesters on the streets of Myanmar were able to broadcast their images live for us to follow in real time, instead of uploading them to the Web hours later?”  he asks.  “Next time, we may know.”

Jeremy won’t get any arguments from me.  Currently, live streaming from cellular phones is mostly for the geeks and a handful of professional journalists.  But within a few years, assuming the companies providing these service know how to market their products — aided in their marketing by bloggers — live streaming via camera phones will be much more common and have significant social/political ramifications.