While lifecasting in mobile devices is not new, Nokia announced this morning that its S60 series phones will be shipping Qik. Starting with the Nokia N97, Qik will provide live video capture functionality for all Nokia’s Symbian devices.
The application features a touch screen interface and supports 19 languages including Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew and British English. (Because in the story of your life, real honour deserves a “u”) Qik also supports nHD video and allows for widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio and 642 x 358 video. A sample video is available here.
The significance of shipping phones with built-in real time life streaming could be huge. It’s true that Nokia S60 owners already enjoyed Qik through Share on Ovi and competitor Kyte’s Mobile Producer, but pre-installed software is more likely to get users experimenting especially when Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are just a few clicks away.
The new Qik partnership may have device manufacturers attempting to strike similar deals with lifecasting competitors including Flixwagon and the ever-popular, Justin.tv. Mobile handheld video capture is certainly a far cry from Canadian professor Steve Mann’s, original inventions of the early 80s. As Nokia sets a device precedent with live video capture, it’s more than likely that Mann will see his golden era of live video blogging – and he’ll be pleased to note that no one has to wear an exoskeleton to get it done.
