Sony at CES announced the new Wi-Fi enabled Bloggie Live HD Camera. The device is significant because it is integrated with Skype’s Qik Video service.

The Bloggie Live camera is a fully featured video recorder that features 8GB of internal storage, full 1080p HD video, 12.8 megapixel still shots, 3-inch touchscreen, records in MP4 format and its Wi-Fi enabled as its full name suggests.

The real kicker with this device is not so much that it’s a video recorder because there are already plenty of devices, including your smartphones, that do that. The device can upload through it’s Wi-Fi connection all the videos the user takes to Facebook, YouTube and PlayMemories Online.

The device can also broadcast live which is a major plus as live streaming on phones is still somewhat iffy. It also allows people with compatible devices to comment on the live stream as it’s being recorded with their comments popping up on the Bloggie Live’s screen.

The device was revealed to be fully compatible with Qik Video service on Skype’s blog. This allows the Bloggie Live to do all of its live streaming magic. It also features Qik’s full suite of video sharing features.

With phones becoming more and more advanced, it’s going to be harder for devices like the Bloggie Live to stand out. A lot of what it can do can already be done by smartphones. Heck, Qik was made for smartphones.

It’s still a nice device since there’s gonna be a market for dedicated mini-recorders for a few more years at least. The move towards Wi-Fi enabled video recorders will definitely extend their life as there are still consumers who prefer devices that are dedicated to a singular function unlike smartphones that are a jack of all trades and master of none.

The Bloggie Live HD Camera will be available on January 11.

“This new version of Qik Video Connect for Android gives users the ability to video chat seamlessly with friends on both Android phones and iPhones. In addition, Qik Video Connect is the only mobile video calling solution that also enables video mail,” a representative for the company tells WebProNews.

“And when you want to share something with more than one person, Qik Video Connect offers some cool ways to share videos with your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, on YouTube or your blog,” the company says on its blog. “And you don’t even need a front-facing camera on your phone—just show them what’s happening around you.”

Frankly, I’m surprised Apple would allow the iPhone app, as this would compete directly with the company’s “magical” FaceTime, and even extend video chat capabilities beyond just Apple devices (granted, this is not the only app to do so).

“As you might know, Qik first brought video calling to the Android Market through device and carrier partners including Sprint, T-Mobile, Samsung, HTC and Motorola,” the representative says. “With this announcement, for the first time, Qik will bring its video calling capabilities to the general Android Market. The news is even more significant as predictions from IDC forecast Android market share to reach over 45 percent by 2015; while Gartner says Android will command nearly half of worldwide smartphone OS Market by Year-End 2012.”

Last month, Qik launched the Qik Video Connect app for the iPhone at SXSW. We spoke with co-founder Bhaskar Roy about the product at the event:

If you’ve watched much video on your phone, you probably know that it tends to drain the battery. This is something Qik has considered thoughtfully, according to Roy. “What we have done is – that’s one of the key things that we have worked very hard on…that’s where the cloud comes in, where we try to put more processing by the cloud servers, rather than try to do it on the handset,” he told us. “So if you’re trying to do more on the handset – trying to do more and more here – obviously you’re gong to leverage more CPU, more battery power, so we tried to put all the processing – all the hard processing on the server – let the servers handle that, and so that way the client itself becomes a light client, and so it doesn’t consume as much battery overall.”

The new apps work on Android (2.1-2.3.3) phones, iPhones, the iPad2 and every iPod Touch with a camera.

“Whoever are my friends on Qik – I can watch a feed of what they’re doing,” he explains. “So for example, at SXSW, I pull up the feed, and all my friends that have been recording videos and doing things – I can watch them and enjoy them. It provides a complete mobile video solution for you to interact with your friends and family.”

“We started back in 2006 – June – and our premise was how can we make video very interactive – especially over the cell networks, which has its own variability to it, so how can we provide a very compelling video experience to the users of mobile phones, and that’s how we started,” Roy says, recalling the early days of Qik.

They launched a Qik public beta in July 2008.

Qik was then acquired by Skype this past January. As Skype purchased the company, Qik was already available on over 200 different phones running Android, iOS, Symbian, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Mobile. On many of them, Qik comes preloaded.

“The entire product that we are launching actually leverages the capabilities tha we have built, and this capability is not just on the iPhone (which works today) but we have brought it to all the other phones as well,” says Roy. “It leverages the cloud as a storage capability so it uses cloud to wherever it’s recording in order to provide the best quality of experience.”

“So Qik in essence, is a way for you to share moments with your friends and family, whether it be through live video chat, live video streaming, or just record and share it with your friends on Facebook,” he adds.

If you’ve watched much video on your phone, you probably know that it tends to drain the battery. This is something Qik has considered thoughtfully, according to Roy.

“What we have done is – that’s one of the key things that we have worked very hard on…that’s where the cloud comes in, where we try to put more processing by the cloud servers, rather than try to do it on the handset,” he says. “So if you’re trying to do more on the handset – trying to do more and more here – obviously you’re gong to leverage more CPU, more battery power, so we tried to put all the processing – all the hard processing on the server – let the servers handle that, and so that way the client itself becomes a light client, and so it doesn’t consume as much battery overall.”

There are free and premium versions of Qik Video Connect. Qik Video Connect Plus costs $2.99 in the App Store, and includes additional features like: video editing, real-time effects, HD Quality video, and video sync.

We’ve passed another milestone – at approximately 1800 GMT yesterday, there were more than 29 million people online on Skype. Another record broken, and an opportunity for us to remind you that you can get Skype in all sorts of places – on your computer, on your mobile and even on your TV.

According to ComputerWeekly, Skype actually had 29,527,474 people logged in at the same time yesterday. 

Last month, the company made a similar announcement when it reached 28 million users online, just a week after hitting 27 million. 

Skype has been making a lot of moves since breaking away from eBay that should continue to help fuel its growth. For example, the company recently acquired Qik, a popular mobile video service. Skype also launched a business version of its service with group video calling. 

According to a report from PCMag, Skype is pursuing a deal with AT&T to provide video calling service, and plans to merge Skype and Qik together over time.

What Qik does is let people capture video instantly from their phones. It’s already available on over 200 different phones running Android, iOS, Symbian, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Mobile. On many of them, Qik comes preloaded. 

"Qik complements a lot of what we’ve been doing in terms of video, realtime services, by allowing you to capture these moments," said Skype CEO Tony Bates. "Qik’s engineering talent and product suite really complements what we’ve been doing here at Skype. We think there’s tremendous synergies between the teams both in terms of engineering excellence, but also in terms of great cultural fit."

"Skype and Qik share a common purpose of enriching communications with video, and the acquisition of Qik will help to accelerate our leadership in video by adding recording, sharing and storing capabilities to our product portfolio," Bates said. "Through this acquisition, we’ll also be able to take advantage of the engineering expertise that is behind Qik’s Smart Streaming technology, which optimizes video transmission over wireless networks."

Qik’s userbase jumped from 600,000 to 5 million users just last year, according to Mashable. The company has 60 employees.

Qik has gained popularity among the tech blogger and citizen journalism circles, thanks to its ability to capture live video and stream it over the Internet. Its integration capabilities with Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and others will likely propel its status well beyond this demographic and into teen popularity.

A high profile investment could be just what the doctor ordered to help Qik achieve such widespread use. The mere fact that teenagers are tied to their mobile phones and social networks would suggest a big future for a service like Qik.

Of course, Qik isn’t the only service of its kind. Competitors like Kyte and Livecast will likely be courted by others with deep pockets as this section of the industry grows full force.

Culberson and the Republican minority today had every intention of forcing a vote on domestic oil drilling in an attempt, so the story goes, to drop oil and gas prices. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, though, apparently had plans to adjourn before lunch so they could all get a head start on a five-week House recess.

$4.00 a gallon is acceptable, it would seem, until September.

The ensuing drama played out on both Twitter and Qik, a site for live video streaming from mobile devices. Just as Culberson was taking the floor, according to his tweets, to demand a vote, Pelosi turned the lights out on him.

And the TV cameras, and the microphones. 

"I am speaking now on the floor to the gallery and to you on Twitter demanding that Speaker Pelosi cancel vacation and vote to drill here now," tweeted the Texas Congressman. One wonders how he can tweet and speak, but on with the story.

Culberson, in tweet after tweet, noted how the Democrats had all left town, but Republicans were staying put and speaking on the floor without microphones, "as though it were 1908," he said, and vowed to stay until Democrats come back and vote. He may be waiting five weeks, but we’ll see.

In the meantime, Culberson pulled other Republican Congressmen to his Blackberry device for guest tweets about this situation. Minority Whip Roy Blunt, showed up, as did Ted Poe, Tom Price, and John Shimkus. Then Pete Hoeskstra, Mike Pence, Mike Rogers, and Rob Bishop, all vowing not to leave the House floor.

"Cong Todd Platts of Penn up now – he was driving home heard about this and turned around and is here calling for Congress to get to work," said Culberson.

To whom are they speaking? To themselves? Not by a long shot. Culberson went out into the Capitol and pulled tourists into the House floor so they could see for themselves. Wouldn’t you love to have been peering up into the Rotunda when Culberson came bursting through?

Five hours into the ordeal, Culberson’s still going. "I just told the House chamber We the People can take back the Capitol with these new media tools by networking and shining sunlight everywhe"

He went over his 140 characters.

That’s okay, because he’s live streaming the grandstanding party via Qik. Will Pelosi and the Democrats return? Did they have a good reason other than senioritis to cut out early today? It will be interesting to see what they have to say about it.

Pelosi’s office was aware of what was happening, and said, simply, the recess had been on the calendar for a month now, but they hadn’t commented further by press time.

But Minority Whip Roy Blunt viewed it as the latest in repeated attempts to deny a vote on drilling. "Today, their goal was to adjourn the House as quickly as they could — even as Republicans stood by on the House floor prepared to debate the merits of producing new domestic energy for the American people," Blunt said in a statement.

"Instead, Democrats gaveled the day closed, switched off the cameras, turned off the lights, cut the mics, and ran for the exits. But Republicans remain on the floor right now: ready, willing and able to lead on the most important issue facing the American people.

"But while Democrats showed today that you can run from a debate on energy, they won’t be able to hide from it much longer. It’s my hope that they’ll come back in September chastened by their constituents, and ready to work with Republicans on tackling the energy crisis facing this nation."

All a budding, low-budget man-about-town needs is a compatible Symbian or Windows Mobile smartphone and they can stream live videos to Qik’s website, or, with this launch to Facebook, MySpace, or their own site. We anticipate thrilling initial broadcasts like "What’s in my soup?" and "Look, a hot dog," but just like its predecessors the weblog, the webcam feed, the YouTube video, and the tweet, the possibilities are endless and likely journalistically important one day.

 “We are focused on changing the way people communicate with truly live and interactive video," said Ramu Sunkara, CEO of Qik as vanilla as possible in a statement.

Qik also added some features to the homepage like Groups and "Self-Service Event Pages," but the now staple of Web 2.0 and citizen media is the embeddable player, which can be placed on a user’s own website.

They’ve also added a Facebook application, and integration with MySpace, Twitter, Pownce, Blogger and YouTube, as well as new compatibility with handsets from Samsung, Motorola, and Nokia.

“The quality and simplicity of Qik’s service is admirable, and chatting with friends while streaming live video is just plain cool. It is so simple that even The Vatican is using it,” said Carla Thompson, Senior Analyst with The Guidewire Group.

Just imagine: One day we’ll have live-via-mobile confession. Check the box if you give permission to upload it to the Vatican website.
 

 Both Qik and Twitter should be thanking Congressman John Culberson (that’s him, being Qik interviewed by me and Andrew Feinberg). You can read his Twitter account here and you can watch his Qik videos here. It’s amazing how this all started when Andrew Feinberg and I interviewed Culberson just a couple of weeks ago. Andrew broke this story and deserves the credit.

In this Qik video we filmed, you’ll hear him explain the coming controversy over using video in Congress.

Amazing how these tools are quickly being picked up in all sorts of non-techie places and are causing major controversies.

UPDATE: Andrew linked to more video and other posts on this story on FriendFeed.

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Take a look at this video – Edelman CEO Richard Edelman delivering the summary findings of his firm’s latest annual report on trust:

(RSS/email subscribers: if you don’t see the embed, the video is here.)

It’s not a particularly remarkable video from a quality point of view. Pixelated, indistinct images, for instance. The sound quality’s not bad, though, and that’s because I was sitting right next to one of the loudspeakers.

You can get a much better audio-visual experience if you watch the video captured on a pretty awesome-looking broadcast-standard TV camera that was the ‘official’ video recording system at the event.

That video is on YouTube.

What I think is remarkable is that the video embedded in this post is a recording of a live video stream shot by someone sitting in the audience (me) with just a mobile phone on a cellular network connection, and which showed Richard presenting in real time, ie, it streamed the video live.

The service I used to do this was Qik (which I wrote about a few days ago).

If you were on the Qik website at the time I was streaming Richard’s speech, you would have seen it at the same time, live, in real time. Just like TV.

It wasn’t only Richard’s presentation I broadcast live over the net. I also did keynoters Patience Wheatcroft and Quentin Letts. Before the event started, I grabbed Edelman’s Simon Collister to explain what the event was all about.

All of this was live, not recorded and then uploaded. And all from a mobile phone, a Nokia N95 8GB in this case.

It’s not that long since the big thing at public events was live blogging, which is evolving rapidly.

Today we have live Twitter text streams which Edelman Europe CEO David Brain and Simon both did.

Now there’s also live streaming video which anyone with a supported mobile phone and a cellular or wifi network connection can do, easily and instantly. I did all my live video streaming with Edelman’s permission, by the way.

So what does this suggest for events in the future?

Well, it suggests that any participant who has a mobile phone with a camera can broadcast your event as it happens.

Imagine a product launch, for instance, or presenting your latest financial results.

You may have live TV there from the mainstream media. You’ll also now have live TV there from the social media.

Take a look at what’s going on at the World Economic Forum in Davos with live mobile video if you want to extend this thought a little.

And what about internal events in your company, behind your firewall?

Think about it. Things aren’t the same any longer.

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