Livestreaming video site Ustream TV has announced the launch of a new app that allows you to watch Ustream videos live on your iPhone as well as participate in the chat with viewers.
Founder John Ham met with Tech Crunch’s Michael Arrington on Thursday to demo the product and said Apple informed him that it should be released into the app store "in a matter of days."
If this pops up over the weekend, iPhone users will be able to stream the presidential inauguration over their iPhone on Tuesday. Ustream and TechCrunch are both offering invites to try out the app in advance before launch by emailing iphone@ustream.tv.
Ustream seems to be the first to allow real time viewing of live streaming video from the iPhone, while others currently only offer pre-recorded viewing. There is no official word yet on a Ustream app for capturing video, but there were rumors of one in the works including photos and a video of the app.
There are also a number of other livestreaming related video apps already out there that allow you to produce content including Qik (which has a deal where you can stream to Justin.tv), Flixwagon and Stickam, but they all currently only work on jailbroken broken phones. Both Kyte and 12 Seconds have legit apps but they only let you submit audio slide shows as a temporary work around.
Qik founder Bhaskar Roy says they are still working on some improvements to their app, and haven’t even released it to the App Store yet. The product works pretty well, however, and has integration with Twitter, which announces to your followers when you are streaming live.
Sling Media has announced plans to release an iPhone version of their software very soon, which would allow you to watch your Slingbox-connected TV virtually anywhere.
Apple has yet to implement video capturing capabilities on the iPhone or released any apps, so it will probably be some time before many of these apps are given the go ahead.
Now that the flood gate has been open however, we should expect to see more of these apps popping up. Will 2009 be the year mobile livestreaming really takes off? Imagine if there was live footage of breaking news events like Thursday’s US Airways crash, instead of just a photo (which was still an excellent example of the power of citizen journalism).
And then there’s always the potential for puppy cams 24/7 from your phone.
