In a day and age where we can’t seem to stop broadcasting ourselves to the world, Looxcie is adding yet another way to share video clips via mobile. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m proud to introduce you to the LooxcieLive Public Beta app — a live streaming video application that, when paired with the Looxcie or Looxcie 2, lets you broadcast live video hands-free.
Looxcie already has a duo of apps out available across both iOS and Android that let you either use your Looxcie as a standard camcorder, or to continuously record video and capture those special moments after the fact. The LooxcieCam app does just what its title implies — you record video with your Looxcie and the app works as a viewfinder.
LooxcieMoments, on the other hand, adds a little something special. How many times have you been out somewhere and seen something totally shocking or hilarious or plain weird happen and wished that you had gotten it on video? With LooxcieMoments, you can press one button on your Looxcie to save the last 30 seconds of video on your mobile device, while a long-tap shares the clip instantly. Granted, you’ll need to be wearing your Looxcie/Looxcie 2 for that to be possible, but it’s still a neat trick.
Tomorrow, the third Looxcie app will hit the Android Market allowing users to broadcast video to their friends in real-time, whether it be with family members or a specified group of buddies. I got to play around with a beta version myself and found the app to be pretty snappy and easily navigable.
The interface is simple — you can either view what your friends are broadcasting, broadcast your own video, or add friends with which you’ll eventually share video. The app also features text chat and push-to-talk so that viewers of your broadcast can interact with you as you do your thing. Plus, it’s important to remember that the entire process is theoretically hands-free thanks to Looxcie’s video-capturing Bluetooth headsets, which could let you broadcast some pretty cool activities like skiing or playing sports.
The app saves your broadcasts for 24 hours, just in case someone special wasn’t available to watch it live. The LooxcieLive Public Beta app also integrates Facebook and Twitter, though you can’t simply add friends without them also having a Looxcie account. You can add or remove viewers both before and during a broadcast, and when a friend starts broadcasting you’ll be sent a push notification letting you know there’s something going on. The LooxcieLive Beta app also connects with LooxcieMoments, to let you share snippets with friends rather than full-blown broadcasts.
All in all, I have no complaints about LooxcieLive. It’s simple, fairly straightforward, and takes something as complicated as a live stream and compresses the process into a few simple steps: Turn on your Looxcie, load up LooxcieLive, and press broadcast on the app. Easy as that.
The LooxcieLive Public Beta app is available tomorrow from the Android Market, with iOS 5 availability beginning soon.
(Note: Don’t let the picture confuse you; tomorrow’s availability only extends to Android, with an iOS launch coming soon.)