Bambuser partners with Sony to bring live video broadcasting to Xperia™ Z1

Sony Mobile Communications (Sony Mobile) and Bambuser have joined efforts to bring a groundbreaking camera experience to the Xperia™ Z1 with the Xperia camera application, Social live. Social live is a fully integrated camera feature, powered by Bambuser, that lets users instantly broadcast live video to their friends on Facebook from Xperia Z1. During the live broadcast, friends and viewers can interact with the broadcaster as comments and likes are displayed instantly on the screen of the smartphone.

Bambuser CEO Jonas Vig says:

We're very happy and proud to work with Sony to provide the quickest and easiest way to share live video with your friends and followers. We are mutually committed to further develop and enhance the experience and we believe there are great opportunities in combining Bambuser's innovative technology with Sony’s product vision.

The Social live feature is available exclusively to Xperia Z1 users straight out of the box, as part of a suite of Xperia camera applications available at the time of the smartphone's launch. The feature will work over virtually any data connection and the proprietary Bambuser streaming technology will automatically adjust resolution, compression and frame-rate of the live broadcast in order to optimize the live experience over fluctuating networks. An HD version (720p, 30 fps) of the stream will be stored locally on the device, allowing users to get the most out of every moment – both live and ever after. Both free and premium versions will be offered, with the premium upgrade allowing longer videos, higher quality live streams, more extensive cloud storage and ad-free playback.

Jonas Vig adds:

To partner with one of the most respected and well known consumer brands in the world is a fantastic achievement for Bambuser.

Become a Citizen Journalist with Bambuser and get a free Bambuser Premium account

The world has learned that more and more of newsworthy live video content is coming from individuals on the street being at the right place at the right time. We are convinced this will develop even more going forward. At Bambuser we believe that this kind of reporting is important both in terms of breaking news stories but also to complement existing stories.

We also believe that citizen journalist videos shouldn't be filled with commercial advertising. Therefore we support all citizen journalists with free Bambuser Premium accounts.

Bambuser provides mobile applications for devices running on Android, iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod), Symbian, Bada and more to enable anyone to share their point of view with an unlimited global audience for free. 




Below you will find basic information and tips how to get the most out of your videos. Please also take the opportunity to let the world's largest news agency, Associated Press distribute your content. A good example of what it can result in is Bambuser user Homslive whose videos have been rebroadcast by numerous global broadcasters and in total reached more than 100.000.000 people.

Getting Started

Download
Download the Bambuser application on your smartphone by searching for Bambuser in your device's App Store or Marketplace (Download Links: Android and iOS)

Setup your Channel

Simply create a Bambuser account through the application or use the Signup page. Your channel URL will be bambuser.com/channel/yourusername

Build an Audience
Provide a short description of what you are broadcasting and share that with Twitter and Facebook. This will send a link to people, who can watch your broadcast on their computers, mobile phones, tablets, or web connected TV's. Connecting to Facebook means your videos will be posted directly to your Facebook Wall or Facebook Page. You can connect your Bambuser account to services like Foursquare, Tumblr, Blogger and more – all are found on your Bambuser Dashboard

Ready to Broadcast
Press the red broadcast button :-) 















You're Live!! Now what to do?
Provided you are broadcasting something compelling and have connected Bambuser with your social networks, you should quickly get an audience. You can track your viewer count at the bottom of the application.

Get Viewers
Encourage your audience to invite their friends and re-tweet to their followers. Inform your viewers of when you will be live (start/end) in advance. Talk to friends and family, post to your Twitter and Facebook before, after and during your broadcast.

Engage with your audience
Always keep an eye on the chat in your mobile as that’s where your viewers can communicate with you. This is a great way of hearing their opinion, for your viewers to ask questions and for you to ask them about picture and sound quality. It’s always more fun to watch when the broadcaster interacts with the viewing audience.

How to shoot great video
Hold the camera steady and don't make fast moves. Talk loud and clear. To make good videos you need to be able to go where the action is. Always think about your own safety first but don't be afraid to move closer to the action when safe to do so. The closer you are the better overview your viewers will get.

TIP: Most modern smartphones come with a small LED light on the back of the device. In most Bambuser apps you can turn on and off the flash in the menu or under the settings. This works best when you are 3-5 feet from what you are trying to broadcast. If you are far away, keep the LED off.

Remember that you are the eyes, ears, and most times need to be the voice explaining what is happening to your viewers. Compelling video should be supplemented with your verbal explanation of what you are filming and why the viewer should care. Your comments will make it much more compelling, interesting and engaging.

Keep the dialog with your viewers going by providing commentary of what you are filming. Read what your viewers are saying in the Chat and ask them if you are doing a good job or what they would like to see or hear.

Stream Health
On most phones Bambuser supports, you can always check your Stream Health. If the Stream Health is below 60% you should probably switch to a lower video quality/resolution, and if it is mostly 100%, consider switching to higher settings.

Upload unsent data
On Android, iOS and Maemo/Meego devices you can upload data that hasn’t been sent during the broadcast. Very rarely all data will go through while live due to connectivity hiccups, but if you choose to upload the dropped data, Bambuser will patch your video, creating a smoother video to watch on-demand.

Above the basics, below the extras to consider

Mobile Phone and Data Packages
Broadcasting quality live video requires a decent amount of upload speed. Look for and purchase a smartphone device that uses 3G or 4G LTE or WiMax high speed wireless networks and make sure you are in a coverage area that supports the advanced data rates.

Best Picks are:
Apple iPhone 4S
Apple iPhone 4
Apple iPhone 3GS
Apple iPod Touch (4th gen)
Apple iPad 2
Nokia N9
Nokia N900
Samsung Galaxy S III
Samsung Galaxy S II LTE
Samsung Galaxy S II
Google Galaxy Nexus
Google Nexus S
HTC Sensation
HTC Desire HD
Sony-Ericsson Xperia Neo
Sony-Ericsson Xperia Ray
Sony-Ericsson Xperia Mini
Sony-Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro
(Many other Android devices also provide a good experience)

TIP: If you are going to be broadcasting a lot of video it is a good idea to invest in an unlimited data package.

Extra Battery Power
Devices are getting thinner, faster and have bigger screens. This all means battery life is going to be an issue. You can look at purchasing extended batteries for your particular phone model or if you want some real staying power look at an external battery pack that continuously recharges your device while you are broadcasting.

Get out there and show the world YOUR world!

Chat update

We want to inform you about a change concerning the Bambuser chat. From now on, all Bambuser chat rooms require login by default, either using a Bambuser account or a Facebook account. We believe this will provide a more structured chat, a better overview of who's chatting with you and better moderation options.

Should you, however, prefer to have an unrestricted chat, this is still possible. Simply go to your Bambuser Dashboard and find Customize your player under settings in the right column.

The Chat and Require login to post in chat room check boxes are checked by default but you can choose to clear Require login to post in chat room and your viewers can post in the chat without logging in. You can also disable chat and comments entirely by clearing the Chat room check box.

We hope this new default login requirement and the options that come with it is something you will all benefit from.

Kazakhstan - Another regime blocks Bambuser

Bambuser has previously been blocked by regimes in countries like Egypt, Bahrain and Syria, and now the service and web site seems to be blocked in Kazakhstan as well. We've gotten several emails from users in Kazakhstan saying they can't use the app through the mobile networks nor access the web site on the Internet, and we've seen several tweets saying the same. The last broadcast from Kazakhstan was made more than 3 months ago.

It's obvious that live video is a powerful tool in democratization processes, and it's equally obvious that regimes in non-democratic countries fear live and unedited video being broadcast directly to the rest of the world. We're sad and upset to see this happen. Discussions around Internet freedom and freedom of speech are more important now than ever. We don't know what Kazakhstan's regime fear, but we think it's important to inform about censorship. Hopefully it can lead to discussions about democracy and internet freedom not only in Kazakhstan, but in all countries where governments exercise their power to control communications.

Bambuser was founded with a fundamental valuation and goal: that all people should have the right to express their opinions and share it with whoever they like, regardless of where they are based geographically. This right is is not accepted by some countries' leaders and we have and will continue to help people in situations like this, to get their message out as well as bring up the wrongdoings of such governments and regimes.

Syria - a country that can no longer communicate

If you don't have the essentials for communication, will you lose?

A few weeks ago we were told Bambuser was blocked in Syria, but the flow of videos continued on a smaller scale. Brave and skilled people used alternative approaches to reach out with the LIVE material, much needed to let the world know about the terror and violence in Syria.

Unfortunately, for a couple of days it's been getting more difficult for the people in Syria to reach out. Assad's government does its utmost to control not only the people but also the communications with the outside world. A few days ago they began to turn off the electricity for up to 15 hours a day. With no electricity one cannot charge devices or use the Internet. The lack of electricity is not all – when it returns – it starts with high voltage peaks which burn out any devices plugged in.

Activists tell us they're afraid to use generators due to the noise they make. Security forces and the military now make regular checks at homes with generators, and those suspected of being anti-Assad protesters risk being arrested, tortured and even killed.

During the last week we've seen the consequences of this lack of electricity: even fewer videos from Syria. The following broadcast was sent for us tonight to show the situation.



We know the Syrian people want the world to know, but with the little electricity they have, they need to prioritize and use it for saving lives, before it is cut off again.

UPDATE: The day after this text was posted, the broadcaster did an additional broadcast - this time from the top of a roof showing when the lights go out - leaving Daraa City in complete darkness. This happens randomly every day in cities all over Syria.

Let Bambuser do the work for you

One of our missions is to provide the best live video app for mobile phones, and we are confident that we are already doing so. We are not only supporting over 360 different models and providing the lowest latency on the market, we also have another feature that is unique: Uploading unsent complement data after a broadcast in done.

When letting this technology do its job, you're improving all future on-demand viewing of your broadcast, making your memories and documentations as clear and crisp as possible. If you're notified that you have unsent complement data in your app, please upload it and let Bambuser do the work for you, it's definitely worth it!

If you are new to uploading unsent complement data, let us explain: If your connection to the internet is weak when you broadcast live, pieces of the broadcast which can't be sent immediately are stored on your phone, keeping your latency low. When uploading this data afterwards, our servers get to business and merge all the pieces to complete your archived broadcast, giving on-demand viewers a smoother experience regardless of how slow your connection was during the live broadcast.

You can also read more about stream health and unsent complement data at our help page.

We mourn the loss of a very brave Syrian journalist

This morning LIVE footage by a citizen journalist, Rami Ahmad Alsayeed - one of the persons behind the channel Syriapioneer on Bambuser, was aired all over the world by BBC World, SkyNews, Al Jazeera and many more. All showed live footage from the roof where Rami and his friends had their camera, documenting the heavy shelling from the Assad Forces hovering over BabaAmr in Homs, Syria. Rami Ahmad Alsayeed has for months been one of the bravest and forefront fighters in getting the world's attention on what's going on in Homs, Syria. In the afternoon, cameraman and journalist Rami Ahmad Alsayeed did his last broadcast – he and three of his friends were soon after this killed by the Assad armed forces on the streets of BabaAmr.

UPDATE: Rami was accompanying three persons to a civil hospital. The car was the target of a mortar and the other three persons were killed right away. Rami was badly injured and died from the wounds later in the hospital.



Rami Ahmad Alsayeed, born 1985, father of a little girl aged a year and a half called Marym, was killed during the shelling over Homs this afternoon. His last message for his friends was (spellchecked and with clarifications inserted):

Babaamr is facing a genocide right now. I will never forgive you for your silence. You all have just give us your words but we need actions. However our hearts will always be with those who risk their life for our freedom. I know what we need! We need campaigns everywhere inside Syria and outside Syria, and now we need all people in front of all embassies all over the world. In a few hours there will be NO place called BabaAmr and I expect this will be my last message and no one will forgive you who talked but didn't act.

A family has lost a husband and father, the world has lost a very brave man fighting for democracy in Syria and an opportunity to get LIVE footage from inside Homs, Syria showing the brutality, killing and terror exercised by dictator Assad and his armed forces.

This is a last video of martyr Rami Ahmad Alsayeed. WARNING: Strong footage!

Bambuser now blocked in Syria

Yesterday morning Bambuser was blocked in Syria. The Syrian government has chosen to deny citizens in Syria access to bambuser.com as well as use of Bambuser's mobile apps over Syrian 3G.

Over the past weeks the number of Bambuser broadcasts from Syria has increased, with strong footage showing bombings, victims, destruction and terrible conditions at local field hospitals in Syria.

Two days ago an oil pipeline in Homs was destroyed. A citizen in Homs who has been broadcasting bombings over several days broadcast the black smoke that developed from the explosion, with the sound of gunfire and shelling of Homs accompanying the footage bambuser.com/v/2369044. The live footage was used by major TV media like CNN, BBC, AlJazeera, SkyNews and many more, with credentials to Bambuser. The impact of those videos very likely came to the Syrian government's knowledge.

baba-omer

We believe this footage was the trigger for the Syrian government to block access to bambuser.com and disable the possibility to broadcast live video with mobile phones on Syrian 3G.


This is not the first time Bambuser is blocked by a dictatorship. Bambuser was blocked in Egypt for a week in January 2011 and is also blocked by Bahrain's government since 6 months. The feedback we get from our friends in Syria and all over the world is fantastic. Not only have we helped them get their message out, but they also say it means much in terms of morale for everyone in this situation. They know the world is watching, sharing and it gives them hope. No matter where in the world there is unrest, we at Bambuser always do our best to support and help observers.

Let the world know

Bambuser is to some extent about citizen journalism, free speech and democracy. It all started over a year ago with the uprising in Egypt, followed by the Arab spring movement through the Middle East to Russia, and the Occupy movement in the US and Europe. During the last year people have utilized Bambuser to broadcast real-time information from these events to the world. What takes place in Syria now is no exception.

Footage by http://bambuser.com/channel/baba-omer © 2012 BABA AMR REV EYE

As with all protests in the world where people are using Bambuser, we're trying to non-profit support as much as we can. We're often asked to help observers distribute their content to media and as many people as possible.

We have daily contact with Syrian observers who try to document the terrible things that are going on in the country. They have in an impressive way set up cells that teach broadcasting and organize live footage coming from Syria. We've been in contact with them for more than 8 months to support them with our knowledge. Massive amounts of broadcasts have been produced since the protests started but few have been paid much attention.

Over the past couple of weeks our work with Syria has intensified as the Assad forces have stepped up the attacks against the protesters. The number of videos coming out is increasing and what is good is that media and people in general have begun to understand the brutality. Our close relation with the Syrian observers has resulted in both Associated Press and Thomson Reuters distributing Bambuser live videos from Syria to media companies all over the world on a daily basis. The material has been seen on major news channels like BBC, AlJazeera, Sky News etc. We have no idea how many people that have been watching, but it is a substantial number.

http://bambuser.com/v/2344816 © http://bambuser.com/channel/smartlive1

The feedback we get from our friends in Syria is fantastic. Not only have we helped them get their message out, but they also say it means much in terms of morale for everyone in this situation. They know the world is watching, sharing and it gives them hope.

No matter where in the world it happens we will always do our best to support and help. We're a small company with very limited resources but we see this as the foundation on which the rest of Bambuser is and will be built.

For updates on LIVE news please follow Bambuser_Alert on Twitter - Share the world.

The cubs are born

During the last month, thousands of inquisitive nature lovers have gotten a bird's eye view of the hibernating brown bear Freja LIVE from her den. Brown bears are incredibly shy and secretive animals one rarely get to spot in the wild. A week ago Freja gave birth to four tiny cubs and yesterday they were spotted for the first time.



The newborn helpless cubs each weigh around 400 grams and spend their days snuggled up next to their protective mother who has wrapped herself around them to protect and keep them warm. Like newborn human babies, the cubs spend the time sleeping, feeding, and screaming. In a couple of weeks they will be bigger and will be crawling around - make sure to tune in to the bear den.



The campaign initiated by Volkswagen Sweden and creative agency DDB is a great example of how to utilize Bambuser's live video to boost engagement by reaching out with something unique at a fraction of the cost of traditional broadcasting. The bear cam will be LIVE 24/7 until the day Freja and her cubs leave the bear den.

Bambuser loves food - show us your skills

We love when people share their skills in the kitchen on Bambuser. It’s fantastic to learn how to cook Bageldogs, how to clean squids or to view the youngest Swedish chef make macaroni casserole with her dad - just to mention a few examples of great chefs at home. Last week, the complete final of The Swedish Championship in Professional Cooking was broadcast through Bambuser with great success. Thousands of viewers tuned in to the event and discussed the food and the jury's verdict.

With Bambuser anyone can start their own channel and be a master chef themselves - or a master hairdresser, shoemaker, designer or whatever you are up to and deeply interested in. Show your world and let us all make 2012 as interesting, challenging and exciting as 2011 was.

Egypt celebrating their 1st anniversary of the 2011 uprising

Today marked the 1st anniversary of Egypt's 2011 uprising. It's been a very eventful year to say the least. A year filled with happiness and hope of a democratic future for the people, but also a year filled with tragic events. We've seen a lot of moments being shared live on Bambuser and it's fantastic to be one of the channels used by the people to broadcast video and distribute information




Although we know and understand that the Egypt uprising and revolution actually has little to do with social media and online tools, we're honored to be a service appreciated and used by so many to show the world from their perspective, somewhat democratizing news reporting.

We continue to follow and observe the events and we do our best to create a service that can be used for broadcasting everything from children's birthdays to revolutions.

Show the world

Bambuser+Blogger = more fun, more LIVE

Blogger is one of the world's largest tools for blogging. That's why we're extra happy to launch the Bambuser integration to Blogger.



The integration basically means that you in real-time can Share your broadcasts to your Blogger blog as a new post. It's super easy to get started. Simply go to your Dashboard, click on Connect in the right column, click on Blogger and follow the steps to connect.

When connecting, you can choose whether to Share new broadcasts automatically or to Share only selected broadcasts. Whenever you use your mobile phone or your web cam for LIVE broadcasting, you can then choose to share the broadcast instantly on your blogger blog and let all your followers get to know what you're up to. Life is real-time - show your world.

What a year

2011 has been a very interesting year for us at Bambuser. We've seen an increased usage of the service and it's been taken up by all kind of people and groups of people. What we really have loved to see and to work with are protesters around the world. From Egypt through the Middle East to Russia, the Occupy Movement in the US and Europe, it's been phenomenal to see how people have utilized Bambuser to cover unrest and injustice.

We're equally happy for the feedback we've gotten from our users, from media and even from human rights organizations - it's been very emotional to the whole team and we'd like to say thank you to all our users and everyone we've worked with during the year. We can't complain about how the year has ended either, Bambuser was named the number one idea on Wired UK's list for 25 Big Ideas for 2012 and named number one media app in The Next Web.



It's not only protesters using Bambuser, we're seeing all kinds of things on the web site. Make sure to check out "crew picks" on Bambuser.com for some interesting, funny and educational videos. Now we're looking forward to 2012 and hoping for a more peaceful world but we'll always stand by protesters around the world fighting for democracy and free speech.

Thanks for this year and see you next and remember we're always listening to you, so if you have any great ideas, don't hesitate to contact us.

Bambuser now supports the iPad 2!

As most of you know, Bambuser is always doing its best to support as many platforms as possible and, true to our word, we've been busy optimizing our app to run smooth on the Ipad 2.

We made sure to take advantage of the impressive features the iPad 2 has to offer, including support for use of the high quality front and back cameras as well as hardware encoded video at 25 frames per second.

The iPad 2 announcement came just over a month ago and was live-streamed on Bambuser by TechCrunch's Mike Butcher. As was to be expected, when the hotly anticipated device was released to buy, the queues outside Apple stores snaked around street corners as shoppers camped outside to be one of the first to own it.

Some of the Bambuser team were savvy enough to pick up their iPad 2s whilst at SXSW (and our very own Hans Eriksson may have been one of the first people in the world to break his!) and this latest app continues our dedication to bring users the best and most extensive service we can possible offer.

Our live-streaming and interaction tool is an important way for anyone to share what is happening around them. The latest iPad2 app means we are continuing in our aim to make sure Bambuser is available to as many people as possible to let their voice be heard.

To ensure Bambuser fans are getting the best interactive broadcasting experience, we've even created a quick video to show you how Bambuser works on iPad: