5 ways to get the best out of Bambuser

1. Adjust your video quality and resolution - While broadcasting you can see your current stream health in the app. If the stream health is permanently at 100% you can try to switch to a higher resolution/quality. If it's below 70% it's a good idea to switch to a lower resolution/quality for better video flow and a better experience for your viewers.

2. Improve on-demand viewing - When you broadcast, it may not be possible to send all video in real-time, depending on your network speed. Our apps will then drop some data to ensure low latency combined with the best possible flow for your quality settings. Any unsent data is stored on your device and can be uploaded to make the archived video full frame rate, giving a much improved on-demand viewing experience. Read more on our help page.

3. Tag specific times in video - If you want to share a specific moment in the video just click "Share", tick the box "link to specific time in player" and use the time in video you want to refer to.

4. Upgrade to the latest version of the Bambuser iOS app to get support for 16:9 widescreen broadcasting on iOS 5 and up.

5. Are you a professional user? Get even more out of Bambuser. Read more about Bambuser's Premium solutions.

Bambuser and AP cement citizen content collaboration

We’re really proud to announce that we’ve cemented an agreement with the Associated Press to continue our joint efforts to bring instant video footage from citizen journalists around the globe to mainstream media.

After a successful joint development of the “share the news” opt-in function on the Bambuser platform, we’ve given eyewitnesses and AP’s own journalists an unparalleled opportunity to share newsworthy content in real time from their mobile phones.

All newsworthy video shared with AP is verified by AP’s social media specialists before being shared with a global audience via AP’s worldwide network of more than 700 broadcasters. The agreement also puts Bambuser’s live streaming ability in the hands of more AP journalists, increasing the agency’s commitment to Bambuser and the amount of live content AP can exclusively offer customers.

The deal follows five months of successful collaboration between AP and Bambuser, which has already given AP subscribers access to Bambuser ‘s growing number of content creators.  In the last four months Bambuser content has been used by AP customers more than 4,000 times – much of it from the front lines in the Syrian conflict, but increasingly from other parts of the world as well.

 “User-generated content is integral to covering breaking news events," said Mark Davies, AP deputy director of international video. "Through the Bambuser deal and use of the ‘Share The News’ function, AP has pre-approval to use the Bambuser content, allowing us to check and verify content we deem newsworthy and put it live to air incredibly fast."

Around the world unprecedented numbers of people are broadcasting live video to the Web. The probability of someone being at the scene with a smartphone when news breaks is increasing by the day. More and more Bambuser users are utilising their handheld devices to capture news stories to share on their blogs, on Twitter and Facebook, and on other social media.

“Through the co-operation with AP, Bambuser has further strengthened its position as a tool to capture live and newsworthy video content," said Hans Eriksson, executive chair, Bambuser. “We have already had enormous success working with AP in getting live news video distributed globally and this is because users can rely on AP’s expertise as a very credible and professional news organisation that matches many of Bambuser’s own values.”

Egypt non-profit media collective Mosireen launch crowd funding campaign to fuel citizen media initiatives

About a year ago, Jonas and Måns from the Bambuser team visited Cairo, Egypt to meet with Bambuser users and human rights activists and learn more about their every-day challenges and how they are using Bambuser to share live video from the unrest in the region.

It was a trip that provided a lot of insight and inspiration. Some of the insights even resulted in new features that eventually made it to our mobile broadcasting apps. It also brought a deeper understanding of how some of the networks on the ground are mobilizing their crowds and creating, gathering and publishing content online to provide the world with a richer understanding of the situation in Egypt.

One of these organizations is the non-profit media collective Mosireen. During the visit, the volunteers at Moisereen impressed with their skills, energy and creativity. By engaging "the people on the street" as well as making huge efforts to aggregate and publish their content online, we believe Mosireen make an important addition to traditional news and media reporting. The Mosireen workspace in Cairo is open to virtually everyone and the organization is relying on private donations to fuel their operations.

To continue their operations, they've now launched a fund raising campaign through an initiative at Indiegogo. The funds will mainly be used to support further operations and purchase of equipment.

Feel free to check it out!

Cheers!

Introducing our beautiful new app for iOS devices

Just in time for the Apple event September 12, we thought we should treat all iOS users with a little surprise!

Since this morning you will find a revamped version of our broadcasting app for iOS in the Appstore. After listening to a lot of your feedback, we adjusted the navigation, icons and graphics to make it even easier to understand and use the app. We think it’s a great improvement and we really hope you like it!

We will of course keep iterating and the next generation is actually already in the works. We would be happy and honored to get your feedback. Just send an email to support@bambuser.com with your thoughts and input.

Cheers!

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!

Tag your broadcasts!

Today we’re launching a brand new feature on Bambuser – tagging! We know, we know, many of you requested it. In fact, it’s been one of the more requested features so far.

There are a couple of different ways to tag a broadcast;

1. On the web, you will find an Add tag button on the video page of any broadcast that can be tagged.
   
2. You can add multiple tags by separating the keywords with a comma. Via the web UI you may even add time tags. Clicking on a time tag will let viewers seek to a specified position in the video. To add a time tag, simply hit the Add tag button and check the box next to Tag specific time in broadcast and specify where you want to add a time tag. To edit any tag that you’ve submitted, click on the pen symbol next to the tag.
   
   
3. In the mobile apps you will find the tagging UI via the share menu. The share menu will only appear when a broadcast is live. If you want to add a tag in advance, you may add # to any word in the title. For example "My little #magic #pony" will add magic and pony as tags.

We've also created a new Tag page that lets you browse popular tags, find interesting videos based on categories and see what's hot right now.

If you don’t want to allow public tagging of your broadcasts, you simply log in to your account and uncheck the Tags box that you find on http://bambuser.com/dashboard under customize your player. When unchecked, only you may add new tags. As the owner of a video, you can always edit and remove tags.


We think this will help you organize your broadcasts better and also facilitate discovery of great content.

Bambuser+Wirecast=True

We’ve always liked and recommended the excellent video production software Wirecast from Telestream. Wirecast allows you to create professional multi-camera broadcasts using your computer and a camera setup. It’s an easy and intuitive tool for producing live shows. However, you’d need to connect Wirecast to a streaming service like Bambuser to get your live broadcast online - which wasn’t too easy and intuitive before.

That’s why we’re happy to announce that coming builds of Wirecast (starting from v4.1.4) will include Bambuser as a predefined destination! Wohoo! That means one click to chose Bambuser as your preferred service, then just enter your Bambuser credentials and you’re good to go live!

To celebrate this, we’re offering our users a 20% discount on any Wirecast product (valid until August 1st) . Just use the promo code “BAMBUSERROCKS” upon checkout from the Wirecast shop.


Cheers!

Hundreds of millions eyeballs, courtesy of our AP partnership

Through our partnership with world leading media agency the Associated Press (AP), we can offer Bambuser users an unprecedented distribution platform of their newsworthy content. This is an opt-in that is designed to give the Bambuser broadcaster full credit for the content whenever it's re-broadcasted by any of AP's clients.

This week, one of our broadcasters "Homslive" located in Homs, Syria aired a redoubtable broadcast of the intense shelling of the city. The user had opted in to allow AP to distribute the content and the broadcast ended up on air over 600 times across 80+ networks in five continents. The live video, captured by one man with a camera and an Internet connection, reached hundreds of millions of people across the globe – in real time, with no edits or cuts.

While tragic and and heartbreaking, the video is important for a number of reasons. It shows a raw, unedited and different side of the story. The story of how ordinary people live through a war. It also provides access to areas where no other news organizations are able to go.


As the media landscape transforms, we think there is a lot of room for innovation and change within this space. We believe that this is the time for the world to become more open, more transparent. We also believe that this is the time for You to grab the opportunity and be a part of the news. If you want access to global distribution of any newsworthy content you may capture, review our blog post about how to allow AP to redistribute your videos and to get in touch with you.

For full transparency; Bambuser is not getting paid by AP for any specific videos or per video. However we do have a commercial agreement that allow AP's request for usage to be exposed to our users. We also work closely to evaluate and develop new ways for "the people on the street" to share the news to a global audience.

Bambuser user "Homslive" broadcast live on BBC, CNN, Sky News and AlJazeera

Today we saw heavy shelling of Homs, Syria. It's heartbreaking to witness events like this unveiling before our eyes. At Bambuser we've always done our best to help people in areas of unrest getting their message out, especially when external forces are trying to censor or prevent footage from coming out.

One Bambuser user named Abo Mohamad Ibraahim aka "Homslive", today broadcasted live for almost 3 hours from a rooftop somewhere in Homs. It's a terrifying but very important piece of video. It's raw and unedited, showing the brutality of a ruthless war on civilians. Though repeatedly asked by people in the chatroom to seek cover at a safer place, Abo Mohamad Ibraahim told the viewers that he was determined to stay at his position and keep the live broadcast going, allowing the world to witness the desperate fight of the Syrian people.

His live feed was viewed by tens of thousands of people on bambuser.com as well as re-distributed to a global multi million audience through  major broadcasters such as BBC, CNN, Sky News and AlJazeera

Abo Mohamed Ibraahahim is part of the Sham News Network (S.N.N.) and is S.N.N.'s manger in Homs. S.N.N. is an important part of the Syrian opposition, ensuring that information about what's happening in Syria is communicated to the world. To follow and learn more about S.N.N. you can read more on their English Facebook page or their Arabic Facebook page.

Bambuser was founded with a fundamental mission: To democratize the power of live video broadcasting. We're dedicated to stay true to our mission

Free speech, free premium

At Bambuser we truly believe in free speech and democracy. Over the past years we've seen more and more activists and citizen journalists use Bambuser to broadcast real-time information about activities and events when they happen. We think that user generated content broadens the overall picture of what's actually going on, and is needed to complement professional news reporting. It can also, as we've seen for example in Syria, break news for the world to see. When traditional media has little or no possibilities to have journalists on site, user generated live streams are essential.

With this is mind, we've decided to give away a special* free Bambuser premium status to activists and citizen journalist users who apply, no matter where in the world they operate. If you'd like to apply, please send an email with your Bambuser username and a brief description of your content, to info@bambuser.com, and we'll be happy to upgrade you. We believe videos from areas with unrest should be ad-free and we also think you should have the opportunity to learn more about your viewers.

If you also want to make your broadcasts available to media outlets around the world via Associated Press, make sure to tick the Allow AP check box in the Settings on your dashboard. If you want to know more about this cooperation, see our blog post Let Associated Press contact you about newsworthy content.

*Ad free player, unlimited viewing hours and storage, player customization options and access to extensive statistics.

Bambuser under attack

Yesterday Bambuser went down for a few hours. We were for the first time subjected to a severe Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. The attack was apparently aimed mainly at Russian citizen journalist users.

We have confirmed that the computers taking part in the attack are part of a known bot network. This botnet is available for rent according to our sources.

Although the attack is still in effect, we have managed to limit the damage. Many thanks for all the patience, support and practical help.

What happened?

May 9, 11:30 CET
We noticed an unusual spike in the load on our servers. This traffic quickly grew while our tech team worked hard on making our site accessible again.

May 9, 13:47 CET
After analyzing the situation, we concluded this was a distributed denial of service attack and informed our users on Twitter.

May 9, 15:19 CET
Bambuser was up and running again, although still under a heavy load from the attack. A few users may unfortunately be affected by our efforts to block the attack.

After 15:19 CET
We have continued our work on minimizing the effect of the attack, which continued with varying strength (and is still going on at the time of writing).

Technical info about the attack

A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a huge flood of network packets intended to take up resources and prevent other people from accessing content. There is no hacking/cracking involved.

As is the nature of DDoS bot networks, the computers that are part of a botnet are often normal PCs in home and office environments and the users are usually not aware that their machine is infected and part of a bot network.

Hence, even though the sources of the network packets are known, it does not mean that one has identified the real origin of the attack.

DDoS attack described on wikipedia.

We're back up again

After hours under attack, we're back up again. We're still under heavy load, but hopefully all will be back to normal very soon.  Many thanks for your patience and empathy.

بعد ساعات تحت الهجوم، ونحن حتى يعود مرة أخرى. ما زلنا تحت الحمل الثقيل، ولكن نأمل جميعا سوف يعود إلى وضعها الطبيعي في وقت قريب جدا. شكرا جزيلا على صبركم والتعاطف.

После нескольких часов под угрозой, мы снова. Мы до сих пор под нагрузкой,но, надеюсь, все вернется к нормальному очень скоро. Большое спасибо за ваше терпение и сочувствие.

We're running hot...

We are currently experiencing something we believe is a DDoS attack, we are terribly sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. We're working around the clock to get back to normal.

We let you know asap we know more. Many thanks for your patience. 


ونحن نشهد حاليا شيء نعتقد أنه هجوم دوس، نحن نأسف بشدة عن أي إزعاج قد يسببه هذا الأمر. نحن نعمل على مدار الساعة لتعود إلى وضعها الطبيعي.

نخبرك في اسرع وقت ممكن ونحن نعلم أكثر من ذلك. شكرا جزيلا على صبركم


Мы сейчас переживаем то, что мы считаем DDoS атаки, мы ужасно извинения за причиненные неудобства это может привести. Мы работаем круглосуточно, чтобы вернуться к нормальной жизни.

Мы сообщим вам как можно скорее мы знаем больше. Большое спасибо за ваше терпение.

Get Premium today!

Bambuser's Premium solutions are used by different organizations, societies, corporations and brands, who all understand and enjoy the benefits of communicating with their audiences through live and interactive video. 


With a Premium account you get ad-free broadcasts, access to extensive statistics about your viewers, online support and much more. Also, you get the opportunity to talk and email with our lovely crew.


Bambuser Premium is simple and engaging, and there's now a great discount! Until May 15, we offer all our Premium packages at a 30 % discount if you sign up for a 12-month contract. It doesn't get much better than this!


Email us at sales@bambuser.com or use the form on our Premium page and we'll get you started.

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.

اجعل أسوشيتد بريس تتواصل معك بخصوص محتوى ذو أهمية إخبارية

ليشاركوها علي مدوناتهم، وتويتر، وفيسبوك، ومواقع اجتماعية آخري.

إبتداءاً من اليوم، يمكن لأي مستخدم بامبوزر أن يصل إلي جمهور في جميع أنحاء العالم من خلال الشبكات الإخبارية لوكالة أنباء الأسوشيتد بريس.

وكالة أنباء الاسوشيتد بريس، والتي تأسست عام 1846، هي أكثر مصدر موثوق فيه للأخبار والمعلومات المستقلة حول العالم. في أي يوم، أكثر من نصف سكان العالم يشاهدوا أخبار تأتي من الاسوشييتد بريس. الموقع الالكتروني للوكالة: www.ap.org.

نحن نعتقد أن الأناس الذين يشاهدون الأحداث عاجلة هم مواطنون في المكان الصحيح والوقت الصحيح، أو نشطاء ومواطنين يقوموا بالتقاط ومشاركة ما يقوموا بتصويره من الخطوط الأمامية أو من موقع الحدث باستخدام برنامج بامبوزر للبث المباشر. ما شاهدناه مؤخرا هو ازدياد تأثير المحتوى الذي ينتجه المواطنون ومساهمته في التقارير الإعلامية الكبرى.

"المحتويات المُنتجة من قبل المستخدم أصبحت جزء لا يتجزأ من تغطية الأخبار العاجلة، وخصوصا عندما تكون الأحداث في نطاق جغرافي يصعب الوصول إليه. وبصفة الاسوشيتد بريس منظمة دولية لتجميع الأخبار متواجدة في أكثر من 300 موقع حول العالم، فإن لديها الخبرة في التحقق من صحة الأخبار والإضافة لها من خلال تقاريرنا" - مارك دايفوس، نائب مدير الفيديو الدولي بالاسوشيتد بريس.

مستخدمي بامبوزر يمكنهم السماح لوكالة الأسوشيتد بريس بتوزيع مقاطع الفيديو الخاصة بهم على جميع وسائل الإعلام على مستوى العالم مع ذكر المصدر بالكامل (اسم المستخدم الخاص بك على بامبوزر سيضاف على مقطع الفيديو أثناء عرضه على التلفاز، سيذكر عند نشره على الانترنت وهكذا)، وذلك من خلال قيام مستخدمي باموزر بالموافقة على شروط الاستخدام الخاصة بالأسوشيتد بريس. يمكن منح الوكالة هذه الموافقة من خلال الإعدادات الموجودة بصفحة لوحة التحكم (Dashboard) الخاصة بك .

الأسوشيتد بريس يمكنها الوصول إلي واستخدام مقاطع الفيديو على بامبوزر التي تعتبرها ذو قيمة إخبارية والتحقق منها. وبموجب الاتفاق بين بامبوزر ووكالة الأسوشيتد بريس، ، فإن الوكالة ستنظر فيه إمكانية استخدام منصة بامبوزر كأداة لتجميع الأخبار للصحفيين بالوكالة.

أسئلة وأجوبة:

1. كيف سيساعد التعاون بين باموزر والأسوشيتد بريس المستخدمين الحاليين والجدد لبامبوزر؟

مستخدمي بامبوزر يقوموا بالفعل ببث مقاطع فيديو ذو أهمية إخبارية، والآن أصبح لديهم الفرصة أن يقوموا بعرض مقاطعهم على جمهور في جميع أنحاء العالم.
2. متى يمكن الاستفادة بهذا؟.
في أي مكان يمتلك فيه الشخص هاتف محمول ويمكنه الاتصال بالانترنت.
3.  هل سيتم ذكر أسم من قام بتصوير مقاطع الفيديو؟.
نعم، مستخدمي بامبوزر الذين سيشاركون مقاطع الفيديو مع الأسوشيتد بريس سيحصلون على التقدير الذي يستحقونه. في جميع استخدامات الأسوشيتد بريس لمقطع الفيديو سيوجد تعريف إلزامي باسم المستخدم الذي قام بتصوير الفيديو.
4.  هل يمكن إلغاء مشاركة مقاطع الفيديو مع الأسوشيتد بريس بعد الموافقة؟
نعم . تستطيع إلغاء مشاركة مقاطع الفيديو في أي وقت.
5. أثناء الموافقة على مشاركة مقاطع الفيديو، لماذا على مستخدمي بامبوزر أن يضيفوا بيانات اتصال؟
إذا كان الفيديو ذو أهمية إخبارية، فإن وكالة الأسوشيتد بريس سترغب في الحصول منك على تفاصيل عن الفيديو. إضافة بيانات الاتصال ستسهل لصحفيي الأسوشيتد بريس أن يتواصلوا معك إذا احتاجوا لذلك.

- الخبر الصحفي على الأسوشيتد بريس.

Chat login options, updates and a reminder

There are always things going on in the Bambuser world. In our last newsletter, we had some news and tips that we would like to share with you here, on our blog as well.

Require login for your chat

If you want to allow chat messages and comments only from users who are logged in, you can now enable this on your Dashboard. In the right column, under Settings and Customize your player, you can check Require login.



This can give you more control over who participates in your chat, and makes moderation more powerful.

Updates for Android

We're constantly improving our mobile applications, and our Android app has recently been updated to version 1.5.2 with many small changes. The update brings improved video encoding to several modern phones, adds support for camera LEDs, and includes many model-specific fixes and tweaks. As always, you can get the latest version through the Google Play Store, formerly known as the Android Market.

Uploading unsent complement data

Being truly LIVE is the most important aspect of Bambuser broadcasting, and our mobile applications are therefore designed to adapt to the varying upload speed of mobile networks. If broadcasting using the chosen quality settings produces more data than your connection can send live, parts of the data may be stored temporarily on your phone instead. This allows us to keep latency at an absolute minimum at all times while you are live.

Keep an eye on the stream health indicator in the mobile app to see how your connection currently handles your chosen settings. If some data can not be sent live, it can be stored in your phone, provided that you have the feature enabled. You may upload any stored unsent data at any time after broadcasting live. When you have uploaded the unsent data for a broadcast, our servers will combine the live-data with the uploaded data, put all the data in the right order and create a smoother broadcast that can be viewed on demand.

You can read more about the stream health concept and complement data on our help page.

Let Associated Press contact you about newsworthy content

More and more Bambuser users are utilizing their handheld devices to capture news stories to share on their blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social media. Starting today, any Bambuser user can also reach a global audience through AP's worldwide network of news organizations.

Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP. On the net: www.ap.org

We think the people with a great view of any breaking news event  are citizens being in the right place at the right time or activists and citizens capturing and sharing their own footage and reports from the frontline or on site by using a livestreaming app,  i.e Bambuser.  What we've seen lately is the increasing impact of this kind of user generated content contributing to the major media stories.

"User generated content has become integral to covering breaking news, particularly where access is restricted. As a global newsgathering organization in more than 300 locations worldwide, AP has the expertise to verify it, and to add context via our own reporting."

- Mark Davies, AP Deputy Director of International Video

Bambuser users can let AP distribute their content with full credit (Bambuser username credited on TV, online etc), to all media globally, by agreeing to AP's terms of use through the Settings on the Bambuser Dashboard.

AP can access and use Bambuser content it vets, verifies and considers newsworthy. As part of the arrangement with Bambuser, AP will also explore the use of Bambuser's live video platform as a news-gathering tool for AP journalists.

FAQ

1. How will this co-operation benefit existing and new Bambuser users?
Bambuser users are already broadcasting their newsworthy content on the Bambuser platform, but now they will be able to expand this to global broadcasters.

2. At what kind of events is this going to prove most useful?
Anywhere where someone has a smart phone and connection.

3. Will Bambuser users be credited?
Yes, every Bambuser user sharing their content with AP will get the recognition they deserve. On all AP scripts there will be a mandatory credit for "Bambuser/Username" and for online video there will be a courtesy graphic.

4. Once someone opts in to share content, can it be undone?
Yes. You can opt-out at any time.

5. Why do Bambuser users need to provide contact details?
If a video is newsworthy, AP will often want to get more story details from you. Providing contact details will make it easier for an AP journalist to get in touch if they need to.

Read more on the net at TNW, GIGA OM, Broadcastnow, Jardenberg.se - including a video interview with AP. Find the full press release at AP.

Broadcast LIVE video directly on your favorite social platform(s)

Did you know that more than 40% of Bambuser's most viewed channels are connected to Facebook? Broadcasting tends to be more relevant and fun when you have a live audience interacting with you. By connecting Bambuser to your favourite social platform(s) you can automatically share your broadcasts on the fly, extend your reach and grow your live audience.



Connect to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Blogger and many more services on your Bambuser Dashboard under Settings and Connect.

It is also possible to disable automatic sharing of broadcasts to Facebook and share only the broadcasts you want to. You share individual broadcasts on your mobile phone by choosing any other connected service from the Share menu while you are broadcasting. Find out more about this on our help page.

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.

World record attempt

Markku Saarinen from Finland is an ultra-athlete specialized in extremely long and consecutive performances. Starting today he is attempting to set an unofficial world record for consecutive biking during the time of 100 hours. The whole attempt will be broadcast LIVE via Bambuser.



Markku is allowing himself bathroom breaks and two to three hours of sleep during these 100 hours. The stunt is a part of the opening ceremony of Cross Training Center Tampere, Finland. The team at Bambuser wishes him all the best of luck.

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.

Rolling out a refreshed video page and player

Exciting times, as we continue our design refresh with a big update to our video pages. With the new look we want to bring greater focus to the video area, increase the contrast between the video and its immediate surroundings. In the process, we're rolling out an updated Flash video player. We believe that the resulting viewing experience is much better overall and definitely looks nicer.



The new video page with its reorganized player and chat brings better support for widescreen (16:9) video, as the layout is automatically adjusted. We've also gathered all sharing-features in a single menu underneath the player.

Links to interesting times

A neat feature that we also rolled out is sharing of video links with timestamps – great if you want to point your friends to a specific part of a longer broadcast.

You can quickly create time-links through the share menu on a broadcast's page or by right clicking in the Flash video player and choosing "Copy broadcast URL for current time".

If you manually want to make a link to 1 minute and 9 seconds into the video, you can take the normal link and add #t=1min9s to make a link like bambuser.com/v/2279611#t=1min9s.

To make your life even easier, the chat also includes new time links. When you watch an on-demand video and follow a replay of the chat, you may click on the time of any chat message to seek directly to that time in the video.

Improved follow system

Added to each broadcast page and embedded video player is the option to let all viewers follow (subscribe to) the broadcaster. It's even possible to follow a broadcaster without signing up, which is great for broadcasters who have an audience where not everybody is on Bambuser.

We hope you enjoy these updates and please feel free to give us feedback. This is just the beginning, we have more great features coming!

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.

Happy 2012

Christmas and the New Year have just passed by and we will try to summarize 2011. There are so many moments we would like to point out, but here's a short recap.



January marked the inception of the Arab Spring. We were thrilled to be one of the services of choice for observers that wanted to broadcast real-time information to the world. The usage rewarded us with mentions in media outlets such as New York Times, Financial Times, BBC, and Wall Street Journal.

Our team enabled broadcasting using hardware accelerated video on many devices, providing a dramatically improved broadcasting and viewing experience.

In April our website and mobile apps began receiving a visual overhaul, with a brand new design created together with our friends at Identity Works. We will continue deployment of the new look in 2012, so stay tuned!

During the summer we rolled out a beta version of a mobile-friendly embed code. Since then we have improved many parts of it and continue to extend it, to eventually replace our old-fashioned Flash-only embed codes entirely.

We saw the dawn of Kaivuriskaba on Bambuser, freely translated to "Mini excavator challenge". Six mini excavators were placed at various malls around Finland and populated by six Finns. The rules were simple: Last man sitting wins the excavator! It was a bit like American Idol, but without the singing and judging.



In late summer our Executive chairman Hans Eriksson headed for a 24-hour live-streamed trip around London, guided only by viewers who tuned in to watch and chat with him. He called it a social media experiment and was so overwhelmed with the result that he set out for a sequel in New York a few weeks later. When summarizing the New York trip Hans said: "It was absolutely the most fantastic travel experience of my life!".

October offered many great updates from our team. We made our developer API public, allowing anyone to creatively integrate Bambuser content. Finding broadcasts by location became more intuitive with the new Map page. The Bambuser app for the Nokia N9 was released already when the phone launched and it delivers stunning quality!

The world experienced a global explosion of a local phenomenon - the Occupy Wall Street Movement. As traditional media often tried to mute the cry for change, activists turned to online broadcasting services such as Bambuser. We were pleased to see many activists and citizen journalists swap from competing services to Bambuser when they realized the differences in mobile live streaming quality and support we provide.

In November our team brought another great feature to all our Android and iOS users: recording video offline. This may not be the same level of innovation as live video broadcasting, but it is an important add-on and quite useful for anyone that is out of network coverage or simply don't want to broadcast live, yet want all video stored on the same service. We've recently added this feature also to our Maemo and Meego apps.

December was all but a slow month. With fantastic efforts from everyone in the development team, we released a major update to our Android and iOS apps in the form of an integrated mobile dashboard. This allows users to manage their account, as well as their broadcasts, within the app.

We saw the uptake of Bambuser among activists and citizen journalists soar. It has been amazing to see how people use Bambuser to let the world know what's happening anywhere, anytime.

Just in time for Christmas we were mentioned by Wired UK as one of the #1 Big Ideas for 2012. Shortly after, The Next Web appointed Bambuser as the #1 Media App of The Year!



It has truly been a fantastic year at Bambuser and I can't describe how proud I am to be a part of the Bambuser team. I couldn't think of a better way to wrap up this year than with the awards above, that I entirely dedicate to our team, users, fans and investors. I'm honored and grateful for your devoted support and I look forward to an even bigger and more exciting year in 2012!

Happy new Year!
Jonas Vig
CEO