Photo, video become one with Glmps for iOS
New free app for iOS devices could change the way we take pictures forever. The company's slogan, "a magical way to share life," may be just that.
Every so often, something comes along that improves an original way of doing things so greatly that you almost can't imagine doing things the old way again. Click on the picture to the right.
In the past, pictures and videos have been separate media. Glmps for iOS devices aims to fuse the two categories together in what one could call a "picvid."
The free app launched today and enables one to take a picture, and capture a video of the brief moment before a shot was snapped. The company's slogan, "a magical way to share life," perhaps is just that.
What makes Glmps so special is its ease of use, simplistic presentation (think Instagram), and forward-thinking compatibility. Content captured with the app is uploaded to a specific URL, embedded on blogs via Flash, or easily shared on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, or Tumblr.
When viewing Glmps media on a standard computer browser, the video is in flash. Mobile users can visit the Glmps URL for that picvid, which is based on the widely compatible HTML5 format, ensuring it will play on most devices.
So far, it appears the video quality isn't the greatest, and can seem jagged in moving sequences. I was unable to get the app to properly run on my iPhone 4 (with the latest firmware) and faced repeated crashes, while others have reported that and other problems in the iTunes App Store. There are mostly very positive reviews, though.
Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with the founders of Glmps by CNET editor at large Rafe Needleman. Business Insider points out that two powerful minds are behind the app: Paul Robinett, an entrepreneur and YouTube superstar with nearly 70 million total views, and programmer Nicholas Long, who is also a senior technical lead at Dreamworks.