Qik makes it to the App Store, live streaming a no-show
The once-controversial Qik video application for the iPhone was previously available only on jailbroken iPhones. Now, iTunes sells the app for the iPhone 3GS.
Qik from Qik Inc. is a video application previously only available on jailbroken iPhones. On Thursday, however, Apple made the application available for free in the iTunes App Store for the iPhone 3GS only.
What's different between Qik and Apple's Camera app? Qik lets you capture moments in video to share with family, friends, or the whole world. Unlike the Apple Camera app, which shares via e-mail, MMS, MobileMe, and YouTube, Qik shares video using e-mail, SMS, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, as well as Web sites and your favorite blogging platforms, including Blogger, Tumblr, and Wordpress. Feel like being social? You can post your videos to MySpace and Digg.
There is one big gotcha, however. Qik can't stream live video (which it was originally designed to do), and it only uploads video over a Wi-Fi connection--interesting, since the free Ustream 3GS recording app can upload videos on either a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. (The lack of video streaming in both apps is a limitation imposed on the them by Apple.)
If you record video and don't have immediate access to Wi-Fi, Qik will automatically upload your video once you are connected to Wi-Fi again. If you are connected when you shoot, your video will immediately upload after you stop recording.
Qik also allows you to shoot video in portrait or landscape modes, just like Apple's Camera app. Recorded videos can also take advantage of the iPhone GPS by automatically including location information in your recorded videos.
Update, August 22, 2009 at 9:29 a.m. Pacific: The latest version of Qik that we found in our updates in iTunes today removes the Wi-Fi only restriction for video upload. You may now use 3G and Wi-Fi for video uploading.