Home videos go mobile with MoboFlix
Melodeo's new product will pay creators of popular vids.
Up until now, Seattle start-up Melodeo has concerned itself mostly with a sort of "social podcast" business model that combines an audio directory, user profiles, and an appeal to customers who are interested in mobile podcast listening via its Mobilcast product. It's had some success, inking deals with cell phone carriers. But now the company has launched something completely different: MoboFlix, which aims to be a sort of YouTube for mobile videos.
The concept is this. Use your camera phone to film a mobile video, submit it to the MoboFlix site, and it can be viewed by family, friends, and stalkers (I mean "interested site visitors") both on the Web and on MoboFlix's mobile app. And there's a cool perk in that you can get paid. Ad support and mobile download charges will make it possible for the creators of popular, frequently-viewed MoboFlix picks to get compensation for their, uh, cinematic creations.
Announced yesterday, MoboFlix is in an uber-beta mode (after all, the official Web site says it's "not quite ready for prime time") and is allowing interested "mobile video directors" to sign up for a test run. Additionally, Melodeo has put out a call to wireless operators who may be interested in adopting MoboFlix for their carriers.
Maybe it's finally time for this Stone Age reporter to get a camera phone.