Qik is a ground breaking video streaming service. Basically and very simply put they allow you to film from your mobile and stream directly to a central server which in turn broadcasts the stream to other mobile or web sites. They have a few competitors like Kyte and Flixwagon but have a significant lead.

Following is a simple diagram that demonstrates what it is that Qik does :

Here are some real life shots of what people stream. This is the most eloquent explanation of the rather trivial.. but actually kind of exciting and even scary possibilities that the mobile using Qik offers :

They have taken a rather interesting challenge to make this service available to the largest number of users by make a Java app that can be downloaded to non smart phones. It opens the doors to feature phones that a large audience uses.. and therefore make it possible that this could really go mass.. meaning the billions of Java enabled phones.. in Asia and South America.. along with Europe, Africa and of course the USA.

Here are the mobiles with which it is compatible in its Alpha launch :

Nokia handsets now supported: 5300, 6300, 6500 classic, 6500 slide, Nokia 6555, Nokia 8800 Arte

Sony Ericsson handsets now supported: K850, K858, W890, W910, W908, K660, G502, Z750

It will be interesting to see if there is really an up-take of this service as it could be very addictive. Lets watch and see.

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