5 ms·

TapIn.tv (YC S12) Brings Instantaneous Live Video Streaming To The iPhone

79 points by psc 14y ago

dwynings 14y ago
Pretty funny to see a video from a Color employee: http://www.tapin.tv/#video/132bdb3fbadc4fa0ae89a640ece9e918/1344465928 http://www.tapin.tv/#video/132bdb3fbadc4fa0ae89a640ece9e918/...
killyourheros 14y ago
How do these YC/Techcrunch post gain such massive amounts of votes in the first 20min? With no comments? Already 14 at the 13 minute mark.
- apawloski 14y ago
  Take a look at the TLD and you'll find your answer. Whether it's positive or negative, I don't know -- but here it's their ball and thus their ballgame.
  - tylermenezes 14y ago
    One of the first thing pg tells everyone in YC is that YC founders aren't treated any differently by the Hacker News software and moderators. A lot of the upvotes come from the fact that people share TechCrunch stories with everyone they know. There seems to be a big feedback loop effect with TechCrunch.
rabidsnail 14y ago
Did YC know that Justin.tv already has a live broadcasting app? Doesn't YC have a policy against funding competing startups?
- mbs348 14y ago
  The Geo and citizen journalism angle I think makes these guys really unique. Also, its just really really fast and easy to start streaming. When it is that easy, you start living streaming everything.
  - irollboozers 14y ago
    That's what I like, even they originally pitched as a way to stream for conferences (including a very weirdly streamed TEDx conference), what they've built is the best streaming tool out there for one to many. David, Tyler, Paul, and Vu have built something awesome that allows anyone to create. I already know people who can't stop using it. I just wonder what happens once it explodes...
  - lelandbatey 14y ago
    The geographic aspect of Tapin is one of the things that I like the most. It makes finding video relevant to me so much easier, and it's something I really haven't seen in other sharing contexts. I'm pretty excited for Tapin.tv
- ddt 14y ago
  Here's a link to the YC FAQ where they talk about competition: http://ycombinator.com/faq.html http://ycombinator.com/faq.html. That said, I don't think we're a competitor to Justin.tv's live streaming app. We're angling toward fastest video possible, rather than live video that gets recorded.
  - pbreit 14y ago
    From the FAQ: Will you fund multiple startups working on the same idea? Yes.
    - ddt 14y ago
      Yep. I'd argue it's not the same idea, but with such a volume of portfolio companies, some will look similar.
sethbannon 14y ago
I'm really looking forward seeing how this app is used to live broadcast interactions with police. Confiscating a phone and deleting it's contents will no longer be such a hot option.
- ddt 14y ago
  And, anything streamed can't be confiscated. You aren't obligated to show a police officer anything not physically on your phone if they're arresting you.
  - saulrh 14y ago
    They might have to do some work to become resistant to takedowns, but that's a very long-term deal. Just getting the content off the phone is good for the short term.
    - ddt 14y ago
      Absolutely. I should've made it more clear, but I'm working on the project.
      - saulrh 14y ago
        Heh, not your fault, I got that part. Should have looked at the username more closely before responding. :P
blake8086 14y ago
This seems like it has the potential to replace a great deal of what "news" does for us now. We can literally see what is happening, when it is happening, with no editing. Building on fire? 10 phones point at it. Major disaster? 10 more phones. Amusing thing, anywhere? 10 phones, and it's archived for anyone to watch later.
- ddt 14y ago
  You've hit the nail on the head. We're looking to make that sort of video as streamlined as possible.
mulligan 14y ago
http://bambuser.com/ http://bambuser.com/ was doing effectively the same thing during the Egyptian protests.
- ddt 14y ago
  Bambuser has done some great things. I think there's still a lot of room for improvement in the live video sharing space.
marknutter 14y ago
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is very similar to what color.com ended up doing, right?
- ddt 14y ago
  A few differences. We have sound, unlimited video length and have a much heavier focus on content creation. The current app is entirely for content creation while the web end is consumption.
jcfrei 14y ago
"With today’s generation of on-demand mobile video apps, users also have the option of adding filters, title cards, and other crap before posting video." (Ryan Lawler, Author)
tbenst 14y ago
Excellent work. Live video streaming has wide applications, glad to see you made it so easy to share spontaneous moments.
- ddt 14y ago
  Thanks!
jenntoda 14y ago
Wait, you got live stream video with SOUND without needing a $41M price tag? And we get to see everyone testing out Tapin.tv live lolz... Looks like fun, would love to see more tagging and sorting of what's available to watch - I'll look forward to more features to come! Great job guys!
- ddt 14y ago
  Thanks! We figured sound would be something people would want along with their video so we included it.
- Xcelerate 14y ago
  I've got it in my own Android project for $0. The problem is the bandwidth if I ever want to scale it up...
Xcelerate 14y ago
There's kind of this race to be the first popular streaming video service. I've been working on something myself this past summer for Android. The difficulty is that you have to create something that can stream video at a high quality despite a poor connection. People will tolerate compression artifacts in a live stream, but on replay the video should be full quality. I think I've come up to a solution for this, but I've had to dig through a bunch of compression research papers. Of course, if my little hobby ever takes off at some point I don't know what I'll do -- without a good way to monetize quickly, there's no way I can afford the bandwidth of streaming video.
- yarone 14y ago
  I'm working on something similar and we are looking for an Android dev to lead the Android implementation. Would you be interested in having a brief phone call? My contact info is in my profile.
- jervisfm 14y ago
  I am curious : would you mind sharing the research papers that you found to be useful ?
jmharvey 14y ago
I really like the focus on geography as a way of organizing content.
sunsu 14y ago
If I could just live stream without saving it at the end I might use this, but I can't stand it if it automatically saves. Same issue I had with Qik.
- psc 14y ago
  We're doing a huge feature build out right now, and there will definitely be an option to delete your video as soon as you're done streaming.
pka 14y ago
I did exactly the same thing in 2008 for the Google Android Challenge. After starting the app, you would see two big buttons - browse and stream - and clicking on stream would automatically start, well, recording and streaming video. Only after you were done you were required to enter a description and optionally a category (concert, hot event, journalism, sightseeing, etc) of the video you just shot. Everything would be geotagged and browsable by category, description and radius. Say you wanted to check out the clubs in a 1km radius - just filter by that criteria and see where the hot party is. There is some protest going on right now and you want to see what is happening? Check it out in real time. You are late for a concert and don't wanna miss out? Just watch one of the 50 streams being recorded live. Want to see how war really looks like? You can. There was a gmaps overlay and some other features I don't remember anymore. Anyways, I didn't get sponsored (the best 100 or so apps got $25k), and with 10 other competing live streaming services I kinda scrapped the project. Fun to see how history repeats itself, although I thought this was already a solved problem. Maybe I should have pressed on back then :)
- yarone 14y ago
  Interesting. Would you be willing to have a short chat? I am working on something similar. Email in my profile.
cjrp 14y ago
I remember using Qik[1] on my Nokia N97 a few years ago and thinking the idea was awesome. Without wifi or bundled data packages it was kind of expensive, obviously not an issue anymore. http://qik.com/ http://qik.com/

79 points by psc 14y ago

Pretty funny to see a video from a Color employee: http://www.tapin.tv/#video/132bdb3fbadc4fa0ae89a640ece9e918/1344465928 http://www.tapin.tv/#video/132bdb3fbadc4fa0ae89a640ece9e918/...

killyourheros 14y ago

How do these YC/Techcrunch post gain such massive amounts of votes in the first 20min? With no comments? Already 14 at the 13 minute mark.

apawloski 14y ago
Take a look at the TLD and you'll find your answer. Whether it's positive or negative, I don't know -- but here it's their ball and thus their ballgame.
- tylermenezes 14y ago
  One of the first thing pg tells everyone in YC is that YC founders aren't treated any differently by the Hacker News software and moderators. A lot of the upvotes come from the fact that people share TechCrunch stories with everyone they know. There seems to be a big feedback loop effect with TechCrunch.

rabidsnail 14y ago

Did YC know that Justin.tv already has a live broadcasting app? Doesn't YC have a policy against funding competing startups?

mbs348 14y ago
The Geo and citizen journalism angle I think makes these guys really unique. Also, its just really really fast and easy to start streaming. When it is that easy, you start living streaming everything.
- irollboozers 14y ago
  That's what I like, even they originally pitched as a way to stream for conferences (including a very weirdly streamed TEDx conference), what they've built is the best streaming tool out there for one to many. David, Tyler, Paul, and Vu have built something awesome that allows anyone to create. I already know people who can't stop using it. I just wonder what happens once it explodes...
- lelandbatey 14y ago
  The geographic aspect of Tapin is one of the things that I like the most. It makes finding video relevant to me so much easier, and it's something I really haven't seen in other sharing contexts. I'm pretty excited for Tapin.tv
ddt 14y ago
Here's a link to the YC FAQ where they talk about competition: http://ycombinator.com/faq.html http://ycombinator.com/faq.html. That said, I don't think we're a competitor to Justin.tv's live streaming app. We're angling toward fastest video possible, rather than live video that gets recorded.
- pbreit 14y ago
  From the FAQ: Will you fund multiple startups working on the same idea? Yes.
  - ddt 14y ago
    Yep. I'd argue it's not the same idea, but with such a volume of portfolio companies, some will look similar.

sethbannon 14y ago

I'm really looking forward seeing how this app is used to live broadcast interactions with police. Confiscating a phone and deleting it's contents will no longer be such a hot option.

ddt 14y ago
And, anything streamed can't be confiscated. You aren't obligated to show a police officer anything not physically on your phone if they're arresting you.
- saulrh 14y ago
  They might have to do some work to become resistant to takedowns, but that's a very long-term deal. Just getting the content off the phone is good for the short term.
  - ddt 14y ago
    Absolutely. I should've made it more clear, but I'm working on the project.
    - saulrh 14y ago
      Heh, not your fault, I got that part. Should have looked at the username more closely before responding. :P

blake8086 14y ago

This seems like it has the potential to replace a great deal of what "news" does for us now. We can literally see what is happening, when it is happening, with no editing. Building on fire? 10 phones point at it. Major disaster? 10 more phones. Amusing thing, anywhere? 10 phones, and it's archived for anyone to watch later.

ddt 14y ago
You've hit the nail on the head. We're looking to make that sort of video as streamlined as possible.

mulligan 14y ago

http://bambuser.com/ http://bambuser.com/ was doing effectively the same thing during the Egyptian protests.

ddt 14y ago
Bambuser has done some great things. I think there's still a lot of room for improvement in the live video sharing space.

marknutter 14y ago

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is very similar to what color.com ended up doing, right?

ddt 14y ago
A few differences. We have sound, unlimited video length and have a much heavier focus on content creation. The current app is entirely for content creation while the web end is consumption.

jcfrei 14y ago

"With today’s generation of on-demand mobile video apps, users also have the option of adding filters, title cards, and other crap before posting video." (Ryan Lawler, Author)

tbenst 14y ago

Excellent work. Live video streaming has wide applications, glad to see you made it so easy to share spontaneous moments.

ddt 14y ago
Thanks!

jenntoda 14y ago

Wait, you got live stream video with SOUND without needing a $41M price tag? And we get to see everyone testing out Tapin.tv live lolz... Looks like fun, would love to see more tagging and sorting of what's available to watch - I'll look forward to more features to come! Great job guys!

ddt 14y ago
Thanks! We figured sound would be something people would want along with their video so we included it.
Xcelerate 14y ago
I've got it in my own Android project for $0. The problem is the bandwidth if I ever want to scale it up...

Xcelerate 14y ago

There's kind of this race to be the first popular streaming video service. I've been working on something myself this past summer for Android. The difficulty is that you have to create something that can stream video at a high quality despite a poor connection. People will tolerate compression artifacts in a live stream, but on replay the video should be full quality. I think I've come up to a solution for this, but I've had to dig through a bunch of compression research papers. Of course, if my little hobby ever takes off at some point I don't know what I'll do -- without a good way to monetize quickly, there's no way I can afford the bandwidth of streaming video.

yarone 14y ago
I'm working on something similar and we are looking for an Android dev to lead the Android implementation. Would you be interested in having a brief phone call? My contact info is in my profile.
jervisfm 14y ago
I am curious : would you mind sharing the research papers that you found to be useful ?

jmharvey 14y ago

I really like the focus on geography as a way of organizing content.

sunsu 14y ago

If I could just live stream without saving it at the end I might use this, but I can't stand it if it automatically saves. Same issue I had with Qik.

psc 14y ago
We're doing a huge feature build out right now, and there will definitely be an option to delete your video as soon as you're done streaming.

pka 14y ago

I did exactly the same thing in 2008 for the Google Android Challenge. After starting the app, you would see two big buttons - browse and stream - and clicking on stream would automatically start, well, recording and streaming video. Only after you were done you were required to enter a description and optionally a category (concert, hot event, journalism, sightseeing, etc) of the video you just shot. Everything would be geotagged and browsable by category, description and radius. Say you wanted to check out the clubs in a 1km radius - just filter by that criteria and see where the hot party is. There is some protest going on right now and you want to see what is happening? Check it out in real time. You are late for a concert and don't wanna miss out? Just watch one of the 50 streams being recorded live. Want to see how war really looks like? You can. There was a gmaps overlay and some other features I don't remember anymore. Anyways, I didn't get sponsored (the best 100 or so apps got $25k), and with 10 other competing live streaming services I kinda scrapped the project. Fun to see how history repeats itself, although I thought this was already a solved problem. Maybe I should have pressed on back then :)

yarone 14y ago
Interesting. Would you be willing to have a short chat? I am working on something similar. Email in my profile.

cjrp 14y ago

I remember using Qik[1] on my Nokia N97 a few years ago and thinking the idea was awesome. Without wifi or bundled data packages it was kind of expensive, obviously not an issue anymore. http://qik.com/ http://qik.com/