Can You Watch A VideoCast on Your Cell Phone?
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Someone must be reading my mind because watching a VideoCast (or “video podcast” ) on a cell phone is actually something I have been thinking quite a bit about over the last few weeks.
And the answer is a definite “yes” although it’s not necessarily as straight forward a process as we all would like.
I have one of the new Apple 3G iPhones and this functionality is built-in through iTunes which runs both on the phone and on my desktop computer. First, on my computer, I subscribe to a Video Podcast through iTunes. Then when I connect my iPhone to my computer iTunes launches and it has the ability to sync or move the video to my iPhone, that is assuming that the VideoCast was recorded in a format meeting Apple’s specifications for iPhone video content. This is important because not all VideoCasts are recorded in a format that can be played on the iPhone.
On my iPhone the videos actually are viewed from the built-in iPod functionality. I select the iPod application and then “Videos” where I can watch the VideoCasts in either standard or the wider landscape modes.
Okay, but what if you don’t have an iPhone? As shocking as that is to me, people actually do make other choices when it comes to their cell phone of choice. Well here I have two “work arounds” for viewing VideoCasts on your cell phone. The first method is based upon Web browsing.
Most “smart” cell phones today have a built-in Web browser. The overall quality of the viewing experience varies widely by the particular make and model of cell phone and the cell phone carrier. Most VideoCasts are available somewhere for online viewing. Many have their own blog site from which the episodes can be watched. You’ll note that, for instance, mine does. So the basic idea here is that you use your cell phone’s Web browser to view the site with the desired video and you take your chances on the experience.
Here’s a second option for non-iPhone users. About a month ago I came across a company called BlueApple.mobi (they are in the process of changing their name to VuClip) which works with companies and individuals who create or distribute online videos. Their system allows companies to add a “send this video to a cell phone” functionality to their site. The site visitor basically just decides they want to have the video on their cell phone (or they want to send it to a friend), they enter in a cell phone number and hit “go.” BlueApple then acts as an intermediary and converts the source video into a format that can play on that particular make and model of cell phone.
It’s actually a neat idea. Of course, this will only be helpful to you if the VideoCast you are interested in has utilized the BlueApple technology and since they are still rather new to the space - the chances of that are not yet very good.
So there you have it… a few different ways to get VideoCast content onto your cell phone. No doubt they are many more ways to do it. If you think of any, please use the comments field to let me know.
Tags: 3G, cell phone, iPhone, video podcast, videocast