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The Next Killer App for Mobile?

LBS (Location Based Service) and Mobile Transactions (e-Commerce / Couponing) are often cited as the next big growth areas / tech for mobile devices. Video is another growth area, but outside of viewing Film/TV content and capturing very low res video, there hasn’t been much to get excited about. That’s why this recent announcement from Ustream (courtesy of Techcrunch) that they have gone mobile, IMO is going to be one of the next big things that combines the best elements of Mobile, Interactive Video and Social Media. This will be big not only in Mobile Marketing but in overall Interactive Marketing as well. As the article mentions:

“The broadcasting app, however, is what we are excited about. It includes integrated chat, audience polling, and GPS mapping. The polling lets broadcasters ask their audience what they want to see or what actions they should take in a live broadcast situation. Another key feature: mobile video broadcasters can send out a message via Twitter or Facebook to their audience to tell them when they are about to start streaming live. (See video below). Under the hood, Ustream has developed its own low-latency streaming technology which reduces the amount of transcoding that needs to be done on the server as well as the amount of buffering that needs to be done on the phone.”

What’s exciting about Ustream heading over to mobile (and iPhone specifically) is that this now allows for real-time ‘interactive’ live streaming. Add in the ‘audience participation’ and you have a mobile version of EdTV. Vacation photos and videos are huge for just about everybody – now imagine streaming your walk up Machu Picchu live to your parents or friends and have them direct a virtual tour? Or doing your own version of ToddTV and illicit instant feedback on what your audience thinks you should do in certain situations (note: this could be dangerous for that 18-24 year-old male demo – why didn’t we have this tech when I was that age???)

Most importantly, this will also be huge for brands that want to use innovative interactive marketing methods for future campaigns. You could easily drive brand awareness and engagement for your product through a real-life, instant ‘webisode’ that adds in a promotion / contest type element for the engaged and active viewer. This is the UGC version of American Idol. This is a future game changer…

P.S. If you haven’t heard of Ustream before think of it as YouTube but for live broadcasts via webcam. Whereas YouTube video is uploaded and then streamed, Ustream is streamed live all across the internet. Ustream was recently in the news for one member’s Shiba Puppy Cam which generated over 14 million views – http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shiba-inu-puppy-cam. This is just a bunch of puppies in a cage – over 14 million views!!

Tags: Facebook, Interactive Marketing, Interactive Video, Location Based Services, Mobile, mobile marketing, Social Media, techcrunch, toddtv, Twitter, ustream, youtube