Qik, Brightcove Create Online Home for Mobile Video

Qik, a service that lets users share live videos recorded on mobile phones, has joined the Brightcove Alliance, a group of more than 160 technology, distribution, and solution providers that integrate with and build upon Brightcove’s on-demand online-video platform.

"The partnership opens up new distribution and monetization opportunities for Qik users who have Brightcove accounts by enabling them to publish mobile video content through Brightcove players and integrate ads into their mobile video content via Brightcove," Qik co-founder Bhaskar Roy says in a blog post published on the Brightcove website.

Brightcove, meanwhile, can now offer its customers the ability to upload videos from more than 130 mobile phones, including models from AT&T, BlackBerry, Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Sprint, and Verizon. These videos enable Brightcove "to add a new, cost-effective source of publisher-produced and user-generated video to their mix of online content," according to Roy.

The partnership is also bringing several new features to both Qik and Brightcove. For example, Qik users can automatically upload videos to Brightcove, manually share content via Brightcove by clicking a Share button, and add tags that enable the Brightcove Media Module to automatically organize files. Currently, live mobile videos cannot be streamed through Brightcove, but that ability is expected to be added shortly, according to Roy.

To promote the integration, Qik is offering 3 free months of service, which would normally cost $450 total, to both new and existing Brightcove members who sign up for an annual account before July 15, Roy says. Those who wish to take advantage of the offer should send an email to brightcove@qik.com.

Brightcove is also reaching out to Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users with the Brightcove iPhone Video Site package. Those interested in the offer can contact Brightcove Professional Services, which will create a site optimized for the iPhone and iPod Touch that contains either a user’s full Brightcove video library or only selected playlists.

"After launch, no added development or additional steps in your workflow are required to update your iPhone site on an ongoing basis," Brightcove vice president of professional services Eric Elia says in a blog post on the Brightcove website. "When you add a new video to a playlist in the Brightcove Studio, it will update automatically on the iPhone site."

The site uses H.264 video and plays files natively on iPhones and iPod Touchs via QuickTime.