
Microsoft Xim - emadelwany
http://www.getxim.com/
======
JoblessWonder
Once again Microsoft being pretty low-key with the fact that this is a
Microsoft product just like they did with Sway. [1]

    
    
      * No mention in the title bar or above the fold.
      * First mention of Microsoft is in the footer.
      * iOS App Store and Google Play links are before the Window Phone Store.
      * Mockups include iOS looking device and Androidy Device (however the largest one might be a Windows Phone?)
    

[1] [https://www.sway.com](https://www.sway.com) *Although they have now added
this annoying Microsoft Toolbar dropdown-thingy which wasn't there on launch
day. Interesting.

~~~
tdicola
This is from FUSE labs which is a little team inside MS who do research on new
experiences and such. They don't really produce 'products' like Office,
OneDrive, etc. They make neat demos and if they get enough traction try to
influence the bigger products to adopt them.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Kodu was more than a demo.

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fataliss
For a second I thought it would be some kind of editor vim style but Microsoft
made. But no, just an other photo app. Can you still generate any revenue out
of this kind of app in 2014? I feel like the market is pretty dense already,
between dropbox, instagram, flickr ... plenty of apps already in the
landscape, why an other?

~~~
chc
It's by Microsoft Research. Not everything they make is meant to be a direct
revenue driver.

~~~
jordanpg
Keyword being "direct". Publicly no doubt they have mission statements that
read like they're trying to save the planet. Privately, they are tasked with
exploring the margins of new paths to revenue. (NOTE: pure speculation.)

~~~
chc
I don't feel like you are very familiar with Microsoft Research. While I'm
sure Microsoft ultimately expects to benefit from their work, it's pretty far
out there to suggest that their mission is discovering revenue streams or
anything like that. Like, do you really believe Microsoft intends to monetize
Haskell?

~~~
jordanpg
I did mention that I was speculating, so yes, I'm not at all familiar with
Microsoft Research.

However, I've yet to work at a place where I wasn't surrounded by p* managers
who weren't falling over themselves to get involved with some new idea that
would lead to revenue somehow. On the business side of the house, I don't
think anyone gets up in the morning if it can't be linked to revenue.

So, yeah, I'm comfortable saying that Microsoft Research is swarming with
people looking for new revenue streams. Swarming.

~~~
mead5432
That is wrong, how? Revenue streams (and corresponding cash flows) are the
lifeblood of any business. It's a nice notion to build an organization solely
to do cool things but, if you don't make money somehow you'll go out of
business and will never be able to do cool things.

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nilkn
Putting the snark aside for a second, if this app works as well as it's
claimed to, then I actually think it's an awesome idea. I really dislike
handing my phone over to other people, even to show them a photo or video, and
if I'm wanting to show something to 3+ people at once there's no truly
convenient way to do that anyway. I've already installed this and will
definitely be trying it out at the next opportunity.

~~~
darushimo
I agree with the use case, but most of the time I show someone a photo, it a
fairly quick process. Comparing (1) how you share photos now to (2) how you
share photos w/ Xim: (1) "wanting to share photo-> pull out phone-> unlock
phone-> open photos app-> select photo-> show people your phone" is a lot
faster and easier than (2) "wanting to share photo-> pull out phone-> unlock
phone-> open Xim-> select images _- > add or select contacts_* -> send message
-> wait for others to receive message-> they pull out phone (if not already)->
they unlock phone-> they open the message-> they are redirected (to app or
website)-> they can see the photo"

I don't think this use case is definitive, i just meant it as an illustration
of "it will take longer to share photos with Xim."

I think this MIGHT be ok if you only had to go through a laborious process the
first time you used the app or viewed a Xim, but I think you have to go
through that whole process (minus the adding the contact) every time you
share. This app is trying to work at that intersection of cyber- and meat-
space, and I think the handoffs will just take too long.

The ironic use case--this could be a great tool for remotely sharing photos.
But if you're doing that, wouldn't you be using your phone to talk with the
other viewers about the photos? ;-(

* Seems more likely you're trying to show more than 1 photo, as it's fairly easy to show a single photo to many people. __Similar to above, and like you were saying, it 's fairly easy to show 1 or 2 people a series of photos on your phone.

~~~
ep103
what about distance? Can xim do it with my friend wherever they are?

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jimueller
Unlike many in the comments, I don't think this is a useless app. I don't
particularly enjoy passing my phone around, and sometimes it's a nice way of
showing everyone photos at the same time.

At first I thought this was Nokia Photobeamer v2 [1], but it appears to be a
completely separate app.

[1][https://photobeamer.com/](https://photobeamer.com/)

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johnm1019
This is a surprisingly simple idea which I'm surprised nobody else did first.
Neat idea. +1 on you guys for making it so only one person needs the app too!

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teebot
Interesting feat is only one person needs the Xim app installed for all to
participate

~~~
0x0
I'm guessing the app has a small built-in webserver - or perhaps relays
through a 3rd party webserver - and the others join up in their browser using
some kind of websocket like transport? Wonder if they direct the others to the
app user's phone's internal wifi IP?

~~~
Istof
that would make sense but they keep more control when they use the cloud
instead of a built-in web server

~~~
philjackson
Actually, it wouldn't make that much sense. You couldn't guarantee that two
phones were on the same network.

~~~
Istof
either way they have to be on the same network, cloud or no cloud, but
anyways, most phones nowadays are connected to the Internet...

~~~
philjackson
To use a local webserver, they would have to be on the same network
(unlikely). To use the cloud based service, they would have to be on the
internet (likely).

~~~
Istof
my local webserver is internet accessible (like many)

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undata
Thank god; another way to share photos with my friends.

~~~
jackmaney
I know, right! I mean, there's already Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr,
Imgur, Dropbox, Google Drive, Google+, email, MMS, LinkedIn, Myspace, and
hosting one's own site. But we need more options to share blurry photos of
backgrounds or mediocre desserts.

~~~
untog
We got the joke.

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roywiggins
I assume the idea is to replicate the experience of projecting your vacation
slides onto the wall and forcing your loved ones to watch?

~~~
gagege
Yes, and that's actually an activity I (and probably many others) enjoy.

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NicoJuicy
Too bad the app can't be installed when you are living in Belgium from the
Google Play Store(i don't see a valid reason)

~~~
koyote
Or the UK.

This localised internet is really starting to get to me.

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rayiner
Trying to turn it into a verb (xim it) and a noun (add to the xim). Aggressive
marketing.

~~~
romanovcode
What's wrong with that?

~~~
tdicola
Ask Zune folks how well squirt worked out for them.

~~~
owenversteeg
I agree with your point, but I also want to point out that the term also has
sexual connotations, which (in my experience) made up the bulk of the negative
comments about it.

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DigitalSea
I think this app is actually pretty cool, especially in situations where you
want to show family at a table photos from your latest trip or weekend
adventures.

It is such a shame that the scroll performance on this site is so horrible
(performance wise), scroll up and down and you will see this behaviour first-
hand.

~~~
Aldo_MX
Strange, I used Chromepera and it reports < 10% CPU usage when scrolling the
mouse like a maniac.

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ChuckMcM
Nicely done, I'm a bit surprised there isn't more of this. When you see
several people there with their phones and only one has the content everyone
wants to see, it makes a lot of sense to be able to "cast" it to everyone's
screen.

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fillskills
This reminds me so much of one of my favourite apps ever - Google Hello:
[http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-05-08-n15.html](http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-05-08-n15.html)

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akbar501
My guess would be that we'll see more of these shared/sync'd experience apps
in the future.

A phone is personal so experiencing the pictures on __your __phone makes it
more personal.

~~~
gbog
I don't know if it exists already, but what I would like is a Bluetooth mixing
app: say it is installed on my phone, I connect to speakers and I can play
music from my phone. Buddies around can connect by Bluetooth to my phone and
"play" some other track to me. Then a fader allows me to mix both tracks to
the speakers.

------
ableal
Better details here: [http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/microsoft-
xim/36...](http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/microsoft-
xim/3627bc99-5f9d-4bbd-bb87-69eead70e28d)

Excerpts:

 _• Xims only stick around for a little while so you can enjoy the moment with
no storage or organization overhead

• Xim is available for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 8 devices and works
in most web browsers

• Xim will initially be available in US and Canada only; we plan to add
additional country support shortly_

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jordanpg
I have to imagine that this is part of a larger plan to rope people into an MS
ecosystem by getting folks to use useful utilities one at a time. I can think
of another company that did this a few years back with disparate utilities:
Google. Recall gmail, Picasa, Reader, Maps, etc. Standalone in the early 2000s
and now if you use one, you likely use them all.

Also, a pretty unsubtle rebranding campaign: "Made with love by Microsoft
Research FUSE Labs"??

~~~
stormbrew
> Recall gmail, Picasa, Reader, Maps, etc. Standalone in the early 2000s and
> now if you use one, you likely use them all.

I don't think I know anyone who uses 'them all' even from this small list. Of
course, Reader doesn't even exist anymore. And I know no one who uses picasa
as far as I know. People use gmail and maps, but not really as integrated
components or because of their use of anything else in the google ecosystem.

I mean yes, I agree that this is a very google-ish strategy, but I also don't
think it's really driven a lot of cross-app use. And when they tried to push
G+ through that channel people screamed bloody murder at it.

~~~
vertex-four
Picasa doesn't exist any more as a standalone product - its backend is just
what you use if you upload a photo to G+, or share a photo from an Android
phone, these days.

------
skbohra123
Not compatible with Moto G (Android KitKat), this is the first app I have came
across which is not compatible with this device.

Edit - "Xim will initially be available in US and Canada only; we plan to add
additional country support shortly" Ah!

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chj
Why did they call it "Xim"? Sounds like a x-window instant messenger to me.

------
gggggggg
Pretty sure something like this was on my Lumia from Nokia a year ago.

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rikkus
"Sorry, this app isn’t available in your market."

Windows Phone, UK.

~~~
sergiosgc
Yup, same here. Nexus 5, Portugal. They probably region-locked it to the US.

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wehadfun
This would be great if it was not limited to pictures. There still is not a
great way to share your phone screen with a computer or another phone.

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free2rhyme214
I don't see the point in this product when I can share photos with others
using Dropbox, Google Drive or even OneDrive.

~~~
notmarkus
I think that it's not meant to replace those. It's meant to replace the act of
passing your phone around in person — say, around a dinner table — in order to
show photos to the people you're with.

~~~
jbob2000
So what's wrong with passing the phone around?

Now I have to ask everyone to pull out their phones.

"Mine is in my purse, let me go grab it" "I left mine in the car, oops" "My
battery is dead"

Then I have to text/email them the link.

"I didn't get the link" "I have no service here"

Whereas, passing a phone literally takes a millisecond.

~~~
sliverstorm
It leaves you in control of the "show". If you have a series of pictures, for
example, you pick when to move to the next photo, and can narrate as you do.
You don't have to think about them flipping beyond the photos you wanted to
share. They don't have to figure out how to work your phone.

It's certainly easier to pass around a phone, of course, but I can see the
flaws.

This is a place where NFC would really be a step up though. Tap-to-share-
screen, instead of having to find contacts and numbers and sending texts.

~~~
FiddlerClamp
I tried it out - the person you're sharing the Xim with can also control the
slideshow.

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jbob2000
I never really had any problems with sharing/showing photos, don't see the
purpose in this app.

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reitanqild
Not available for any of my devices. (Note 2 etc) I guess that means somebody
forgot Europeans exist?

~~~
Spearchucker
It requires a US phone number. I believe it will be rolled out internationally
too, no idea of timelines though.

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ape4
The group viewing is a nice idea. But I am not keen to put my photos into
another garden.

~~~
gagege
Yeah, would be nice if this launched a little web server on your device with a
temporary url for people to connect to. I feel like this is how social
networking should work too, but that's a whole nother story.

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OoTheNigerian
Looks good. Not Available to my devices. I am guessing it is restricted by
region.

I'm in Nigeria

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wasyl
Shame Android app is restricted by country - can't install it here in Poland

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89vision
I thought for sure this would be a really efficient text editor.

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janaagaard
I can't find the app in the Danish App Store. :-/

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johnhenry
I'm not sure if I'll get much use out of this, but at least Microsoft is
starting to release their software simultaneously on all three platforms.
Hopefully others will follow suit.

~~~
manojlds
If you go to /r/WindowsPhone, you will see complaints that MS releases /
updates apps for iOS and Android much before WP.

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Zaheer
Is the website down? Anyone have a cache?

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totmann
Gonna give it a try sometime.

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crantanplum
So uhhh. How do you pronounce Xim?

KS-im? Zz-im? SHim?

~~~
dynamic99
According to the way it was pronounced in the video on the bottom of the page,
it's Zim.

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ahmett
Unlike everybody else, when it's Microsoft, iOS app comes the last.

~~~
inigoesdr
Is that a joke? It's the first one on my screen.

~~~
ahmett
Click on it.

~~~
inigoesdr
Ah, that makes more sense. They're probably just waiting for it to get
approved. The Android and Windows app approval process tends to be much faster
in my experience.

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kevinchau
This has Zune written all over it.

“wirelessly transfer a song you want to share to your zune friends, they can
play it just a little bit"

Then Steve Jobs said something like:

“if you’re on the subway and want to share a song with someone cool, why fuck
around with sending a demo song, just take off 1 earbud and listen to the
music together"

Edit: "Just put it(the earbud) in her ear" [http://gizmodo.com/207754/steve-
jobs-on-zune-wifi-getting-yo...](http://gizmodo.com/207754/steve-jobs-on-zune-
wifi-getting-you-laid)

~~~
teh_klev
>"Just put it(the earbud) in her ear"

There's a whole sharing earwax and hygiene thing I'm just not comfortable with
there.

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csel
Marketing gimmick sometimes frustrates the hell out of me.

1\. (No app required) - but the person hosting the photos need to install the
app?

2\. (Download on the Apple Store icon)- Yet clicking on it will give you a
coming soon page. Will it kill you to put a "Coming Soon" text below the icon
?

Of course, I am still trying to wrap my head around the use case for this
concept, especially when you have a dozen other ways to solve this problem. Oh
wait, what was the problem again?

