

Socialcam Now Available - charlief
http://socialcam.com/

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dskhatri
I would be more excited about this if I didn't have to log in via Facebook.

    
    
      Socialcam is requesting permission to do the following:
      * Access my basic information
      * Access my data any time ("Socialcam may access my data 
        when I'm not using the application")
      * Access my friends' information ("Current Cities, Photos,
        Videos and Photos and Videos of Them")
    

Granted I'm already having a tough time keeping up with all the permissions'
changes when apps get updated on my phone, seeing the above (especially #2 &
3) gives me the heebie-jeebies. Maybe explain why you need these permissions
on socialcam.com? Also, I would rather just create a socialcam user account
and share a video on Facebook when I want to; I realize that would take the
social out of socialcam.

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emmett
You are never forced to share a video on Facebook through SocialCam. We ask
for the permissions so that it's one-click to share, not so that it will
autoshare every time.

Trust me, we use the app all the time and none of us would want it to
autoshare.

As for the particular permissions, they all support the basic functionality of
the app.

We need your basic info so we can set up your name/picture in your profile

We ask for permanent permission so that we can keep that up to date.

We need to be able to access your friends information so that we can help you
find people to follow in the SocialCam.

The reason we ask for each is pretty straightforward. Facebook doesn't have a
particularly granular permissions system, so even though we don't use "current
cities of your friends" we get it anyway.

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robinhouston
I don't think you need the permanent permission just to keep user details up
to date. You can use the real-time updates API for that
(<http://developers.facebook.com/docs/api/realtime/>)

Am I missing a crucial detail?

~~~
minalecs
By going into the facebook privacy settings for that application, you're
allowed to remove some of the individual permissions they ask for. Example:
Access to data at all times can be removed individually.

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citricsquid
I've tried it out with my Nexus One and while it works great
(<http://socialcam.com/v/XANxOwfD>) I don't think I'll switch to it (I'm part
of their audience I guess, I often record short videos with my N1 of stuff I
see to share with my friends) as I can't see what advantages it offers over
Youtube?

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emmett
Biggest advantage: you can tag your friends from the SocialCam app and you
can't from the YouTube app.

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middlegeek
If I was interested in tagging people, why wouldn't I just post it to
Facebook?

~~~
emmett
You _would_ post it to Facebook...which is why we offer one-click post to
facebook.

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ashamedlion
They've done a remarkable job making the UI on the iPhone version not be
sluggish as crap like other camera-centric apps. Kudos to them.

Also, I like the unlimited file size and length; it somehow makes sharing less
stressful in a way?

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danest
I just got the email about it this morning. I have been playing with it during
my snow day. I have not been able to tag my friends in the videos I have made
though.

Great job on the android app, I really enjoy it so far.

~~~
rabidsnail
Haven't been able to because you tried and it was broken, or because there
wasn't anyone to tag?

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samratjp
Sweet! Works great on iPhone 4. Background uploading is such a major pain
killer that no one here seems to be appreciative of. That's a huuuge technical
feat and a major head start and of course am not surprised that JTV guys
nailed it. Congrats!

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dusklight
So I've seen a couple of these types of websites out now. I have never
understood why anyone would want to launch such a service, other than an
exercise for creating a website that uses video? How is it so much better than
the available alternatives that people would want to switch?

Can you explain why people would go through the process of registering to use
your service, over just sharing using youtube links on facebook or facebook
directly?

Do you have a business model? How would you plan to monetize assuming your
service became really successful?

Is the success of twitpic limiting your imagination?

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teaspoon
You might mention prominently on the landing page that Socialcam is free of
charge. That's a lesson that Instagram seems to have taken, anyway:
<http://instagr.am>

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BvS
Will the videos allways be public, public by default or only public if I make
them public?

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justin
Videos are public but there are no central directories or search. The only way
to get a link to a video is from a share (Facebook, Twitter, email, sms) or by
viewing a friend or friend of friend. We might add some form of strict privacy
in the future.

Hope that answers your question!

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greattypo
Really cool.. congrats to the SocialCam team on the launch!

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aresant
Interesting UI decision to feature an HTC branded Android phone on the landing
page when so many other top dual-platform apps (Eg - redlaser) stick to
standard iphone body for landing page mock-ups.

Would be an interesting element to A/B test.

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jazzychad
I thought it was two iPhone's sitting next to each other for a minute, until I
really looked at the one on the right. That HTC looks _way_ too similar to an
iPhone (maybe that's the point?), but I would have used a different looking
phone (even a Nexus One w/ the gray body) to visually differentiate the models
and make it clear that it is a dual-platform app. The screenshots are very
similar and rotate too quickly to really see that they are different apps as
well.

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jshort
Has there been any thought to making use of facial recognition software for
instant tagging. I had a similar idea to Socialcam but for pictures that auto
tag and upload your pictures with location, people, along with some other
features.

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bretthellman
I love the idea, I would use the idea... I'm not ready to adopt the current
version. The UX has way to much going on. I was expecting/hoping for more of
an instagram like experience for video. That would be more interesting to me.

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floozyspeak
I'm really waiting for some great parody videos based on their demo video. It
wasn't like shooting video and uploading it was "hard" before. Its interesting
to see alot of these "DUH" concepts re-emerge with buzz lately.

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jlgosse
So I tried to view the "Welcome to Socialcam" introduction video on my Nexus
One with 2.3.3, and the app ended up hanging every time I tried.

Is this a known issue?

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rhysh
It works for me on our Nexus One with 2.3.3 - can you email us with more
details? rhys@socialcam.com

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sthatipamala
This seems like a semi-resurrection of the original Justin.tv idea of
broadcasting Justin's life via video. (Except now anyone can do it)

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pclark
Is there a story as to why Justin.TV launched this project? seems like an
interesting product for them to go for. (eg: from live to this)

~~~
emmett
It applies a bunch of lessons we learned making a live video broadcasting app
for Justin.tv. The distance is not so large as you'd think (minus the whole
"not live" part).

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minalecs
where do we report bugs ? I created a short test video and went to my Videos
Made screen and on playback don't see anything.

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justin
Please email us at sc@socialcam.com; thanks!

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pclark
Is it just me or is there no way to preview a video before uploading it? --
nor does it record audio?

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emmett
I'm not sure why you'd think it doesn't record audio, it definitely does.

You can't preview a video before upload yet, but it's in the pipeline.

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pclark
a usability bug perhaps: it is a little over zealous if the iPhone is muted -
hides all signs of volume :)

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justin
Yeah, it's not ideal. I think that was the default behavior in the player;
will be worked on later.

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tremendo
Would you say socialcam is a direct competitor to Qik? Does it do live
streaming? video chat?

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_pius
Congrats guys.

You may want to double check the demo video, seems to be down.

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jacobbijani
Why would you show two almost but not quiet identical slideshows of the app?

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Johngibb
Android vs iPhone?

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jacobbijani
It's a really inefficient way to present the fact you support both platforms.

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Void_
How does it make money?

