3 Comments »Apparently the people at Justin.tv think it’s nuts to charge money for a service so last night they introduced the “Live” application, which lets Facebook Page administrators instantly create a tab with streaming video. The new application is straight forward to use and includes Facebook’s live stream box on the side to enable viewers to communicate while watching. In essence it duplicates what Justin.tv and Ustream.tv already provide on their destination sites.
To get set up, all you need to do is install the application and then configure for broadcasting. Once configured, your Facebook Page will have a “Watch” tab which enables users to watch the video of the moment. While the application doesn’t provide archived versions of videos, it’s a great tool for those that want to live stream events, or just stream conversations with fans. One thing that doesn’t appear to be a feature yet is the ability to publish live streams to the feed.
This is a pretty useful application for just about any company or public figure that would like to get set up with live streaming instantly. While uStream.tv and Stickam are both offering similar services, Justin.tv is the only one that offers the service for free. While there’s no customization for brands, free is a great price for most users. If you want to add streaming video to your Facebook Page go install the Justin.tv Live application.
So, Ustream wants $15,000 up front, a contract for a minimum of $800 every month, and an application form/process to even be considered for their facebook app… JTV has the same features for free, for any Facebook user, and this is available now without any “beta” or “application” necessary just like all the other normal facebook apps? Hilarious!
I’ve followed Justin.tv since when they first came out two years ago; I’m surprised Ustream.tv is trying to charge thousands of dollars for basic features like Facebook broadcasting, etc. Is there a benefit to UStream that I’m missing here? Is UStream basically moving out of the space or running out of money?
Streaming bandwidth is expensive - not for a few thousand streams, but if Justin.tv’s Live appliction took off it could get really expensive really quick.
While I am not going to debate Ustream’s pricing, I definitely raised an eyebrow when I saw Justin.tv is providing a streaming backend and bandwidth for free…. and wondered how long it is going to last.
thanks for the post! i’ve checked justin.tv and i’m really amazed that these people did such a good job. too bad it doesn’t have the latests tv shows like gossip girls. wish also the quality would be the same as on cacaotv where you can watch free movies and TV shows online (over there : http://www.cacaotv.com). but at least these websites are better than torrent pirate bay because they are legal!