Sure, video calling has never taken off like many expected to but broadcasting is entirely different and could be a whole lot more appealing.  Here are some reasons why I think it could be the next big mobile ‘killer app’.

1. People love to share

Video calling has failed so far because most people don’t want friends and family to see their face, complete with spots and that Marmite stain from their lunch, when they phone them.  However, a lot of people would love to be able to share important moments live online.  Grandma can’t make it to your university graduation ceremony?  Hold up your phone and stream it live online.  Want to share your wedding with the world?  No worries – set up a phone on a tripod and away you go.  In fact, someone has already done this…

2. People love to show off

People already make their own (usually dire) TV shows and publish them on Youtube.  The next stage is surely to stream them live and mobile phones are the cheapest and most accessible way of doing it.  Look out for this trend growing over the next year.

3. People love watching news as it happens

Publicly-generated content has been one of the biggest innovations in TV news over the past few years. We’ve grown used to seeing photos and videos of hot news stories shot by the public before the professional cameras had a chance to get to the scene.  With the right technological backend it’ll be possible for journalists (and maybe even the public) to stream live video straight onto the TVs of millions of people.  That said, if I was a news editor I’d be sticking to journalists doing the streaming but maybe I just don’t trust the public!

4. Schools love to innovate

Or rather, companies love to sell innovative technologies to schools.  Said technologies often end up unused in a cupboard but that’s another story.  Imagine a group of kids out on a trip streaming live footage back to the school where other children then use the footage to create a news report about the trip.  For creative teachers the possibilities are huge.

So there you go, just four reasons why video streaming has such huge potential.  There are bound to be many more applications for the technology.  In order to reach that mass-market potential though, the networks need to jump on the live video streaming bus and get the software pre-installed on phones that can handle it.  At the moment they’re probably too scared of people using vast amounts of 3G data to be encouraging video streaming. That said, UK network Three have a history of innovating with data services.  My prediction is that in the next  six months or so they’ll be preloading Qik, Flixwagon or a similar service with their smartphones.

Streaming video from mobile phones is a phenomenon waiting to happen (although there are ethical concerns).  You can see my Qik account here, although I haven’t put any new videos up since July.  I reckon I’m going to try doing some live streaming video-based blog posts soon.  How will that work?  Well – you’ll just have to wait and see!

I’ve passed the credit check, I’m a reputable member of society and yet Carphone Warehouse’s computers reckon my card is a ’security risk’. No explanation, except that it takes 31 days for my security flag to clear. I tried phoning to complain, but after ten minutes of waiting to speak to someone I decided to try again later.

By the time I get out of work (round 4pm) all stock will undoubtedly be sold from all Apple and O2 stores. Talk about a kick in the teeth!

I’ve captured the highs and lows of the day on the following Qik videos. Settle down and enjoy a tale of hope, cameraderie and misery.

As services such as Qik and Flixwagon become more popular, increasing numbers of people will be able to stream anything they like onto the internet. Of course, many people already shoot video on their phones and then upload it to the internet later but it’s the live aspect that brings a whole load of new ethical questions into play.

When TV crews go out filming they always carry a stack of clearance forms with them. Anyone who features in the programmes they make in any identifiable way is asked to sign one. It grants the TV company the right to use the person’s image on TV and stops people suing later down the line when they claim to have been filmed without consent.

I bet that no-one who currently has Qik or similar installed on their phone carries clearance forms with them. It might not be a problem now; let’s face it, unless you’re one of the top users of Qik (Scoble, Arrington etc) only about 10 people are going to bother to watch your video of you feeding the cat or whatever. However, consider a future where live video streaming has taken off bigtime…

Let’s say I film two men fighting in the street with my phone (just because I can). I just use the phone’s video camera, I don’t stream live. When the fight’s over, one of the men comes up to me full of regret and says “That was a supid fight, I don’t want my wife to see this. Please can you delete it?”. I could delete it straight away, no harm done.

However, if I was streaming it live our fist-happy bloke’s wife could theoretically be watching the action unfold as it happens. Even if I’m asked to take the clip down later, the damage is already done. Casting aside the issue of fighting in the street being wrong, that still leaves me open to either legal action or a fierce beating! After all, I just beamed images of someone right around the world without their permission.

As fun as it is to show off the ability to stream live from a phone, it doesn’t come without responsibilities. A day will surely come when the ethics of live video streaming are put to the test in court. I just don’t want it to be me in the dock. So, while I won’t be carrying a bunch of clearance forms everywhere I go I will be very careful who’s around when I click ‘Stream’.

[Image credit: Erkkap on Flickr]