LOS ANGELES — The forward march of mobile video is carrying along with it a wave of technological innovation that is reshaping the world of online content production and distribution today.
A case in point is Livestream Broadcaster’s portable and stylish bright-red broadcasting hardware, which encodes and streams live video from nearly any camera — the latest version of which works with Verizon’s 4G LTE network to deliver fast HD video streams — without the need for an Internet connection.
The LTE option is a major upgrade to the Livestream Broadcaster hardware, which also received a built-in battery pack rather than the AA batteries it used to require, as well as integrated 5.4 GHz WI-Fi, and an app allowing users to start and stop the $495 device.
With features such as password protected events, white label players and embeds, viewer counts, chat and commenting, a Facebook application, unlimited embedding of live video players on any website, Google DFP integration to enable pre-roll video ads, mid-roll ads and geo-blocking, it is a powerful platform with a wide variety of uses.
A Livestream Broadcaster rep explains that “audiences around the world can tune in to whatever you’re recording, so you can be a one-person cable station.”
“Broadcasting devices such as this one allow citizen journalists (think Arab Spring and the Occupy movement) to document protests and upheaval — ensuring everyone that the revolution will be televised,” the rep stated. “The Livestream Broadcaster doesn’t always have to be used for historic, world-changing events (for example, college professors who stream their lectures online are basically angels in disguise).”
For a more corporate application, Verizon cites the example of streaming a fashion show; making it clear that live event coverage will be revolutionized as this technology grows.
According to the company, Livestream’s mission is to connect people and live events — which it does for more than 30 million viewers every month. With its headquarters in New York and offices in Los Angeles, Ukraine and India, the company’s client list boasts names such as The New York Times, Facebook, ESPN, SpaceX, Warner Bros. and more.
As for porn’s immediate future with this technology, Livestream’s terms prohibit users from producing content that is unlawful, obscene, pornographic, vulgar, or in the firm’s sole discretion, “is otherwise inappropriate.”
That still leaves plenty of opportunity, even for adult producers.
