My grab from the latest photo & video industry news |
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TikTok. An unexpected player provides a unique view into the Russia-Ukraine war. While mobile access to live and recorded video from conflict situations definitely isn’t a new phenomenon, there’s something unique about TikTok’s window into the world, according to a thoughtful perspective of TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez.
She says, “Maybe it’s the odd juxtaposition of war footage amid videos of cooking, fashion, dance and humor — a reminder of what life is supposed to be like positioned against the atrocities of the invasion. Or maybe it’s how a short scroll back through the profiles of the creators-turned-citizen journalists shows that, only days ago, they were uploading everyday content, including scenes from their lives with family and friends. Or maybe it’s the fact that TikTok creators have always come across as more “real” than those on Instagram, where polished and perfected images had put them at a distance from their fans — that just makes what’s now happening feel all the more personal when viewed on TikTok.”
But there’s more to it, including TikTok users sharing military intelligence and, as could be expected, a fair amount of misinformation. Read her perspective here.
Popsa & Journi. Among the top 20 fastest growing European companies. Congratulations to Popsa and Journi, European photo print product startups and Visual 1st alumni, who both made it made it into the top 20 fastest growing European companies, based on their compound average growth in revenues between 2017-2020, according to the Financial Times.
Bria. Launching beta. We had the pleasure of having Yair Adato of Bria as panelist in our AI panel last year at Visual 1st and hear his perspectives on the range of creative imaging possibilities that could be triggered by AI. Bria is now in beta. Check it out!
Beem. Beam me up. The new Beem app lets you take a selfie video, segment your selfie foreground from the background, and share that selfie by sending a link. The recipient can then open your selfie video, aim their phone at their surroundings, and tap a point on the screen where they want to place your video in AR-like fashion. By leveraging their phone’s accelerometer to morph the video feed in their own space, users get the impression of viewing a 3D hologram of the sender right in front of them. The company just announced $4M in seed funding.
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The metaverse – what’s in it for me; what’s in it from me
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When:
March 15
8:00 am - 9:30 AM Pacific Time
(16:00 - 17:30 CET)
What: Live, virtual, no recordings
***$19 Early Bird tickets expire TOMORROW, MARCH 3.***
Program: Panel discussion, Show & Tell demos, Attendee networking & discussion
Attendees: Startup founders and corporate executives in the photo & video ecosystem, as well metaverse-specialized solution developers.
Why a Spotlight about the metaverse? Check out my 13-minute interview conducted by Gary Pageau of the Dead Pixels Society.
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Shutterfly. Courting creators. When in August Shutterfly forked out $225M to acquire Spoonflower (a global marketplace of custom fabric, wallpaper and home décor) CEO Hilary Schneider said, "At Shutterfly, we believe that anyone can be a creator". Shutterfly just launched its Creator Community site, powered by Chaordix.
Halide. Supporting batch actions. The high-end camera/editing app now supports batch actions, allowing users to edit multiple photos at once. Other new features include the ability to view one’s favorite photos in Halide’s Grid View.
Meta. Voice AI for creating metaverses. The road to the metaverse goes through AI, according to Meta AI research managing director Antoine Bordes. Case in point: CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off a prototype of what’s called Builder Bot, which lets you build virtual worlds by verbally describing them. Say “let’s go to the beach” and your avatar appears on a beach. Say “let’s add some clouds” and there are clouds in the sky. Call it Siri for building metaverses – but more. Meta’s goal is to be able to pick up contextual clues in conversations, along with other data points that it can collect about our physical body, such as our gaze, facial expressions, and hand gestures. Meta plans to use this technology in its AR/VR products, such its Quest headset (formerly Oculus), Portal smart display, and Ray-Ban smart glasses. Privacy concerns to be addressed? Plenty.
Sensor Tower. App subscription revenues keep on rising. Sensor Tower reports that the revenues of the top 100 non-game subscription-based apps increased 41% in 2021 to $18.3B, up from $13B in 2020. These apps' subscription revenues are higher in the App Store but are growing faster on Google Play. Subscription revenues of the top 100 non-game apps in the App Store were $13.5B in 2021, up 31% YoY. In Google Play they were a mere $4.8B, but with an increase of 78% YoY.
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[REMINDER: Early Bird Tickets Visual 1st Metaverse Spotlight expire tomorrow, March 3!
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Meta. TikTok, here we come: Reels going global. After publicly launching in the U.S. this past September, Facebook Reels is now becoming globally available in more than 150 countries. Facebook Reels allows creators to share short-form video content on Facebook or cross-post Reels from Instagram in order to reach a broader audience. Meta is testing various ad formats for Reels, while sharing 55% of the revenues to creators participating in these tests. In addition, Reels is also implementing Stars, the virtual tipping mechanism already offered on Facebook Live.
Lightricks. TikTok creators, here we come. If the name Charli D’Amelio doesn’t ring a bell, just ask your daughter or granddaughter or anyone young enough. Spoiler alert: Charli is the 17-year-old most-followed and highest-earning creator on TikTok. And she’s now an investor in Lightricks, Visual 1st alumni and makers of photo apps such as Facetune, but more recently expanding into developing video apps. And how to attract the attention of TikTok video creators? You partner with Ms. D’Amelio and co. The D’Amelios — Charli, her fellow TikTok star sister Dixie, and parents Marc and Heidi — are taking an equity stake in Lightricks and join as strategic advisors. They will also produce content for Lightricks’ new editorial offering called The247.
axle ai. Going web app. axle ai, presenter at last year’s Visual 1st DIY Video Summit, is launching axledit, a browser-based video editor with integrated collaboration, search, and publishing features. axledit couples a media asset management back-end with a simple video editing interface at the front. As a browser-based solution, axledit enables real-time collaboration between team members.
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