Ustream Broadcaster

Summary

I’m online 24/7. I tweet, I'm on Facebook, I have a XING profile. I even chat rather than talk. And when someone mentions "surfing" I think of Firefox instead of the sport.

Facebook's pretty cool, right? Things are moving in the direction of being even more online. It's all about broadcasting yourself live and sharing it with other people online.

Is it at all possible to be any more online? Find out more about in our test report.

With Ustream you can broadcast live video directly from your Android phone. This can be an event, a party, or even a professional meeting. Your streaming video gets broadcast live via a special player. This player can be accessed on the regular website or with your Android device.

You've got two broadcasting options:

• Local: The video is recorded locally and then uploaded to the server. You can then also post your video on Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube.
• Live: This option lets you stream your video live on Ustream with sound while simultaneously getting saved to the server. After streaming, you can choose whether to save the video locally.

The live function offers you an array of cool features. You have the option of sending a "yes" or "no" poll question to all your viewers. This lets your users rate your streaming video as its being broadcast.

As already mentioned, all your streams get saved to the server. So even if you've missed the live-streaming, you can still watch the recorded video online at any time.

The most important part of the Ustream app is its web interface. Using it you can control most things as an administrator.

Bottom Line:

The streaming quality was OK. It was by no means spectacular, but the image quality was clear enough. It is important to note that I found other streaming channels on Ustream with much higher quality. The video time lag was fairly reasonable. All these results were based on a Wi-Fi connection and were not tested using UTMS.

I don't think this app is of much use for the average private user. It does, however, make total sense to use this app when attending a meeting, press conference, or maybe when you're on top of the Empire State Bulding and would like to share it with others on your blog around the world.

I can think of a couple more reasons to use this app. Let you imagine run wild on this one...

The Ustream Broadcast controls are really well-done. Everything's really easy to figure out and all the features function perfectly. The menu navigation is made simple with a sidebar on the right hand side of your screen during streaming. From there you can insert polls that immediately appear on your users screens. The results are then compiled and sent to you as an email report.

Obviously, most of the main functions are to be found on the website, especially if you want to record your own shows. 

In order to always stay in touch with your users, you'll find a text box at the bottom of your screen displaying what's being written about you in Twitter.

Four different options can be accessed via the menu button:

• Manage: Here you can manage and organize your recorded videos.
• Options: You can insert your Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube account information. You can also change your default settings.
• Go Local: Switch between live and local broadcasting.
• Logout

Bottom Line:
The app's controls are really first-class. The website's interface, however,may take a little getting used to...

I tested Ustream in its beta-version on a Nexus One. Everything ran smoothly and without a single crash.

Ustream is available to download for free.