When we wrote about 12seconds.tv back in July of this year, we called it the “real video Twitter“. Rather than droning on for 19 hours on what they had for lunch, users of 12seconds.tv have - you guessed it - 12 seconds to get their point across on video.
Later this morning, 12seconds will be making the transition from invite-only alpha to public beta, opening their registration to all. They are also debuting a brand new iPhone application, which mixes things up a bit to allow users to create new 12seconds posts without violating Apple’s policies against recording video.
Due to API restrictions in place with the iPhone SDK, developers are currently unable to implement video recording functionality into their app without relinquishing any hope that the release will make it into Apple’s App Store, damning their offerings to the land of the jailbreak. As a next-best-thing solution, 12seconds has come up with a fairly crafty alternative to video for iPhone users: slideshows.
After plugging in their login credentials, users are asked to hand over three photos (either from their photo library, or snapped on the spot), and then record 12 seconds of audio to act as narration for the slideshow. The application then throws the photos together, dubs the audio on top, and publishes it online with the title and tags you punched in. Check out the video demonstration down below. It’s not the ultimate solution, but it’s about as good as it gets until Cupertino catches up with their user base’s desires and changes their policies on video recording.
The 12seconds application will set you back 99¢ which, while it won’t hurt your laundry fund, seems a bit odd. iPhone applications purposed for use with specific social sites tend to be offered up gratis as a method of bringing new users to the service. It seems like attaching a price tag to the application would limit the customer base to those already familiar enough with 12seconds to hand over a buck.
That said, I’d imagine that 12seconds will already be seeing a lot of growth over the next few weeks with registration opening up. If the iPhone app is a success with 12seconds users, it should start moving up Apple’s promotional app lists, which might just get it in front of enough eyes to cancel out any limiting effects of the entry fee.
12seconds.tv very fantastic videos :)
I love JACOB heeeeeee’s the man!
Awww… thanks man! Thanks for using the site!
OMG! Was that integrated Ken Burns Effect?
“Rather than droning on for 19 hours on what they had for lunch, users of 12seconds.tv have - you guessed it - 12 seconds to get their point across on video.”
so i guess all those euros who basically have lunch all day long won’t be interested in this one….
Thumbs Up! Clever Clever.
the real question: why hasn’t someone bought them out yet?
really smart team + useful (addictive) product + growing user base + useful (addictive) iphone app + clever, burrito-oriented origin story = obvious acquisition choice
twitter doesn’t really make sense from a revenue perspective, but video twitter certainly has potential.
keep an eye on them i tell you.
I think it’s sort of ironic and/or funny that they are being called out for charging for their app in this article. Like making money is wrong or something. I’m sure they’d rather have 100,000 users who are paying something to use part of their service, than 500,000 freeloaders.
Web 2.0 is in the deadpool. 3.0 is about making money. Good for 12seconds!
So, I was digging the idea behind the app. The download was fast, registration was fast…hopes were building. Then after taking my first few snaps and recording audio, the application unexpectedly quit…umm, not a great first impression.
12seconds? That’s what she said.
Hey Vik,
Apple recommends that you restart your iphone after installing any app… apparently the 12seconds app needs this more than most… However, we are aware of the issue and will fix it with the next update. Thanks so much for getting the app!
Oh and we have a Get Satisfaction page for the app here: http://getsatisfaction.com/12seconds/products/12seconds_12seconds_iphone_app
Thanks again!
I noticed on iTunes that there are several people - perhaps 12Seconds employees that have managed to post their feeds as podcasts??!??!?
That’s a pretty missed bonus for this service - if it is indeed something that’s a “push-button” kind of thing. Anyone else figure this out?
Hey Zaud,
Yeah it’s pretty easy to do this. You can subscribe to any feed on the site as a video podcast or add your own channel feed to the iTunes podcast library for others to see. They are MRSS feeds that include mp4 file references.
We’re not all 12Seconds employees who have our feeds in iTunes. It’s as simple as submitting your RSS feed to iTunes (or through FeedBurner) and poof! You’ve got a 12Second video podcast feed!
Short and to the point, without the bs.
This sounds really addictive.
Nice article