A month ago we wrote about 12seconds, a company that truly aims to be the “Twitter of video.” That is, it wants to be the goto site for video status updates. Now you can actually try it.
The service is entering its public alpha testing phase today. It’s still invitation-only for the time being, but now anyone can request an invite. (See the bottom of the post for a special offer for VentureBeat readers.) With the move to alpha, the site also offers new features, including friend search, video search and contact invites.
While most people associate the video messaging site Seesmic with being the video equivalent of Twitter, it isn’t really. One of Twitter’s defining characteristics is its 140 character limit. This requires that you keep your communications short, whereas Seesmic videos can be several minutes long. 12seconds’ videos, as you might imagine, can only be 12 seconds long.
In fact, not only can the videos only be 12 seconds long, they can’t be any shorter than 12 seconds either. This restriction will no doubt make for some interesting impromptu moments.
The site lets you share the video clips shot with either a webcam or a mobile phone. To share from your phone, you simply send clips to a personalized address via email or MMS.
Watch the site’s two founders, David Beach and Sol Lipman, describe the site in 12 second intervals at an amusement park of some sort.
If you’d like access to the sites’ application programming interface (API), 12seconds requests that you email them.
As a special offer, 12seconds is offering the first 500 VentureBeat readers who fill out a simple 1-question survey, accounts with the service.
9:02 am
12seconds.tv is launching our public alpha! « the 12seconds.tv blog said:
[...] want to wait for us, you can head over to our friends at Techrunch, Center Networks, Webware, VentureBeat, Mashable - they might have some invitations left. If not, just be patient, we’ll get you [...]
1:27 pm
Stage Two Consulting said:
Client News: 12seconds.tv launches today…
Exciting news for 12seconds today, they’re announcing their new public alpha. 12seconds is a video status platform for sharing moments from your life. Use a webcam or video-capable cell phone to record and share videos up to twelve seconds long…
12:44 pm
SoCal earthquake a powerful reminder of Twitter’s potential » VentureBeat said:
[...] The so-called “video Twitter” site that I’ve written up a couple of times, 12seconds, also has a user, PodGen, with video footage of the quake from the 36th floor of an L.A. building. [...]
8:00 am
12seconds extends its 15 minutes of fame with an API » VentureBeat said:
[...] Despite 12seconds’ lofty goals, it’s still easiest to describe it as a video version of the micro-messaging site Twitter. Many think of the video conversation site Seesmic as that, but on Seesmic videos can be fairly lengthy. On 12seconds, just as on Twitter, there are very short limits for how much you can say on video and in text respectively. In my opinion, this 12 second limit leads to some interesting, yet disposable videos. [...]
11:57 am
12seconds extends its 15 minutes of fame with an API | Business Never End said:
[...] Despite 12seconds’ lofty goals, it’s still easiest to describe it as a video version of the micro-messaging site Twitter. Many think of the video conversation site Seesmic as that, but on Seesmic videos can be fairly lengthy. On 12seconds, just as on Twitter, there are very short limits for how much you can say on video and in text respectively. In my opinion, this 12 second limit leads to some interesting, yet disposable videos. [...]
12:11 pm
12seconds wants everyone to talk like a pirate; more invites for all » VentureBeat said:
[...] growing day of outdated linguistic recognition gain in popularity, from Google to FriendFeed. The recently launched 12seconds video website, still in private alpha, has also joined in on the fun, taking the opportunity to grant everyone [...]