With the presence of Periscope and meerkats, all the
exciting moments can now be broadcasted and watched directly. The problem is,
the device is still relatively limited, for example you want to broadcast the
bungee jumping action to your friends, it seems impossible to attach a
smartphone in front of your forehead.
For such actions, we need an action cam, but unfortunately
there is no action cam that really offers live streaming feature by default.
That opportunity that will be caught by a startup named Sioeye.
Sioeye introduces Iris4G, an action camera that can record
and also broadcast the extreme actions live! Seeing its name, we can guess this
camera relies on 4G/LTE connectivity to share what is recorded online.
From the outside, Sioeye Iris4G is very much like GoPro
Hero4 Silver. On behind of this camera you will find a 2-inch touch screen.
This screen also serves as a viewfinder, making it able to function without
being connected to a smartphone at all.
On the left side, you will see a button to activate the live
streaming function. Press it, then all of your followers who are joining with
the Sioeye platform will receive a notification that you want to broadcast
something. Furthermore, the camera will record video in 480p resolution, save
it to the cloud, and also broadcast it to your followers.
Why only 480p? This resolution is selected so that the
uploading process to the cloud and the live streaming can be run smoothly. You
can still record and broadcast video in 1080p resolution, but the results will
only be stored on microSD. If you are not interested in live streaming feature,
Iris4G can even record video in 4K 30 fps.
Besides powered by the 18 megapixel image sensor, Iris4G
also brings a row of sensors like the gyroscope, barometer and GPS. Thus, the
audiences are not only able to see what you see, but also notice how fast you
move and at what height you are.
Another interesting thing of the Iris4G is, it is actually a
device that's running with the Android 4.4 operating system, this means that
Iris4G can also download a number of applications from Google Play, the most
relevant apps are for example Periscope or Meerkat to broadcast the recordings
to a wider public - but of course, the compatibility factor must also be
considered.
Sioeye Iris4G is currently offered through crowdfunding site
Kickstarter. Unfortunately, so far it's only offered for customers in United
States, this is because the 4G network optimization that should be done
together with the local operator.