pixelpipe - ReadWriteWeb http://www.readwriteweb.com/feeds/tag/pixelpipe en Copyright 2012 Richard MacManus readwriteweb@gmail.com Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.35-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thanks to Pixelpipe, Every Mobile Status Update Can Now Be Geotagged pixelpipe_logo_sep09.pngPixelpipe, an increasingly popular service that allows its users to easily post text-based status updates and media files to multiple social media sites, just released a large update of its mobile clients. Thanks to this, users can now attach geolocation information to status updates they send from Pixelpipe to over 30 services. Today, Pixelpipe will release this feature in new versions of its Android apps and then integrate this feature in the next iteration of its Nokia and iPhone apps as well. Now, when you send an update from Pixelpipe, you simply enable the "Geo On" button and Pixelpipe will include a link to a custom pi.pe page with a map that shows your location.

]]> pixelpipe_geo_updates.jpg

For services that already offer support for geotagged information, including FriendFeed, for example, Pixelpipe will just use those services' native APIs to pass the information along. Pixelpipe already offered this feature when users uploaded geotagged media files, but now, the service will also enable this function for text-based status updates.

We know that Twitter will soon enable its geolocation API, which will hopefully enable a whole range of new services, so for Twitter users, this is really just a stop-gap measure and there are already a few other services out there that offer similar features for Twitter. For now, however, if you want to send text-based status updates to multiple services, this is the most convenient way to include geolocation information with your status updates.

]]> Discuss]]>
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/thanks_to_pixelpipe_every_mobile_status_update_can.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/thanks_to_pixelpipe_every_mobile_status_update_can.php News Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:59:49 -0800 Frederic Lardinois
Pixelpipe Announces 50 New Mobile Apps for Android, iPhone, and Nokia pixelpipe_logo_aug09.pngPixelpipe, a great service that allows its users to distribute documents and media files to over 100 social media services, just released over 50 new single-purpose applications through the Android Market. The company also submitted the same number of apps to the iPhone App Store and the Nokia Ovi Store. Why so many apps? As Pixelpipe's CEO and founder Brett Butterfield tells us, the company realized that about half of Pixelpipe's users only used the service to forward files to one service.

]]> In order to serve this market better and to link its name closer to the brand names of the services it supports, the company decided to release co-branded versions of its mobile app for 50 of the 100 services it currently supports. Pixelpipe will sell these co-branded versions of its app for $0.99 and a pro version with support for all the 100 services that Pixelpipe currently works with will sell for $1.99.

The iPhone apps still have to go through Apple's approval process, which can take a while, but the Android apps will be available today and the Nokia apps should be available in about one week.

Pixelpipe's App Factory

As Butterfield told us, the company has automated most of the app development process, so whenever Pixelpipe adds a new service, a new mobile app can also be created with very little effort.

pixelpipe_android_lots_of_apps.jpg

App Store SEO

Overall, this seems like a very smart move. The company started to experiment with co-branded Android apps for a few services like Facebook, Twitter, and Photobucket a few days ago. As these apps actually include the name of the service in their titles ("Twitter for Pixelpipe"), they are much easier to find for consumers who would otherwise never have heard of Pixelpipe. After all, as we pointed out earlier today, most users rely on Top 10 lists and browsing through categories to find interesting new mobile apps.

As Pixelpipe told us, these apps are already outselling the company's own app by a significant margin and Pixelpipe has heard from a number of services who would like to partner with the company and promote the apps.

We think this is an interesting story, as it points out some of the problems developers face when trying to market their apps. Also, while social media mavens love the fact that Pixelpipe Pro can send documents, audio, video, and pictures to 100 other social media services, for most users, this is simply overkill and just generates confusion.

]]> Discuss]]>
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/pixelpipe_releases_50_mobile_apps.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/pixelpipe_releases_50_mobile_apps.php Mobile Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:20:38 -0800 Frederic Lardinois
Pixelpipe Updates Android App Pixelpipe, the service that lets you upload your media to multiple sites across the web, has just released a new version of their application for the Android smartphone OS. With the app having long since been a staple on our iPhones, we're glad to see that the app is expanding to other platforms and adding another item to their already huge list of free software, which includes browser addons, program integrations, mobile applications, desktop apps, and more in addition to their online web-based service.

]]> The new version of the Android app is very similar to the iPhone version we're familiar with, offering four of the same buttons: media, post, queue, and settings. And as with its sister app, pressing the blue arrow to the right of each item lets you set the metadata (title, caption, and tags) prior to uploading. However, unlike the iPhone version, there's no "camera" button which would allow you to immediately activate the phone's camera in order to take a picture and then upload it.

Still, this new Android version does offer something unique: it lets you press the "Menu" button in order to switch between video, audio, and photo views. This isn't even possible with the iPhone app since it, unfortunately, is limited to photos only thanks to Apple's lockdown of the device, which prevents video recording... at least on non-jailbroken phones. (Hint: jailbroken iPhone owners can install an app called PPVideoEncoder which lets you use Pixelpipe to upload Cycorder videos. You can find both of those on Cydia.)

To join the public beta for the new app, visit http://is.gd/HCeC from your Android phone's web browser to install the app over-the-air. Then send your feedback and bug reports to android@pixelpipe.com.

]]> Discuss]]>
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/pixelpipe_comes_to_android.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/pixelpipe_comes_to_android.php Product Reviews Fri, 29 May 2009 08:40:46 -0800 Sarah Perez
Pixelpipe: Post Anything, Anywhere pixelpipe_logo_jan09.pngGiven the constantly growing number of micro-blogging, photo sharing, and video hosting sites, it is getting harder and harder to keep all these accounts updated. One of our favorite application to post media files to a variety of services is Pixelpipe. Pixelpipe takes care of the distribution of your files, so that you can simultaneously post a picture to flickr and Facebook, and send a message with a link to that picture to Twitter. Thanks to a large number of updates in the last few weeks, Pixelpipe has become even more versatile than ever before and now lets you share almost any kind of file.

]]> While other services like Tubemogul or Ping.fm focus on specific media types, Pixelpipe works with audio and video files, photos, text messages, and now even supports most other types of documents.

Post to 60 Different Services

pixelpipe_services.pngWe first reviewed Pixelpipe last August when it was still in private beta, but by now, the site has opened up to the public and added a massive amount of new features. While the site itself still looks roughly the same, Pixelpipe has added support for dozens of new services since its launch. You can post images and videos to all the prominent video and photo sharing sites, including Youtube, Vimeo, kyte, SmugMug, flickr, Picasa, Facebook, and Photobucket. Pixelpipe also lets you post photos to most popular blogging platforms.

Post PDF Files to Twitter

Yesterday, Pixelpipe launched a new feature that lets you posts links to videos, photos, PDF files, or any other document to text-only micro-blogging service like Twitter, Rejaw, FriendFeed, or identi.ca. Pixelpipe will simply add a link to the document to your text messages and the files will be hosted on Pixelpipe's Amazon S3 storage.

pixelpipe_upload.png

Even if Pixelpipe's internal video player and document viewer isn't compatible with a file, it will still give you a link to download the document. The upload limit is 200 megabytes. Brett Butterfield, Pixelpipe's founder and CEO, tells us that he plans to add support for a few more micro-blogging services in the near future.

Post from Anywhere

One of our favorite features of Pixelpipe is that the company has developed plugins for almost every conceivable desktop application for Mac, Llinux, and Windows PCs. You can post videos from Windows Movie Maker, photos from iPhoto, Live Gallery, or Picasa, and when all else fails, you can also just email your media files to a your personal Pixelpipe address. For mobile use, Pixelpipe provides applications for the iPhone, Android, and Nokia N Series phones.

pixelpipe_sshot_jan09.pngPower users can also create routing tags (think: @friendfeed or @picasa), which allow you to selectively send items to a specific service or a group of services.

Verdict

The latest round of updates have turned Pixelpipe into an even more versatile tool. Now, sharing a PDF file with your Twitter friends is as easy as emailing it to your secret Pixelpipe address. If you often send the same document to a variety of services (or if you just want to send a picture from your phone to Twitter, but also keep a copy on Flickr), Pixelpipe is definitely worth trying.

]]> Discuss]]>
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/pixelpipe_post_anything_anywhere.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/pixelpipe_post_anything_anywhere.php Product Reviews Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:15:09 -0800 Frederic Lardinois