Great question, we don't have any user caps or limitations as we pass through bandwidth costs. The bandwidth costs are pay as you go.
For reference: Live encoding of input stream ($0.07/min), video stream delivery ($0.0013/min) and video storage ($0.003/min) apply. Billed at the end of each payment cycle.
Hi HN! Joe and Paul here to share PBJ Live. We're releasing an SDK which adds end-to-end live streaming capabilities to any app or website in minutes.
Once the SDK is installed, PBJ Live allows you to create, manage and schedule live broadcasts, categorize past streams or recorded content (coming soon), issue permissions to streamers and even simulcast (soon) to other platforms all through your pbj.live account. To avoid hardware and RTMP headaches, we've paired the platform with a live stream app for a convenient way to broadcast.
About us: We're two of the three founders behind PBJ Studio, a product studio formed by a close group who have worked together for 6+ years. Outside of client work, we build our own products, the first of which is PBJ Live.
PBJ Live is the result of our painfully repetitive experience building a half dozen custom live stream products for clients. We found there were quite a few common features, outside of the actual stream provider (thanks, Mux!), we needed to build to support streaming. Once COVID hit, we had an increase in requests for custom live stream solutions. Initially, we built the platform and paired it with iOS, Web and Android apps which we'd customize. Today, we're releasing our Live SDK so anyone can easily add live streaming to their own apps and take advantage of the Live platform.
While you can use any RTMP client (obs, etc) we found our customers were constantly messing with settings, struggling with hardware requirements or internet connectivity, and mixing up stream keys. Many attempting to stream are easily overwhelmed by this, so we built an RTMP Broadcast App (iOS) which allows a streamer to log into their provisioned account and stream to whichever destination(s) they've been granted access, all from their phone.
We have some influencers, brands and fitness chains actively using our white label Web, iOS and Android clients, but exposing the functionality via an SDK made a lot of sense.
*Note - the SDK is early, please be gentle*
While we work on exposing additional platform features to the SDK (VoD, simulcasting, live shopping), we would love your feedback. HN is a frequent destination for us, we're excited to share our progress. Feel free to drop us a line by emailing [email protected].
Unfortunately, this is already the case. For instance, your mac address is a pretty good identifier probing AP's periodically wherever you go, 99% of smartphone owners aren't even aware, let alone know to turn off WiFi if they don't want to be tracked.. If my phone fell into the wrong hands today, my whole life IS at their disposal.
With education and advancement of proper security measures I believe these concerns can be mitigated and benefits would outweigh the risks. Transferring information is still too cumbersome, in order for us to progress, this is going to have to become a reality at some point.
I think the next shift we see in mobile will be anointing the phone as the arbiter of identity vs the current situation in which our desktop / laptop OS user loosely holds the title.
I've previously expressed affinity for a future in which a device (smartphone) becomes a wallet for saving state, identity, data & applications all served by an OS that adapts based on operating environments while maintaining familiar UI/UX. This is the closest implementation I've yet to see (smart phone driving extensions and adapting to its environment by allowing full desktop OS), and I hope funding comes through just so we can inch a bit closer to making this reality.
Dropbox / cloud storage / iCloud have taken great strides in reducing the friction involved in types of device to device transitions, but we're still not truly mobile, and I'm not convinced they're the solution as opposed to being supplementary. Saving state, using your phone as identity, and carrying your data & applications with you is, what I believe, the next iteration of mobile.
Whether this information transfer is accomplished by associating devices together via the lan, a physical connection, or what have you, I feel there needs to be a physical badge component in transferring identity, and the smartphone may be it. A two factor auth of sorts for your digital self between your smartphone and a 'dumber' device.
Consider the possibilities in cars; no more fighting that quirky car UI to get directions or search through a music library. Parental controls ensuring new drivers don't drive at extreme speeds or attempt to text while driving. Abolishing keys. All possible when you have a portable device equipped with identity attributes working in conjunction with other devices and their input extensions.
Apple is in a much better position to launch something like this, as it needs quite a few relationships difficult for a new start up to establish and scale.
I really don't believe a company like Apple would be more than five years away from being able to do something like this, either... Provided they wanted to, of course.
It still may be too soon, and I'm certainly not thinking the device in the linked article is the solution, but there are a lot of possibilities here.
And why wouldn't you have to bring that hardware with you now, or with the cloud? What happens when you have no connectivity?
The cloud solution doesn't reduce the hardware requirement. This isn't even necessarily about reducing the hardware requirement.
If you need to run your own PC you now need the bandwidth, an additional PC sitting in your home, know how, etc...
The phone solution isn't increasing what you'd need to bring, it will situationally decrease the requirement, though, but that's not even the point. You don't necessarily need a bluetooth headset. Use headphones, speaker, or something. A simple microphone and headphone requirement isn't going to break the concept, it's really beside the point. Set up is a non issue, plug and play. Slide the damn thing into a dock built into the device.
The point is all your data in current state comes with you, apps and all. You can go to public terminals and it's all instantly there, you have the mobile experience, it's all familiar, it's always with you. I think cloud storage is complimentary here, not an alternative solution.
This can, however, situationally reduce your hardware requirement when traveling if your destination is outfitted with dummy terminals, and you get the benefit of local storage, which I'm not convinced cloud will be able to 100% replace for quite some time, if ever.
Don't forget you won't require internet access or any other limiting conditions, which may be the strongest advantage.
Our smartphones aren't going anywhere, they're more accessible than the cloud and they're increasingly attached to our side. I just don't see the cloud as an alternative, it's all about the use case here.
I see where you're coming from. I agree it definitely depends on how much moves to the cloud, could something like this have the potential to affect that? If pulled off correctly, I'd think so. I'm not convinced the cloud is the place for everything.
In terms of phone... bluetooth headset paired to docking station!
Yea losing the phone comes at quite a price, I agree. Personally, I'd pay for it.
C'mon, you can't pretend this thing wouldn't be bad ass if it was pulled off properly.
I would think of the phone as your identity... your data, your apps, your storage... That's what makes the difference.
Further, I don't forsee all applications working cross dock.. Some sure, all no.
RE your earlier point on the workplace - The smartphone could always act as a key/SSO type device, and you can only access certain information when docked in a certain environment, within a VPN, etc.
Basically this thing becomes your identity.. if you lose it, yep you're SOL. Thank god for remote wipe? With hardware becoming cheaper as you say, and cloud storage, get a new one, sync and go on your way.
I agree with your point on redundancy until you want an ipod/camera/phone/mobile apps... You're already carrying it around... why not make laptops/desktops/tablets a hollow extension of the computer in your pocket?
I don't think it's about the hardware as much as the interactive storage, the effort that goes into maintaining your data, apps, life... the things iCloud and dropbox try to solve, and while they can still serve their purpose aren't quite right in terms of a truly portable lifestyle.
I don't think all applications will work cross dock.. Some sure, all no.
And in regards to housing the GPU inside dock, thats exactly what I was thinking. I believe you may have missed:
"Once docked, a smartphone can unlock additional cores that would otherwise consume too much power, activate a more powerful GPU, possibly one even housed in the docking station itself..."
I'm not suggesting they need to be fundamentally the same.
Apple has taken steps to give iOS and OSx some key similarities in look and feel, the lines don't need to be blurred any further, in fact for this concept to be successful, I don't think they should.
I really think a smartphone docking into stations is the future. "Mannequin" Laptops, desktops etc that are activated once a smartphone is plugged in. You can now use a keyboard, external monitors, your OS slightly adapts... iOS becomes Snow Leopard (not exactly, you just have more functionality)
Once docked, a smartphone can unlock additional cores that would otherwise consume too much power, activate a more powerful GPU, possibly one even housed in the docking station itself...
I really think smart phones will become the magical little chip you place inside a cyborg to operate a larger, more powerful creature.
Imagine working at home off your docked smartphone computer (fully functioning OS), undocking and using your simple apps on the train to work (mobile OS, not much different than current experience), getting to work, docking into your station and you're right back at it (full OS)... portability with a familiar ui/ux feel... seamless experience.
Or gaming at home, undocking and going to a LAN party with your friends, not having to worry about whether or not the games / apps are installed, the docks are generic... plug and play.
(Ignoring the whole home to work aspect and security issues / work policies, of course)