Birthday alarms and reminders have been taken a step further with Kaltura's new Facebook app, the clunky-sounding Friends' Video Cards. It's a cool, fun way to fill an e-card with video and photo content and get mutual friends in on the deal.
I test drove Friends' Video Cards with a greeting for my friend Erin, whose birthday it just happens to be today. Creating the card is cake--the Friends' Video Cards app conveniently pulls your friends' upcoming events or lets you name your own occasion. You just add a title and invite mutual friends, if you want, to participate.
The app lets you upload a video, photo, or drawing. You can create a text slide in the app, or film a video if you've got a camera plugged in. I uploaded a fun alien "Happy Birthday" serenade and jotted down a text slide. It took me a minute to find a compatible video; Friends' Video Cards says it accepts video with FLV, MOV, and WMV extensions, though I made an M4V file type work too, on its own and by renaming the extension.
You can splash out by adding a volume-adjustable soundtrack and can use Kaltura's online editing Web app, which opens in a new tab, to split or trim a clip before sending it on its way.
Thumbs up for a breezy, interactive way to send content. The next step is to integrate a birthday notification feature with the app. The only downside to Friends' Video Cards is Kaltura's aggressive marketing. I was nagged twice to share the app with all my friends, and larger-than-average notices showed up in my minifeed each time I started and sent a new card.
Of the 100 companies relegated to the "Demo Pit" at the TechCrunch 40 event, one was chosen by the audience to the last on-stage presenter: Kaltura, a very slick group video editor. I haven't had a chance to check this one out yet but Allen Stern at Center Networks saw a preview a few months ago.
Based on the stage demo, the Flash-based editor looks very slick, reminiscent of JumpCut and Adobe's Remix. The founder expects that this tool will be used by stars, who might push media out into the world so their fans can mash it up.
There will also be a Facebook app, which could be used by people creating group greeting cards and the like. Or by travel groups putting together group presentations after they get back.
Of course, the remixed shows can be exported or embedded on other sites.
Kaltura lets groups edit media presentations
(Credit: Kaltura)
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