Bambuser help

We try to cover the most frequently asked topics here.
If you don't find your answer here, you are welcome to ask us directly.

• How do I broadcast from my phone?
  See our getting started guide or the screencast below.
  Read more

  1. First of all you need to install our application on your phone. You can download it here or by pointing you mobile browser to http://m.bambuser.com.
  2. Start the application and review the configuration options at Options » Settings.
  3. Enter your username and password at Options » Settings » Credentials.
  4. Start the broadcast by choosing Options » Connect.

• How much does this cost?
  Our base service is free to consumers and non profit organisations.
  Read more

  When broadcasting over the GSM network, your operator might charge you for costs associated with data transfer. We recommend you to get a flat rate contract with your operator. Our broadcasting application also support Wi-Fi based access, which might be a great alternative to the GSM network in some cases, if your phone has Wi-Fi support.

• Can I do Private broadcasts?
  Oh yes you can. Learn more about it here.
  Read more

  Private broadcasts can only be viewed when your are logged in.

  - Embedded players will not show the private broadcasts.
  - There will be no posts to your 3:rd party services (Twitter, Facebook etc.) when you have activated private-mode.

  To turn on private mode go to "settings" and change visibility
  
  

  Web based broadcaster

  

  You can also change from public to private and vice versa at any time via the Dashboard.

  

• Delete a broadcast?
  You can delete your videos in your dashboard.
  Read more

  1. Log in
  2. Go to Dashboard
  3. Click on "Your broadcasts"
  4. Click on "remove this video".
  5. On the question remove this video - click yes.

  

• How can I automatically update Twitter or Facebook when I broadcast
  Log in and look for "Share" on Dashboard.
  Read more

  Log in to your account and go to your dashboard. Click on "Share" in the right column, then click on the service you would like to connect and follow the instructions that appears.

  We currently support Facebook, Twitter, Bloggy, Friendfeed, Identi.ca, IRL Connect, Jaiku and Tumblr.

  

  When connecting to Facebook, your broadcasts are automatically posted to your personal wall as default. If you want to choose directly in the phone whether to share your ongoing broadcast or not, untick the box next to "My personal wall" and you'll be able to choose from time to time.

  If you have a fan page it's possible to add it too by going through a few additional steps:

  

• How do I broadcast from my webcam
  You can also use your webcam or other high quality cameras in the Bambuser service
  Read more

  To get going follow these steps. But first of all this is what you need.

  A webcam and microphone.
  • Any kind of webcam will work including ones built into laptops.
  • A microphone is also needed for audio, any microphone will do. No need to get a professional model.
  • Many webcams have microphones built in.
  • A computer with an Internet connection (DSL or Cable will be adequate for a broadcast).
  • A Bambuser account.
  
  
  

• Can I change my password?
  Of course you can do that. It is done on your dashboard.
  Read more

  1. Go to your dashboard, and go down to your settings box.
  2. Click on “Change password” and enter the new password you would like to have to your bambuser account
  3. When you have set your new password click “Save”
  

• Configure phone settings
  You can do a lot with the settings in your phone. Here are some explanations.
  Read more

• Free and easy to use webcam applications (Windows/Mac/GNU/Linux)
  See answer

  Windows
  
  WebcamMax
  
  * Work for all webcam programs
  * Add a variety of effects over webcam
  * Download thousands of online effects
  * Record video with effects and broadcast on YouTube or your Blog
  * Share your screen with friends
  * Play movie for friends or trick them with a fake video
  * Select Webcam, Screen, Movie or Picture as PinP Source
  * Paint on the video box directly
  
  
  Mac
  
  Camtwist
  
  CamTwist includes a Studio section, which will allow you to do a bit of live mixing, like adding overlays, switching cameras, or creating a live slideshow. This coupled with the effects on hand let you really get creative, without having to dish out a single penny, simply because CamTwist is completely free. If you like tweaking around with your Mac, you'll also be glad to know that CamTwist offers AppleScript support, which opens the application up to all sorts of customizations.

  GNU/Linux
  
  WebcamStudio
  Webcam Studio is free tool for GNU/Linux user who would like to be in control of their webcamera. It produces a virtual webcam that can be showed on sites like ours. It allows you to read several video sources and mix between them.

• Great desktop applications compatible with Bambuser
  Here are some tips on great desktop applications for your Bambuser broadcasts.
  Read more

  
  Wirecast
  
  Wirecast is widely recognized live broadcasting tool. It is really easy to learn and have great CPU optimization so your productions always runs smooth. You can do a lot with Wirecast and it runs both on Windows as well as on Mac. Check out our video on how to get started here
  

  
  Vidblaster
  
  Vidblaster is a simple video production tool which is integrated with bambuser. From it you can make great live video productions with multiple-cameras, pre-recorded video, audio and graphics. Window only.

  
  Flash Media Live Encoder
  
  Flash Media Encoder doesn´t hold the great features of multi-cam, audio and video graphics of the to earlier mentioned but it gives you as a producer complete control over your streaming and optimizes your CPU. Windows only.
  

• How do I download my broadcasts
  Log in and find download links for each video on the Dashboard
  Read more

  

• How do I embed my broadcasts on other sites?
  Find the correct embed code from either someone's profile page or a specific video page. Paste it into a website or blogging tool that allows HTML to be entered.
  Read more

  There are a few different ways to generate the embed code depending on what you want to do, described as A-C below.

  A. Your own customized player

  This player always shows your most recent content; your live broadcasts if one is ongoing right now, or your latest archived broadcast otherwise.

  Make sure you are logged in.

  1. Go to your dashboard
  2. Look for "embed your player" in the right column
  3. “Tools” let you choose between exposed player or an integrated player.
  4. “Custom size” let you choose size on your player so you can easily make it fit your design when you embed it on your blog or web site.
  5. “Embed code” makes it easy for your to embed your selected player. Just copy the code and for example paste it into your blog post and your broadcast will be visible there.

  

  B. A specific video

  Go to the broadcast page, click the share tab to the right of the video.

  

  C. Somebody else's channel

  You can also embed somebody else's channel. Go to their profile page and look for the embed code in the left column.

  

• How do I geotag my videos?
  Geotagging is available on all modern smartphone platforms and can be enabled on the Settings screen.
  Read more

  Enabling geotagging of your broadcasts

  Symbian S60 v3 and higher

  Activate geotagging by going to "Options", "Settings" and switching "Send position" to "Yes". This will use all positioning methods that your device supports.

  iPhone

  Activate geotagging by going to "Settings" and switching "GPS" to "Yes". This will use all positioning methods that your device supports.

  Android

  Activate geotagging by going to "Settings" and checking "Broadcast location". This will use all positioning methods that your device supports.

  Windows Mobile

  Activate geotagging by going to "Options", "Settings" and checking "Send position". This will use GPS if your device supports it.

   

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  Geotagging explained

  Bambuser supports two different ways to pinpoint your broadcasts geographically.

  Network based positioning

  Modern smartphone platforms (S60 v3, iPhone, Android) can take advantage of the cell network, and some devices with WiFi can also rely on known wireless networks, to determine your location without using GPS. The accuracy of network based positioning is often lower than GPS based positioning, but it is usually faster. Roughly knowing the position you are broadcasting from might be just as valuable information to your viewers as a more exact location. It is a good complement on phones with built-in GPS, as getting GPS positioning may take a while.

  Since this functionality is dependent on the cell network, it might not work with all carriers.

  GPS based positioning

  Modern smartphone platforms (S60 v3, iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile) also have support for GPS. If your phone has a GPS device, Bambuser automatically uses both network based positioning and GPS based positioning to get an as accurate position as possible.

  It usually takes a little while to get GPS lock and you seldom get position inside buildings. AGPS is a technology that takes care of a lot of these issues. If you have a handset without AGPS out of the box (such as the N95 with 1.0 firmware) we strongly recommend you check if there are firmware upgrades providing this. Also, make sure AGPS is configured with the proper data access point.

• How do I install Bambuser on an iPhone?
  Click here to open iTunes and download it or search for Bambuser in App Store.
  Read more

  

   

  Download via App Store

  As of December 17 2009, Bambuser for iPhone is available in iTunes App Store.
  Click here to open iTunes and download it - or just search for "Bambuser" in App Store.

   

  Download via Cydia

  A slightly more feature-rich version is available through the Cydia application installer on jailbreaked iPhones. You can read more about jailbreaking on Wikipedia. Download and install Bambuser onto your jailbreaked iPhone using Cydia and start Bambusing by following the instructions below:

  • Jailbreak your iPhone.
  • Launch Cydia, go to the "Sections" tab at the bottom and scroll down to Multimedia.
  • Tap on Bambuser, then select "Install" at the top right and tap "Confirm".
  • When Bambuser has been installed, tap "Return to Cydia" or just quit Cydia.
  • You can now launch Bambuser from the green Bambuser icon on your home screen.
  • If you don't have an account, sign up for free at bambuser.com.
  • Log in with your username and password.
  • Tap the broadcast-button at the bottom and you're live!

• How do I share individual broadcasts to Facebook, Twitter and other 3:rd party services
  Connect to the preferred service just like before (go to "Settings" -> "Share" on your Dashboard) and untick the "Post broadcasts automatically to" box. You will now be able to share individual broadcasts manually directly from the "Share" menu in the Bambuser application on your phone.
  Read more

  First make sure to do this on your Dashboard;

   

  

  Then this is how it works on the iPhone;

   

  

  And here is how it looks on Symbian phones;

   

  

  And finally for Android;

   

  

• I get very low framerate and / or the audio is breaking up, can I improve the flow?
  Select "better flow" in settings on the phone and / or lower the audio quality.
  Read more

  

  The flow of the stream much depends on the speed of the connection to the internet. In order to get a better flow, You can try to lower the amount of data per video frame;

  1. Open the Bambuser application on your device.
  2. Choose Options » Settings.
  3. Set the Video quality slider to "better flow" as it consumes less data (but generates a lower quality image).
  4. Adjust the Video size. We suggest you use no more than 320x240 pixels when having decent 3G coverage.
     
     If the broadcast application indicates a speed of 20000 bytes/s or less you might want to go down to 176x144 or lower.
     
     Press OK.
     
     
     To get full flow when watching on-demand (afterwards) make sure you have used the complement funtionality, which gives you much improved quality for on-demand view. The complement function is to be found under Options >> Complement
• Let Bambuser drive traffic to your website, blog, MySpace etc.
  This is a way to drive more traffic to your website, blog or social network.
  Read more

  

  To connect and make use of all this nice stuff, sign in to your Bambuser account and go to your Dashboard, where you'll find "Settings" on the right side of the screen. Scroll down to "3:rd party services" and connect to any service you automatically want to update - and feel free to customize the posted URL!

  

• What are the keys to a high quality webcam stream?
  There are many ways to improve the quality of your webcam broadcast.
  Read more

  First of all make sure you have enough bandwidth. You can check to see how much bandwidth you are getting through e.g. www.speedtest.net.

  To improve your quality even more you can use different kinds of stand alone apps such as
  
  Wirecast
  Vidblaster
  Flash Media Live Encoder
  
  Those different application provides you with more quality tweaking features. There are several tutorials on those application on their respective sites.

  At last just some basic recomendations. Lowering the quality setting or video bitrate will improve video smoothness. If your picture quality is poor, you may consider investing in a higher quality camera. Also try adjusting your lighting. Digital cameras need a lot of light, and video will begin to appear grainy in dark conditions.

• What speed internet connection do I need to stream on Bambuser?
  A broadband connection is generally recommended, however you can broadcast live video on Bambuser with as little as 100kbps of upload bandwidth.
  Read more

  Check www.speedtest.net to see if you have the necessary upload connection speed.

• Can I change my email adress?
  In your dashboard under settings you can change, enable and disable some email settings
  Read more

  1. Go to your dashboard, and go down to your settings box.
  2. Click on “Email settings” - here you can change your email and get different sorts of notification to that email adress.
  3. When you have set your notification settings click “Save”
  

• Can I watch Bambuser broadcasts on my phone?
  Yes, you can view broadcasts on your phone if it supports Flash Lite 3, or by installing the Skyfire browser.
  Read more

   

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  Skyfire

  One of the easiest ways to watch Bambuser broadcasts on your mobile device is to use the Skyfire web browser, which is currently available for Windows Mobile 5 and 6, and for Symbian S60 3rd edition.

  
  You can download skyfire here.

   

  ---

  Flash Lite 3

  Any mobile phone with full support for Flash Lite 3 is capable of viewing Bambuser broadcasts.

  Browsing and viewing with Flash Lite 3

  If you have a phone with built in support for Flash Lite 3, you can browse broadcasts and view them directly on our mobile site at m.bambuser.com.

  Model	Firmware versions with Flash Lite 3
  Nokia N82	20.0.062 or later
  Nokia N95	21.0.016 or later
  Nokia N95 8GB	15.0.015 or later
  Nokia E90	200.34.72 or later
  Nokia 6300i	all
  Nokia 5800 XpressMusic	all
  Nokia 5320 XpressMusic	all
  Nokia 6220 classic	all
  Nokia N78	all
  Nokia N79	all
  Nokia N85	all
  Nokia N96	all
  Nokia E66	all
  Nokia E71	all
  Nokia 7510 Supernova	all
  Nokia 7210 Supernova	all
  Nokia 7610 Supernova	all
  Nokia 3600 slide	all
  Nokia 6600	all
  HTC Hero	all

  This list only contains phones which we know support Flash Lite 3. Let us know if you have another model with built-in Flash Lite 3 that we can add to the list.

  Installing Flash Lite 3

  Starting from 2008, Flash Lite 3 is preinstalled on most Nokia smartphones and some smartphones from other manufacturers.

  A few Nokia models released in 2007 will get Flash Lite 3 if you update them to the latest firmwares, which can be found at Nokia device software update. To view the firmware versions on these Nokia phones, write *#0000#.

  Installing alternative Flash Lite 3 Distributable Player

  If you have an older Symbian S60 3rd edition phone or Windows Mobile phone not listed above it might still be possible to run Flash Lite 3 on it. Adobe has released a Distributable Player as a standalone application. Adobe's list of supported devices includes many popular phones. You can get it at Adobe Labs.

  The Distributable Player does not replace the browser plugin in your phone. Hence you can't browse broadcasts directly on m.bambuser.com when relying on it. Instead you launch Flash Lite 3 Distributable Player as a normal application and then select the flash file (.swf) you want to run, which in this case is our mobile flash player found at bambuser-fl3.swf. Download it (right-click, save as) to your computer and then upload it to Flash's file directory on your phone. On Nokia this is C:\Data\Others on the internal memory or E:\Others on the external memory card. When you launch the Distributable Player standalone application, the Bambuser player should appear in the list.

• Close my account?
  You can easily close your account under settings. Note that it's a permanent operation!
  Read more

  1. Go to your dashboard, and go down to your settings box.
  2. Click on “Close Account” button, then click close and yes.

  Note that it is a permanent operation. Once the account is closed it can't be opened again and all your broadcasts will be lost.

  

• Customize your player
  You can easily change colors or disable chat-functionality from your player in your dashboard.
  Read more

  Make sure you are logged in as your user

  1. Go to your dashboard
  2. Go down to your settings box on your right. Click on “Customize your player”
  3. Choose to disable or enable your chat (this means that people will not be able to chat with you in your embedded player). You can also choose color on your player.
  4. Choose your color of your player to match your blog or web site.
  5. Click “Save” to save your new settings
  

• How do I change my profile presentation
  You can edit your profile settings in your dashboard.
  Read more

  1. Go to your dashboard, and go down to your settings box in the right column.
  2. Click on “Presentation” now you can upload a profile image and write something about your account.
  3. Click on “Choose file” and choose the file for your account image.
  4. Then click upload
  5. Under “About you” click on the text to start editing.
  6. When you have set your new password click “Save”

• How to broadcast using Flash Media Live Encoder
  Download your authentication profile file from your Dashboard page and open it in FME.
  Read more

  
  
  Flash Media Live Encoder is an efficient live broadcasting tool for Windows XP and Vista with support for H.264 and On2 VP6 codecs.

  Installation guide

  1. Download the and install FME from Adobe. You will need to sign up for a free Adobe account to access the download.
  2. Download your XML authentication profile from your Dashboard page. In the right column in the "Start a broadcast" section, click "Standalone desktop app", then click Flash Media Live Encoder to find a link to the file. This file contains your personal connection and authentication information. Anyone who has this file can broadcast to your account - keep it safe!
  3. Open FME and load your profile (File -> Open profile)
  4. Tweak the audio and video sources and encoding settings if needed. We recommend keeping the total bitrate around 300 Kbps (FME calculates this for you automatically in the lower middle part of the window).
  5. Click on the big green "Start" button to start the broadcast.
  6. Don't hesitate to send us feedback about your experience with FME!
• I can't watch any streams on my corporate network
  See answer

  If you have a firewall blocking access to certain ports on remote servers, Bambuser might not be fully functional for you. Below is described to what port your phone or computer tries to connect to in different situations:

  To watch a broadcast:
  Mobile broadcast: TCP 80
  Webcam broadcast: TCP 1935

  To broadcast:
  From your mobile phone: TCP 443
  From your webcam: TCP 1935

• Installation fails due to certificate date or security check issues. What to do?
  Check that the phone's current time is set correctly.
  Read more

  Do you any of the following messages when installing?
  "Component failed security check. Cannot install."
  "Certificate validity dates do not match with the phone's date. Check your date settings."
  "Certificate expired."

  Make sure the clock in your phone is set to the current date, as the applications certificates are valid during a specific time frame only.

• My phone says Certificate error! What to do?
  Download the latest version of the Bambuser application.
  Read more

  Since October 2008 our Symbian application is officially signed, which should eliminate such issues. Try downloading it again if you have an earlier copy.

• What do I need to watch videos on bambuser.com
  To use bambuser.com you need a PC or a Mac an up-to-date browser like Firefox, Safari, Chrome or Internet Explorer with the latest version of Adobe Flash Player installed.
  Read more

  The lastest flash player can be found here

• Do you have API:s so I can integrate Bambuser into my own site / application?
  Yes we do. Everybody can embed broadcasts on their sites easily. To apply for access to our tools for deeper integration, contact us and describe what you like to build.
• Holy Cow! This is really cool stuff! I'm a skilled programmer who wants to be a part of shaping the future, can I join Bambuser?
  We'd love to hear from talented and innovative people from all over the globe. Send us something about yourself at career@bambuser.com