This just in: James West (Alamy CEO) and Mike Fischer (Alamy Chairman) have invested in a smartphone video start up called Manything, an innovative new video recording service that uses smartphones and tablets as remote video cameras.
Other investors on the board include Dan Germain, Head of Creative at Innocent Drinks, and Alamy non-exec director Tim Pearson, former CEO of RM plc. Alamy is a 30% shareholder in Manything.
Manything turns the cameras on iPhones, iPods or iPads into video monitoring cameras. The free app automatically streams video and stills to the Manything cloud over WiFi. It’s also packed with handy features like movement and sound detection, sound activated flash, clip editing and sharing, and the ability to watch live video from other smartphones.
James West, CEO of Alamy, commented ‘We were originally attracted to the idea of Manything as a platform for gathering news video content, but we also see exciting potential for the service as a monitoring tool for photographers and videographers. Manything is a simple and low-cost way of monitoring a scene remotely, so that you can plan your work by identifying the best time and place for your shoot. It’s also great for photographers who need to keep an eye on all their expensive equipment when they’re away.’
Manything offers a unique alternative to traditional network cameras that is both versatile and portable. Tim Pearson, CEO of Manything, said ‘It’s estimated that there will be somewhere in the region of 100 million retired iPhones worldwide and by the end of 2014 that number will have doubled to 200 million. That’s a lot of processing power and a lot of features languishing in the back of your drawer. And as the price of second-hand iPhones declines the iPhone mountain will only get bigger. Finding interesting uses for all that processing power with all those features is the smart thing to do.”