In the latest video news, Vimeo has acquired Echograph, “a blend of still photography and video,” according to the video on their website (of course, hosted by Vimeo). Echograph is a GIF-making app that allows you to take a photograph and animate parts of it that you want. The application used to cost $2.99, but it will now be free with the latest merger. Another grab for Vimeo is that Echograph creator, Nick Alt, will become Vice President of Mobile for Vimeo.
What is so interesting about this purchase is it now puts Vimeo in competition with the latest video craze, Vine. Vine’s launch has topped the video news charts in the past weeks, as the Twitter-owned company allows you to create six-second videos.
Vimeo’s acquisition of a mobile video app coming so soon after Twitter launched Vine seems to say that Vimeo is not only moving into the mobile space, but they refuse to fall behind video giants such as Twitter, Facebook, and even YouTube. And furthermore, that going mobile is the big trend that is hitting video.
A recent study by Dacast legal streaming service found that two out of three smartphone users streamed video in 2011. Mobile video usage is set to have an annual growth of 28% over the next five years. The study also says that by 2015, mobile video will generate 66% of mobile data traffic.
One thing that is for certain is that online video is moving to mobile and that any web video advertising or video promotion must have mobile capabilities. According to the trends, it seems like all the big online players are trying to get a hold of mobile.
