The Estonian manufacturers of the Yaika.com portal are launching a new social project on the Internet with wide opportunities for both media professionals and regular users.
Project manager Valentin Ivanov shares the secrets of the company live
The search for the Estonian “Nokia” has long been a talk of the town, however, ideological people do not leave the thought to enter the world market with a kind of “know-how” that can somehow influence the economic and life situation. In Estonia, still on the first roles appear information technology. This week, the first social project created by Estonian manufacturers appeared on the Internet. About this in an interview with “Youth of Estonia” said the project manager Yaika.com Valentin Ivanov.
– You should start with the fact that the portal Yaika! first of its kind not only in Estonia, but also in Europe. Thanks to its functionality, it enables most professional and simple users to make interactive television and radio on their own. We have created a system in which anyone can make a completely free transfer at home. And if a person also has technical skills, skill, some kind of equipment, then you can produce high quality products. For this, the portal has almost all the possibilities.
– What is this system built on?
– The entire system of the site created by the type of blog. Every time a person goes on the air, his program remains on the site as a blog news. And you can see what happened. For the time being we do not leave chat and video broadcasting in history, but all comments remain in the archive, and the author has the opportunity to edit them. In fact, he gets the opportunity to become the administrator of his channel and decide for himself who to allow to watch the channel, whom to invite on the air, what comments to keep or delete.
A person who has a computer connected to the Internet, and at least one or several webcams, is able to go on the air and show the world what he wants. In this case, the viewer has the opportunity to choose the main camera with which he wants to see the picture. The number of simultaneously broadcasting cameras is not limited, and we are probably the only ones in the world. In relation to the radio, there is a limit of up to 6 microphones in order to eliminate noise and not lose quality. And if you take into account the experience of DJs who can use a mixer and other equipment, then here the possibilities are very big.
– Do you have competitors on the Internet?
– Yes, there is, but they differ somewhat in the principle of operation, and they are all located or focused on America, for example ustream.tv. But they have no social stuffing, no such number of functions, moreover, their system is confusing. Let’s say, to me, who is knowledgeable in this area, it took about 20 minutes to go to their site to figure out which buttons to press when …
– Than Yaika! different from competitors?
– The site is built on the rules of the social network. People can add each other as friends, and this will mean that the author allows his friends to watch their programs. In addition, we created such an opportunity as a “call to the studio.” For example, right in the course of his broadcast, he can connect to the transfer of any person from any end of the globe, provided that he is a registered user of the site and also went on the air at this time. And there can also be an infinite number of such collaborators. As a result, a person, creating his channel, can actually create his own community, his own group of interests, and hold a videoconference. In this case, all cameras, with the consent of the author, will be able to see and all users of the portal. Actually, Yaika! with its concept and technical developments created a situation where you can replace the annoying TV channels of ordinary television with your own, watch and show what is interesting to you and your friends.
– Is it possible to record programs and save them in the archive?
– Since on Monday, June 9, only the beta version of the portal went on the air, and we opened it immediately in five languages (Estonian, Russian, English, Swedish and Dutch), for all users, so far the amount of functionality is limited. For example, it is not yet possible to record broadcasts that go on the air right on the portal. The recording is planned by September of this year, and each author will be able to record the programs himself and at the same time choose whether the viewer will be able to record his programs or not. So copyrights will be saved. This issue has been specially developed, and we are very concerned about the observance of copyright and all points of the legal civil code. The author himself chooses that he shows to whom he shows, and he has the possibility of blocking the viewer. He can make a broadcast for everyone, he can make a corporate show for his friends or loved ones, he can limit the category of viewers to 13, 16 or 18 years old if the programs do not correspond to this audience.
– What other innovations will be on the portal?
– Our special development is the center for sending messages. This is a completely new trend in the global network. This opportunity is not yet one of the portal on the Internet. This is the ability to send video or audio messages. Now it will be possible if not to replace, then in any case to diversify private e-mails. Then not just a text message will be sent to the mailbox, but a video or audio recording.
– Usually with the advent of a new product related to technology, a lot of questions arise …
– We have invested a lot of energy, and now, when the beta version of the portal comes out, we will try to bring the system to perfection, so we are ready to consider all the offers. If someone finds mistakes and expresses wishes, then we are ready to consider and correct them. In addition, we are going to devote time to teaching our visitors how to use the Yaika! Portal correctly, and for this we will have a special technical blog that will be published in three languages (Estonian, Russian and English) once a week, on a certain day. I will conduct it myself and will try to explain all the possibilities as accurately as possible. For example, how to connect video cameras in a car and broadcast your trip to the whole world, how to shoot underwater, how to make an infrared camera from a normal camera so that you can shoot in the dark, how to make an interactive video camera from a mobile phone. There are a lot of these “as” …
– And do not mind sharing secrets?
– No pity. On the contrary, very nice! Let people learn, maybe someone is implementing their old ideas or during the course of this communication he will prompt new ideas. We will make a studio in the office, and maybe someone will come and make his transfer, or maybe we will do it together. This should be very interesting.
– Many of my friends would like to install a security video camera in their apartment, but this is too expensive …
– Now it is very easy to do. And besides, thanks to our portal, this can be done practically free of charge, except for the purchase of the webcams and the computer itself. At the same time, cameras and computers can be absolutely any, there are no increased requirements! Anyone who goes on a business trip can set up a camera at home and, with his password, enter the portal and watch what happens in his absence. We have a situation where the author can only watch his camera himself, without giving access to anyone!
– Many social sites are under attack on the Internet. In Estonia, this topic is particularly relevant. How secure is your portal?
– We try as much as possible. Since I have been engaged in IT technologies for many years, I will not say out loud that we are the best, we have prepared for attacks. But we tried and did everything possible to protect all its users. For several months now we have been testing security. We have special people who care about the safety of user information. For us, this is a huge priority.
– Tell us a little about the team and about who initiated and inspired the portal with such a funny name?
– The idea has been matured for several years already, but only last year a complete picture appeared in my mind how to make the interesting useful and bring it to ordinary Internet users. And it is clear that the creation of such a complex project is impossible alone, and I am very grateful to our entire team for the support shown! Until Yaika! We worked under a different name and were engaged in the development of Internet projects for foreign companies. The team worked together for a long time, there are about 30 of us, including several other large foreign entrepreneurs who are on the company’s board and help us develop.
– Is your portal going to conduct exclusive broadcasts?
– Our first project on Monday was a broadcast from the UK, from Stonehenge. At the same time, we participated in the annual prestigious European Conference on IT technologies called Being-Digital in London. The most interesting thing is that of all the video and audio projects, ours turned out to be one of a kind and created a real stir.
In the near future, from June 13 to June 15 in Riga, we will be shooting and broadcast live the European Championship in table hockey in full. We prepared for this specifically, because we are interested in testing the system and the quality of the video display, as the small puck on the platform there is moving at a very high speed.
From July 6 to July 12, a large annual political conference will take place on Gotland Island in Sweden, and we are accredited there as an official media partner. Since we work on the principle of “think globally, and act locally,” then Sweden is also in the interests of our market. Why are we going to broadcast it? Because you need to understand that now you can see everything that once remained in the same room and was not put up for public viewing. In this case, you yourself choose the number of people who see the action, and you yourself broadcast your program. Now it has become possible.
