Video sharing site Vimeo was in attendance at CES in Las Vegas and announced versions of its app for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform as well as both smartphone and tablet builds for Android.
We spoke to Vimeo lead developer Joe Schmitt about the new launches and asked how Vimeo's app was aiming to appeal to users and compete with Youtube, which comes pre-installed on many devices.
Schmitt described the experience as ‘totally different' to Youtube, emphasising that Vimeo's focus was on using a device's camera to shoot and upload video seamlessly. ‘It's about shooting first,' he said, ‘Youtube is just a viewing experience.'
Schmitt also made a point about the community-driven aspects of Vimeo, the fact that Vimeo is built around uploading and editing high quality video footage and has a following of ‘enthusiastic' amateurs as well as professionals.
Vimeo is trying to bring its desktop experience to mobile devices, according to Schmitt. He said the company had paid great attention to the interface and design to create a ‘uniquely mobile' experience and emphasised the goal of having an app which looks attractive and feels good to use.
At its most basic it allows users to login to their Vimeo account, view, capture and upload video content, and to comment and interact with the content and community.
Schmitt said a good deal of work had gone into the tablet interface for the Android version: ‘We look at them [tablets] as a different device and really try to make use of the screen real estate to browse, comment and view simultaneously.'
According to Vimeo you'll be able to multi-task extensively within the app itself. It'll also be specifically optimised for the Amazon Kindle Fire to give the ‘best experience' possible.
For the Windows Phone 7 build, Schmitt said the company was ‘really excited' and explained that this was ‘not just a port'. Vimeo has taken Windows Phone's unique interface into consideration and designed the app around it. ‘It's visually different but functionally the same,' said Schmitt.
The company also revealed it would be updating its iOS app in the new year. The new build will feature native iPad support with a similarly tablet-tailored interface tweaked for Apple's larger device.
Perhaps the most stand-out feature of the app, which will at first be exclusive to the iOS build but will come to other platforms later, is the in-built editing suite which Schmitt said will include a music store with licensable music tracks, something he described as a ‘huge advantage' to users.
