By Doug Dobbins
Special to TXT
WE'RE LEARNING to use more than just words to communicate. Many of us are also using cell phones to connect to the Internet and do tasks that a few years ago could only be done on a computer.

We're also moving beyond text messaging. Now people are sending video to people we do business with or stay in touch with.

Out of several product options available, we’ll look at two services, Treemo and Eyejot, that make it much easier for people to create video and share it with others who can watch on PCs or cell phones. (story continues below videos)

Going small: Doug Dobbins showcases video-making tools developed by Eyejot(10:20)

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Doug visits Treemo CEO Brent Brookler and tests the product features(10:10)

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For larger versions or to download in m4v format (suitable for video iPod) Eyejot interview (right click to save)

Treemo interview

If you are going to be downloading or uploading video with your phone, it is a must to get an unlimited data plan from your carrier. Most cell phone companies offer either metered plans that charge for the amount of data transferred or unlimited plans that allow unlimited data transfer for a flat fee.

Even watching a few of the shortest of videos can rack up large bills quickly with a metered data plan. Unlimited data plans can range from $30 to $60 a month depending on your current voice plan and type of phone.

Seattle-based Treemo is an online mobile community dedicated to sharing digital media. Treemo — at treemo.com — enables you to create and share videos, audio and pictures you have created on your computer or cell phone.

Founder Brent Brookler has focused on cell phones since the growth of user generated multimedia has taken off in the same sky rocketing pace as camera phones have.

One of the biggest pluses of Treemo on the cell phone is it doesn’t require you to install any software. Brookler calls this “the frictionless environment.” In addition, Treemo is carrier independent, meaning that it works with the network of any cell phone service provider.

By leveraging the power of open standards, Treemo allows you to take the video you took on your camera phone of your child and share it with your friends and family by entering their e-mail or cell phone number.

Once you’ve uploaded your video, Treemo recodes it into the 3GP format for cell phones and to the Flash format for viewing on your PC or Mac.

Once the video is ready for viewing, Treemo sends an SMS message or e-mail to let people know you have a video to be watched. No one has to download Treemo software to view the video.

Treemo is a community as well; you can comment about the media and share videos created by others. The service also has community etiquette standards that ban sexual, violent, and unauthorized uses of copyrighted content. Treemo bans depictions of illegal drug use or alcohol use content, as well.

Eyejot, another Seattle-based company, at eyejot.com, is the brainchild of David Geller and Daryn Nakhuda. In a recent interview, Geller said he believes Eyejot addresses ones of the main weaknesses of e-mail for personal and business use, the lack of expressions and gestures that occur in face-to-face meetings.

In order to send clips with Eyejot, you first have to log onto the Eyejot Web site. You can use any browser, on any platform, as long as you have the Flash plug-in installed.

Currently you cannot create video on your cell phone or take video already created on you computer and upload it to Eyejot. You must capture the video with your Web cam while visiting the Eyejot site.

Eyejot then sends an e-mail to your recipients telling that you’ve sent them a video.

Because Eyejot doesn’t depend on software, I have found the service useful when I want to send a video to someone, especially when sharing tools like iChat and Skype are being blocked on the network I am on.

Eyejot is carrier-independent as well.

Eyejot also features built-in support for a private iTunes RSS 2.0 feed, which allows you to subscribe to your Eyejot “video inbox.” The subscription means you are notified about any new videos or content.

Eyejot offers what they like to call a “widget” which lets you embed your video on a blog. The widget enables the recipient to hit the reply button after watching a video and then record his or her video in response.

These services and others are addressing the fact people want to share their media but don’t want to get caught up with the technical details of how to deliver it to the wide variety of devices that their family and friends use. This eliminates the worry over formats or converting files to a different format.

That solution allows us to focus on the main concern, which is sharing our experiences with others.

Doug Dobbins is a technology consultant living in Spokane. He runs www.dougdobbins.com and can be reached through doug.txt@gmail.com