Turn your phone into a real-time streaming webcam with Qik. Here’s an overview to getting started.

A few weeks ago, my friend asked me for advice on a streaming video solution. She’s going to Rome next week to cover a Climate Change conference and wanted to stream the event live. My friend doesn’t have a video camera, but she does have an N95, which shoots up to 640 x 480 video at 30 frames per second. Knowing that, I started looking for a mobile streaming solution. That’s when I found Qik - currently in beta.

I tried it with my friend a few times to check if it would meet her needs, and I have to say that even while in beta it works quite well. Your streams are presented live in the Qik site – an option for Twitter/Seesmic is also available - and friends can chat with you live while you’re streaming. All chats are displayed right on your phone as you stream. Once the stream is over, it’s recorded and available for later viewing. They even have privacy settings in case you don’t want your video available to the public.

Want to try it?

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Go to Qik’s site and sign up for the beta.
2. Qik will send you a text message with the link to the download and an activation code.
3. Download the application by clicking on the link - this will open your phone’s browser - and install it on your phone’s memory card.
4. From your Applications folder on your phone, start Qik.
5. If your camera has a cover, open it.
6. Select “Stream” and Qik will ask you for the activation code that was sent via the text message. Enter it.
7. If you’re using Wi-fi with Qik - highly recommended - go to Qik’s Menu>Settings>Access Point and select your wi-fi connection.
8. Go back to the main Qik menu and select “Stream” to start streaming live.

Want to view your videos?

Once you record your first video, Qik will send you a text message with a username and password. Go to Qik’s site and login with those credentials.

Change your username and password to one of your liking via the Profile section.
From there on, you can login to manage your videos (delete, rename and create YouTube link links for your blog) and read comments that people might have left you.

When you want your friends to see your videos live, asked them to go to Qik’s page and to look for your username. They’ll be able to click on it and start chatting.

If you’d like to see a few sample videos recorded with Qik, check a few videos that have been streamed from the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Have fun! And post your own ideas for streaming video, or links to your experiments with Qik, in the comments section.

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