Qik has come a long way since then, and Skype has taken notice of it. Earlier Today, Skype announced that they have purchased their “competetor” Qik. I don’t think anybody saw this one coming, but it could pay off for Skype depending on what exactly they plan to do with it.

Skype’s new CEO, Tony Bates, wouldn’t discuss the purchase price or any future plans for their integration. However, Bates did say that Skype is planning to “work closely with Qik.” As of now, we have no idea what this means. We’re uncertain of how – or when – Skype will integrate Qik into their service and brand.

Bates also declined to discuss the failed video-chat tablet demo that was almost shown at the Nvidia press conference yesterday. Skype has made several other announcements which include: Paid group calls with up to 10 users per call, Skype on TVs and Blu-ray players made by Sony and Vizio, as well as Skype in classrooms and developing countries to help communities in need.

Traci Toguchi was kind enough to cover CES for us over the past several days. She attended sessions, parties, and product release events. During this interview, Traci is talking with Rishi Mallik, Senior Manager of Business Development for Qik. Rishi was excited to talk to us about the new Qik-in-Touch desktop application. Thanks so much to Daynah for working the Vado 3 that Creative provided to Traci for this conference.

Stay in touch with the people you are following on Qik. Watch their videos instantly on your desktop the moment they go live! Sign in using your Qik username, and see what your friends are doing. Likewise, as soon as you Qik a video of your own, it will show up on your friends’ desktops automagically!

Qik now supports over 140 different phones, including the Blackberry! Be sure to check out the website to see if Qik will work with your phone!

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I’m live streaming from my iPhone once again! The latency isn’t bad at all. You know what this means, don’t you? It means I can get up and be on the move without being tethered to a laptop or desktop. At least, when you’re able to download and install this app for the iPhone – which isn’t quite available (yet).

You might remember a few months ago when I did a review of the QIK app for streaming on the iPhone. Well – this isn’t it! This is Ustream’s app! You can use this new app to stream live from your iPhone or iPod Touch as long as you have a wifi connection. The audio is solid, and the picture quality is pretty good.

So, how do you turn your iPhone into a video recorder? Easy:

1. Download and install this app from the iTunes app store.
2. Sign up for a Ustream account (free).
3. Press the Broadcast button.

Unfortunately, Apple hasn’t allowed them to release the app yet – but it should be coming soon!

For this video, I carried my iPhone into my bedroom with me, and stretched out on the bed. You can do pretty much anything with your own stream (within reason). Although this app works well for the most part, there are some bugs, as you would expect. For instance, I cannot switch over to my regular live video feed with any degree of ease. People get stuck in limbo, and aren’t sure what they’re watching. I may have to set up a separate mobile feed for this until Ustream figures out a way to make this work a bit better.

Walking back into my office didn’t go as smoothly as I planned. If you have an iPhone and a live video stream – you can travel! Ustream is a live video community for everyone. Anyone with a computer, an Internet connection and a web cam can set up their own channel and broadcast live.

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Do you remember the Qik service we talked about awhile ago? Well, now it’s able to run on an iPhone… without jailbreaking it! You guessed it, I’m streaming live, using my iPhone at long last!

Qik is a little piece of software that lets you stream video live from your cell phone to the web, where your audience can chat back in real time to your device’s screen while you broadcast. With Qik, you can share with anyone and everyone what’s going on anywhere and everywhere you go. Click here to signup and start sharing live videos with your friends and family.

With Qik you can stream engaging video live from your phone to the world or use your phone like a camcorder to capture entertaining, interesting and special moments. Go LIVE with your life by streaming anytime, anywhere—right from your phone. Be an eyewitness, capture those first steps, or whip up your own streaming video blog. There are just a million and one uses of Qik. Do you have a favorite use of Qik?

Qik will drain your battery quickly. You’re not just using the camera, you’re also pushing data out to the Web constantly. Thankfully, I had my new Richard|Solo battery pack, or I’d have never been able to do this!

The video quality is really good, honestly. You can save 10% by using coupon code pirillo.

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I’m streaming live from my iPhone, using Qik. How cool is this? With Qik, you can share with anyone and everyone what’s going on anywhere and everywhere you go.

Have you checked out Qik yet? What are your experiences with it?