Product Reviews

Izimi lets you share your photos, videos and music with other internet users but, unlike similar services, you don't need to upload them to a central server or convert them to a standard size or format. The recipient can view your shared files in their browser without the need for any proprietary playback or viewing software, which makes your published material more widely available.

There are two parts to Izimi: a publishing application for managing and publishing your media, and a social networking website though which you can promote it and find people with similar interests. The success of any social network site depends largely on building a critical mass of users. Izimi has yet to achieve this and there is little to distinguish it from other social networking sites apart from the ability to link directly to your files.

The Izimi publishing application allows you to select files from your computer for publication, remove them from publication and preview them. In practice, this means that each selected file is assigned a short Izimi URL, which you can then distribute by email, post on a webpage or insert in a blog. This URL is a direct link though the

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main Izimi servers to your computer. The Izumi application then handles subsequent incoming requests for the file, serving them to the recipient directly from your computer to their browser. The source file is never transferred to a central server, and you retain complete control over it.

While the promise of keeping control of your own media while still sharing it with others though an internet browser is tempting, it's not without problems. The main one is that as the files are held locally, your PC must be switched on for others to access them. In many cases, this is inconvenient and negates one of the main selling points of internet publishing: consistently available content. Thumbnail previews are always available on your personal Izimi webpage, though, so people can still preview your content, even when you are offline.

Bandwidth is another problem. Even with a fast internet connection, bandwidth is valuable. If you send a file to a central server, you need only transfer it from your computer once. If you store it on your hard disk, though, your internet connection will fill with other people's traffic whenever they request your file. This is of little consequence for small photo files, but if a large number of people try to download a 40MB video file, you could encounter problems.

Izimi is a novel concept, but it has significant flaws. By giving you direct control over your content, Izimi in effect limits its availability and puts the technical onus on your computer and internet connection. On the plus side, however, it's free and if your computer is always switched on and connected to the internet, it's an easy way to share your original files with friends, relatives and fellow Izimi users without resorting to FTP or email.