Vimeo Comes to the iPhone

Watching some of the incredible videos posted on Vimeo is now possible using your iPhone. The video sharing site is working on H.264 encoding its content for mobile viewers. Until now, watching Vimeo content required a web browser with Flash.

For the time being a selection of staff picks and HD showcase videos are available using iPhone and Android devices, with more videos on the way. Vimeo is known for offering streaming video in 720p HD quality and banning commercial content.

A group of filmmakers and video creators started Vimeo in 2004 and the site has been cultivating a creative and enthusiastic group of followers ever since. Free accounts allow up to 500MB of uploads per week and a Plus account is available which ups the limit to 5GB.

Vimeo says that in a few weeks they will set things up so that Plus members can have the option to transcode their videos to iPhone-compatible format. iPhone owners are already familiar with the YouTube app which allows direct uploads of H.264 video to the user's YouTube account.

YouTube has already converted almost all of its video catalog to the mobile-compatible format. New videos that are uploaded in other formats are automatically converted so they are immediately viewable on iPhones.

Vimeo is sure to expand the diversity of streaming videos available on the iPhone and other mobile devices. From their website:

Vimeo exists to provide you with a space to showcase your creativity and share your life. As such, we do not allow you to upload videos that are commercial in nature or videos that you did not make yourself.

Vimeo is not a sea of eyeballs that you must trick into increasing your view count. It is a vibrant community of intelligent and creative people. We strongly encourage you to find people who share your interests and connect with them here.