New app allows for live video streaming on Twitter
Print Edition
LIVE streaming video from a smartphone might soon be known as “meerkatting” thanks to a new app that allows anyone with an iPhone to become a roving reporter.
A free program called Meerkat has become a virtual overnight sensation since its low-key arrival on Apple’s online App Store late last month, winning over journalists, politicians and social media celebrities.
Meerkat works with Twitter, allowing users of the service to stream live video at the touch of a button.
Tens of thousands of users have already tried it.
The app uses the name and image of a meerkat, which is a relative of the mongoose that lives in Africa.
The news blog TechCrunch described Meerkat as “the live streaming app Twitter should have built.”
Twitter appears to have taken notice. It said on Friday it was buying the maker of a rival video streaming app called Periscope, which is currently in testing.
Twitter did not release details of the deal, but media reports said it was paying between US$50 million and US$100 million for the app.
Also, Buzzfeed.com reported on Friday that Twitter was cutting Meerkat’s access to some of its features.
It was not immediately clear whether Twitter would maintain Periscope as an independent app or integrate it into the platform. Both companies are based in San Francisco.
“That is a worry for Meerkat,” Danny Sullivan, founder of the blog Search Engine Land, said of Twitter buying Periscope.
“If Twitter gets their own live video, they will have a tendency to want to favor that.”
Sullivan “meerkatted” a stroll around the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas on Friday.
“It is kind of neat to give a taste of South-By to people who have never seen it,” he said.
“It works surprisingly well; it is very impressive how easy it was to get going.”
With Meerkat, a tweet is sent with a link that anyone can click to be connected to the stream while it is in progress.
Videos are available only at Meerkat while they are live, but the app gives users the option of saving what they have recorded on their devices.
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