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Periscope: Twitter joins live-streaming war with new app
Site recently announced the $100 million acquisition, which looks part of plan to take on competitor Meerkat
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Your support makes all the difference.Twitter today launched Periscope, a separate app that allows users to watch and record live video of people’s surroundings.
The app looks set to take on Meerkat, an app that took off earlier this month and also allows users to livestream through their phone.
Users can begin livestreams by downloading the app, and following the instructions to begin a video. A link to the feed can be automatically tweeted, informing followers that users have begun.
Anyone can tune in to the feeds, and comment or like the posts. The videos feature a small live chat, allowing for viewers to discuss what’s happening in the video.
Though it shares a number of features in common with Meerkat, it is different in allowing users to save videos from their feeds, allowing them to upload them elsewhere after. On Meerkat, live streams are deleted when they are over, meaning that clicking through on notifications could sometimes lead users to a message that they’d were too late to see the video.
As well as clicking through from Twitter links or app notifications to see streams, users can open up the app to see all of the feeds that are currently being broadcast and have been made public.
The app launched today on iOS, with an Android version set to launch soon. Streams can also be viewed on any web browser, with or without a Periscope account.
Though Meerkat got out first, Periscope had actually been in development for much longer. That means that it has some extra features as well as a smoother experience.
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