Just last month the tech world went into meltdown over Meerkat, the latest app to provide live streaming.
Launched at the SXSW Conference, delegates instantly succumbed to it’s charms. After downloading the app they could set the video camera rolling and stream their latest adventures direct to other users of the app. The result – $14 million in investment from entrepreneurs hoping to cash in on the hope of Meerkat being the biggest thing to hit the tech world since Twitter.
However, a storm was brewing in the background and this was one storm that was unlikely to blow over. On March 13th Twitter confirmed it’s purchase of Meerkat rival, Periscope. Twitter instantly blocked Meerkat from having access to it’s API, which in simple terms meant Meerkat could no longer auto-tweet to Twitter.
Meerkat had built it’s business model on users being able to let their Twitter followers know when they were streaming, so without this function or a sizeable base of Meerkat users already, they were up against a pretty big brick wall. No problem they said, we’ll build our own social network rather than having to rely on Twitter populating it for us.
Life hasn’t been quite that straight forward and at the time of this article going live, Meerkat has since a rapid drop in users. Twitter has managed to integrate Periscope into it’s platform in a matter of weeks. Why? To put a stop to Meerkat before it could even hit the mainstream.
It’s likely that many readers of this article may not have already heard of, or ever hear of Meerkat. But one thing’s for sure, if you haven’t already you will hear of Periscope. Such was Twitter’s rapid move in this case that it quashed potential competition without the blink of an eye.
If you like to be at the forefront of tech, my advice would be to download both now (as they’re free) because in this battle there’s only likely to be one winner and one day you may get a chance to tell your brag that one day you actually used it before it’s fate was sealed.
Click here to download Meerkat on the App Store
Click here to download Periscope on the App Store
