Meerkat is once again, one step ahead of its main competitor, Twitter’s Periscope when it comes to getting into the Android market. Just two weeks after the live video streaming service opened up its doors for beta testers, they have now released the official beta version, available for all Android users through the Google Play Store. Meanwhile, Periscope has not yet announced anything official about moving on to Android, despite assurances that they will be on the platform soon.
If you think that Meerkat is just this carnivorous member of the mongoose family, it’s a service that made its debut a few weeks ago at the South by Southwest tech and arts festival in Austin. It allows mobile-toting people to do live video streams of their activities or events they’re currently at. The link to your live stream will be posted on Twitter and your friends who have the app on their smartphones will also get notifications you’re doing a livestream. The “show” will only run live and so they cannot watch any reruns. The video will be saved on your phone but the app itself will not keep it on their system.
Just a few days after Meerkat launched, Periscope was suddenly unveiled to the market. The two are basically the same, with the lone differentiation that the latter allows users to watch reruns of the video streams. Maybe because it’s also backed up by Twitter’s marketing prowess, but users seemed to embrace Periscope more, after raving about Meerkat when it launched. But one advantage that Meerkat now has is they can reach the whole Android market.
For now, the app is still in beta mode, so things might not run as smoothly. And remember, copyrighted material is also not allowed on the app. You can download Meerkat for free from the Google Play Store.
VIA: SlashGear
