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Yahoo's Livetext is a messaging app for the Snapchat generation
Yahoo's Livetext video-messaging app popped up in Hong Kong's iTunes store a few days ago, and now it's rolling out to more locales. The app is the company's effort to provide software similar to its popular Messenger app that's appropriate for how people are chatting these days. This means offering a an option that's similar to Snapchat and the like, but with a focus on one-on-one conversations. With Livetext, you can let the person (no group chats yet) you're chatting with via text get a look at where you are and what you're doing. While the app does provide a video stream, it doesn't include sound. Why? The folks at Yahoo found that enabling sound caused folks to think twice about answering a message and instead wanted to offer "a way to connect that's quick and non-intrusive." It might keep you out of trouble in the office, but we'd surmise most folks would prefer it offer at least the option of some audio.
Yahoo and Beme take on Snapchat with video sharing apps
There's no shortage of apps that can take short video clips you can blast to friends. But if you're willing to branch out and try new things, Yahoo and YouTube celebrity Casey Neistat have released alternatives with different takes on video sharing. Neistat's iPhone app called Beme, for instance, starts recording four-second videos when you cover the sensor above the device's earpiece. In his demo below the fold, he shows how you can cover the sensor by placing the phone against your chest. The idea is that you get to experience life and see events with your own eyes instead of through a screen, even while recording what's in front of you.
