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Ultra-sensitive radio telescope debuts in South Africa
Another piece of the Square Kilometer Array's puzzle just fell into place. South Africa has officially switched on MeerKAT, billed as the most sensitive radio telescope of its type on the planet. Some parts of the array have been gathering data, but it's now nearly ready to use interferometry from all 64 dishes to map the normally invisible portions of space in exceptionally high detail. It should be completely ready for scientific experiments in about two months, according to Nature. However, you won't have to wait that long to see fresh results -- you're looking at some above.
Meerkat the livestreaming app is no more
Meerkat took SXSW by storm in 2015, and for a while, the livestreaming app seemed promising. But then Periscope arrived and reigned supreme with Twitter's help. Now, we can say it has officially killed Meerkat in the same way VHS buried Betamax and Blu-ray permanently knocked out HD DVD. Ben Rubin, the CEO of the firm that created Meerkat, has announced on Twitter that his team pulled it down from the App Store. The app's Google Play listing doesn't work for us anymore either, and its official website and Twitter account are dead.
Meerkat team confirms it created the mysterious Houseparty app
Those rumors of Meerkat's creators quietly developing a group video chat app, Houseparty, were well-founded. The company (actually called Life on Air) has confirmed to The Verge that it built Houseparty under a pseudonym, Alexander Herzick, for about 10 months. The company even admits to creating fake Facebook and LinkedIn pages to maintain appearances. Meerkat's crew reportedly wanted to both avoid criticism for changing its strategy and to reduce the pressure after becoming a sensation, albeit a short-lived one after Twitter's Periscope invaded its turf.
Meerkat team reportedly behind 'Houseparty' app
Now that Facebook and Twitter have live streaming locked down, Meerkat is done with it. As it promised, the company has now pirouetted to the next trend -- group video chat. According to Recode, the company behind it has quietly launched Houseparty, a relatively simple app that lets you host video calls with friends. To use it, you just create a new group chat link and invite others using SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook and other social networks. If any of your friends are on the app, they'll be able to join a new chat instantly.
YouTube wants in on the mobile livestreaming game
YouTube Gaming might not be taking off the way Google's video wing expected, but that won't stop the outfit from taking inspiration from another growing video sector. VentureBeat reports that "YouTube Connect" is the video service's attempt at livestreaming a la Periscope and Facebook Live. You can log in with a Google or YouTube account (you haven't merged those yet?), plus there's a built-in news feed, chat and tagging -- but apparently no Facebook or Twitter sharing yet.
Meerkat pivots towards a video social network
Meerkat's time in the media spotlight was short-lived. The livestreaming app was a hit at last year's SXSW festival, but it quickly lost steam after Twitter blocked access to its social feed and launched Periscope, a direct streaming competitor. And once Facebook joined the party with its live videos, Meerkat simply couldn't compete. Now the company is planning to shift away from individual livestreaming and towards a social network "where everyone is always live," Recode reports.
Meerkat wants you to share polls and pictures in your stream
The Meerkat team isn't done envisioning features that might give its live streaming app an edge over Twitter's Periscope -- not by a long shot. It's rolling out updates for Android and iOS that let you both poll your viewers and share pictures, making it easy to ask a question (we can imagine a lot of "what should I do next?" streams) or recount some of your earlier adventures. You'll also see live hashtags that help you both widen your audience and keep tabs on what's trending. These additions probably won't have you ditching Periscope if you're a committed user, but they might just tip the balance if you're not sure what to use for your broadcasts. [Image credit: Matthias Hiekel/AFP/Getty Images]
Livestream your GoPro adventures with Meerkat
In its ongoing war with Periscope for the hearts and screens of mobile users, Meerkat announced a new feature on Thursday. Users can now livestream their adventures from select GoPro cameras. Right now, only GoPro Hero3's offer the feature. Users will also need an iPhone with a wireless connection to the camera in order for everything to work. Meerkat is reportedly working to add support for both the Hero4 camera series and the Android platform in the near future. This announcement follows the recent Meerkat additions of the "cameo" feature that allows your friends to hop onto broadcasts with you and an embeddable web player.
Your pals can broadcast during your Meerkat streams, if you let them
To let viewers feel like they're part of the action, Meerkat announced a new feature that lets you ask for some crowd participation. The video-streaming app now has a Cameo tool that'll allow broadcasters to hand the reins over to viewers for up to a minute. "It's a simple yet powerful way to create a deeper human connection with people — going from 'broadcasting to' towards 'broadcasting with,'" the company said in a blog post. The ability to highjack streams popped up back in March and was quickly nixed. Now, it's an actual feature, which makes me wonder if someone flipped the switch a little early.
Meerkat's embeddable player puts your streams all over the web
Want people to see your Meerkat streams in more places? Well, you're in luck. The company announced an embeddable player today, a feature allows you to place your channel on the web so that folks don't have to venture too far to find your video. If you aren't broadcasting live, the player will display the details for your upcoming stream. Don't have one scheduled? It'll show the stats from your last session. And if you haven't captured any video yet, it'll fill the space with your profile. The embed options include three sizes -- Portrait, Square and Big Square -- so you can find the right fit, and Meerkat is giving you the ability to nix comments if you'd like. Because sometimes you just want to avoid any unwanted noise from the peanut gallery.
Meerkat reminds users that it has a points system
Did you know Meerkat has a points system? Yup, it's been around since launch, and there's even a Leaderboard that shows streamers with the highest scores, similar to the ones you see in games. Since it was pretty easy to miss unless you went live at least once -- or if you quickly jumped ship to Twitter-owned rival Periscope -- Meerkat has decided to make its score system available to all its users. Now, it's not just streamers who can earn points: viewers can, as well, by participating (commenting, Liking, retweeting, et cetera) in live broadcasts. The announcement's wording also makes it sound like the team is retroactively awarding points for previous interactions. Will this entice old users to ditch Periscope and come back to Meerkat? Probably not. But it's a fun little feature for people who decided to stick around.
Skeegle is like Meerkat or Periscope, but for private groups
Broadcasting live video from your smartphone has quickly become all the rage. The most popular enablers of this craze are Meerkat and Periscope, both of which aim to create a global community of streamers and voyeurs that find each other's feeds through open social networks. New player Skeegle, however, wants to do things a little differently, by making mobile live-streaming a more private affair. The premise is simple: you choose exactly who you want to broadcast to. Once you've downloaded the app, logged in with a Facebook account and associated your phone number with it (WhatsApp-style), you can start building groups from your phone's contact list (think "friends," "family," etcetera). When you stumble upon something worth streaming, you simply select the groups you'd like to be notified of your activity, start broadcasting, and that's it.
Meerkat for Android is out of beta on Google Play
Meerkat has not only beaten its Twitter-owned rival Periscope to Android devices, it's also shed its Beta phase according to a Tweet published Wednesday. The Meerkat for Android live streaming video apps operates just as its iOS counterpart does, allowing users to share real-time feeds with their Twitter followers. Conversely, Periscope's Android debut is still coming "soon! We're working on it," per a post on the app's blog published April 1st.
Meerkat breaks up with Twitter, jumps into bed with Facebook instead
If your social media startup uses Twitter as a link to the people, then you run the risk of getting your lifeline cut off should you get too popular. After all, Twitter tried to crowd Instagram out with Twitter Video, Picture Sharing and Vine, and the social network is now trying to supplant Meerkat with Periscope. It's one of the reasons that, in its most recent update, Meerkat has broken its close association with the site, making a Twitter account entirely optional.
Finally, a Meerkat app for Android you'll actually want to use
The temptation to write off Meerkat -- the live-streaming app that sort of blew up at SXSW -- is tough to resist. After all, Twitter wasted no time releasing a competitor (with a cleaner interface, no less) that slowly seems to be eating Meerkat's lunch. For now though, Meerkat's got one leg up on its bitter new rival: The team released an Android version of the app that actually works the way it's supposed to. You see, Meerkat technically beat Periscope to Android by launching a closed beta app in mid-March, but you could only watch live streams, not start your own. In other words, it was almost completely pointless. Not so anymore!
Meerkat looks to Android for a chance at beating Periscope
Can an Android launch save Meerkat? SXSW must seem like a long time ago for the folks behind the livestreaming app that took Austin by storm back in March. It was just a few weeks later that Twitter launched Periscope, which, thanks to the social network's clout and a better user experience, has quickly become the streaming app of choice. Right now both services are iOS only, though, and Meerkat is hoping to hook the hundreds of millions of Android users on its app with a public beta launch.
Vertical videos are here to stay thanks to apps like Snapchat
If you despise vertical or portrait video as much as some of us do, bad news: according to recent comments from ad agencies and media executives, you'll be seeing a lot more of them. The awkward format has been in our crosshairs since the iPhone 4 came out in 2010 and we felt the need to explain how to fix it. It's used by cellphone-wielders who are either too lazy to turn their phone 90 degrees or are just unaware that they should. The result is video that's okay on smartphones but horrible on computer screens or TVs due to unsightly vertical bars. In addition, Snapchat and new livestreaming apps like Periscope and Meerkat will soon make the format seem normal for many users.
Madonna continues her app tour with a video premiere on Meerkat
Madonna is still determined to hold on to the spotlight by premiering music videos in the internet services du jour. Her next stop? Meerkat. Swing by the livestreaming service at 1PM Eastern and you'll see the Material Girl's video for "Ghosttown" before it makes its way elsewhere. The stunt is undoubtedly going to get some attention, but it also suggests that Madonna is a bit behind the curve -- many of the cool kids have already moved on to Periscope. And what happened to all the juicy exclusives that are destined for Tidal, where the singer is a partner? As unique as this debut may be, it's not the first place we'd go to get some buzz from the younger crowd. [Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]
Twitter's Periscope is the best livestreaming video app yet
The age of ubiquitous livestreaming is upon us. I say this not only because of the sudden popularity of Meerkat, the mobile livestreaming app that now boasts over 100,000 users and celebrity aficionados like Jimmy Fallon and Madonna. No, it's because Meerkat now has a rival. A very big rival, in the form of Twitter. Today, the social media company has taken the wrapper off Periscope, its very own livestreaming app that it acquired only a couple of weeks ago. Indeed, it was this very purchase that caused Twitter to cut Meerkat from its social graph, a move that makes it a lot harder for those on Meerkat to find folks to follow. Periscope, on the other hand, won't have the same problem -- it automatically suggests people you follow on Twitter when you sign up. That's certainly a significant advantage, but the app needs to be good, too, if it wants to unseat Meerkat. So, is it?
Comparethemarket revives Orange Wednesdays with 'Meerkat Movies'
When EE announced its replacement for Orange Wednesdays earlier this week, we couldn't help but feel a slight pang of disappointment. Sure, cheap movie rentals are nice, but the deal isn't a patch on snagging two-for-one cinema tickets in the UK. If you're feeling the same way, there's some good news today: Comparethemarket is taking up the mantle and offering movie lovers the same promotion, albeit with a couple of caveats. The biggest one is that you'll need to buy something through Comparethemarket first, such as car, travel, life or home insurance. If you've bought something from the site already, you can open the "Meerkat Movies" app immediately and use the deal for the next 12 months, starting from the day you made the original purchase. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until April 3rd, when the promotion is officially launched for everyone else. Unlike Orange Wednesdays, the deal can also be redeemed every Tuesday and Wednesday, giving you a little extra choice over when you watch the latest blockbusters and indie flicks.
