Meerkat: Setting a New Streaming Video Standard
The tech world is buzzing this week about a new streaming video app with an unusual name: Meerkat – an app that lets you use your Twitter account to send live video and audio out to the world, right from your iPhone or iPad.
I can’t remember when a new app has gotten so much attention. But Meerkat, in just a couple of weeks, has become huge. If you’re on Twitter, you’ve seen constant notes of folks going live with Meerkat. And the video quality is pretty amazing. I shot and streamed this Meerkat video while on the interstate the other day in Kentucky and in the middle of a traffic jam.
Most of the videos are short. Viewers can actually tweet messages to you as you stream. Twitter is reportedly planning its own similar service but for now Meerkat has a lock on it.
The downside is – right now – the app only works on Apple devices, though you can watch and interact by computer as well though the experience and video quality isn’t nearly as robust. Best part of it all? It’s free and the potential for live news and event coverage by anyone is downright amazing.
Check out my report on Meerkat for NBC-TV below:
Mike Wendland
Mike is a veteran journalist whose video "PC Mike" reports have been distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations since 1994, making him one of the most experienced tech reporters in the country. His tech stories and videos have appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, the Today Show, The New York Times, USA Today and in numerous national newspapers and magazines. In addition to the PC Mike tech blog, he also publishes the Roadtreking.com RV Travel Blog in which he travels North America in an RV reporting about interesting people and places.
