Meerkat has announced that it was taking the battle with Periscope seriously, by laying out several new features. Periscope is a new live video streaming app that is backed by Twitter, and threatens to challenge Meerkat head-on. Since the launch, Periscope app has become a hit, breaking into the U.S. iPhone Top 30 chart. In contrast, Meerkat stumbled down to No. 523 on the U.S. iPhone download chart.
Meerkat is a popular app with features similar to the live video streaming app Periscope, which Twitter scooped up earlier this Thursday. It lets you live stream anything, and have a peek into someone else’s world on the tap of a button. All you need to do is basically inform your friends that you are about to start a broadcast. When you are ready, simply start the broadcast using the camera of the phone.
The features in the newly announced iOS app include:
- List of recommended people who could be followed.
- An updated way of following people available within the stream.
- Ways to find streams liked by friends.
- Option for users to stop syndicating comments to Twitter to make the whole app a bit more private.
Meerkat officials have also drawn the battle lines for Periscope by announcing that they have raised $12 million funding in a new round led by Greylock Partners, just after Twitter launched Periscope.
With this new development, Periscope would surely have to keep looking over it shoulders, if it want to ensure that it captures and maintains a healthy lead over Meerkat.
