Twitter launched a video-streaming app called Periscope on Thursday, just days after reports that it had blocked a rival app called Meerkat from accessing its data on who follows whom. Meerkat, which was designed to link with a user's Twitter account, has surged in popularity after becoming a breakout hit at the SXSW interactive festival earlier this month.
Twitter's announcement comes on the same day that Meerkat unveiled a list of investors that included Silicon Valley venture capitalists Greylock Partners and Sound Ventures, Ashton Kutcher's fund. Meerkat is said to have raised $14 million in the new round of funding. The app, which boasts celebrity users such as talk show host Jimmy Fallon, lets people live-stream videos that cannot be rewatched.
Twitter bought Periscope in January. Unlike Meerkat, Periscope allows users to save videos and watch them later. "While there are many ways to discover events and places, we realized there is no better way to experience a place right now than through live video. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but live video can take you someplace and show you around," Twitter said in a post on Medium. Periscope is currently available in the Apple App Store, and an Android app is also in the works.
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