Meerkat and Periscope, or how video broadcasting wants to be the next smartphone revolution

DWe have witnessed small revolutions since smartphones became popular: WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine… Services that have changed the way we communicate. What will be the next big thing? Something we are already familiar with but on a different platform: transmitting video in real time from our smartphone.

Meerkat, Periscope and the appeal of live broadcasting

Transmitting live is inherent to the media. Fast reporting, reporting what is happening right now. Radio and television are prime examples of being where the news is happening and reporting it first-hand. The media decides what is important and what is not.

The Internet has brought us more and more ways of communicating more personally. Covering slots of all kinds, giving different opinions about information without having to be professional. And doing it all with the common denominator of immediate communication. Think about the success social networks have had in various political and social movements in recent years.

EThe logical jump from text and pictures is video. Live broadcasting using the device we all carry around with us. A trend that has increased over the years, the best success story being Twitch, which has taken the next step to a platform with numerous opportunities: smartphones.

Meerkat, a small startup and Periscope, a company owned by Twitter are competing to see who will dominate a market that is still very small but has the potential to become the sector to keep our eyes on during 2015. Both offer the technological solution: the chance to use your smartphone for live video transmission.

You record whatever you want and share it with whomever may be interested. Meerkat and Periscope do not play the role of judges, you are the one who decides the content. Their first rule is very simple: anything that is transmitted live is not stored. . This is similar to Snapchat's philosophy, where pictures that are sent are not saved on the smartphone that receives them.

Live broadcasting and getting just that: the moment you are witnessing. Its possibilities are immense: reporting live events, making short live videos without high aspirations, telling stories of all kinds that may or may not interest us but, as demonstrated by YouTubers, are a potential bonanza for video exploitation.

Both are similar and the struggle will be at close quarters. Both of these technological solutions are good and there is no need to have an excellent connection to transmit high-quality video, though they will obviously consume extra data and battery power in our smartphone. As we mentioned, short transmissions of things that are important for brief periods of time..

These are now the spearheads in the apps world and one of the high expectations of finding the next big business. . They are growing, receive financing and have high potential. They are on the right path, but if this sector has taught us anything, it is that all that glitters is not gold. The main obstacle: being a platform for broadcasting and viewing attractive content and therefore reaching the general public.