Twitter Inc. launched a video streaming app called Periscope on Thursday, just days after reports that it had blocked a rival app called Meerkat.
Meerkat relies heavily on Twitter and has become hugely popular in the month since its launch.
Twitter announced the same day that Meerkat unveiled a list of investors, including Silicon Valley venture capitalists Greylock Partners and Sound Ventures, Ashton Kutcher’s fund.
Meerkat’s new round of funding is widely expected to have raised millions of dollars.
The app, which already boasts celebrity users such as talk show host Jimmy Fallon, lets people stream videos that cannot be rewatched.
Twitter said in a blog post that it bought Periscope in January.
According to tech website The Verge, Unlike Meerkat, Periscope allows users to save and replay videos later. The app is currently available in the Apple App Store, and Twitter said an Android app is also in the works.
The company bought the video-sharing service Vine in 2012 and has since been aggressively expanding its capabilities to carry pictures, videos and interactive content far richer than the 140-character messages it is best known for.
Vine is now one of the most popular apps in Apple Inc’s iTunes store, and Twitter users are increasingly sharing short, six-second video clips in tweets.
Twitter’s shares were up 2 percent at $50.51 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading. – Reuters
