Twitter launches streaming app Periscope as rival to popular Meerkat product

Twitter has unveiled its rival to the emerging Meerkat live streaming app, Periscope, allowing people to stream from their phones to their followers on the social networking site for free.

Meerkat was the breakout platform to emerge from the recent SXSW Interactive conference, and has led the explosion in popularity in this form of live streaming, which has been tipped to be the technology which has the greatest influence on the US Presidential election next year by the former social media advisor to Barack Obama.

Both apps allow anyone with a mobile connection to live stream what they are doing, offering audiences “a shared experience” with the user, according to a Twitter blog post on the launch.

The social media site bought Periscope a few weeks ago, and soon after cut off Meerkat’s access to its API, signalling its intent to launch a rival to the service.