the Meerkat Suricate and ....... the Video livestreaming app !!!

ICC World Cup 2015 is on ~ nightmarish for the bowlers – 300s+ are chased with ease – there have been 21 centuries in 27 matches thus far ! For the first time ever, cricket matches are  covered using 4K technology in  High Definition (HD) format.  Audiences being treated to  the most riveting experience as each and every match is covered by at least 29 cameras, including Ultramotion cameras, Spidercam at 13 matches and the drone camera at all the knock out matches. That is technology at its best, till it is improvised !

From the grounds down under to Silicon valley – all fuelled by ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out), a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent.  When the World is on the move, you have to run to stay at the same place at least.  Every tech entrepreneur and investor is paranoid that the next big thing might pass them by.

These are small burrowing animals, living in large underground networks with multiple entrances which they leave only during the day, except to avoid the heat of the afternoon. In Discovery and National Geographic channels, we have seen these gregarious animals  - often shown as living in groups of families, as a large community.  Bigger than  Squirrel in size, mongooses like animals famed for their upright posture. They often stand on their rear legs and gaze alertly over  the plains.   It is the ‘meerkat’ or suricate (Suricata suricatta), a small carnivoran belonging to the mongoose family (Herpestidae). Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members.  To look out for predators, one or more meerkats stand sentry, to warn others of approaching dangers. When a predator is spotted, the meerkat performing as sentry gives a warning bark or whistle, and other members of the group will run and hide in one of the many holes they have spread across their territory.

Away from this lovable animals, ‘Meerkat’ that is news is a ‘Video livestreaming app’,  the tech world’s latest darling.  It lets you livestream video of whatever you’re doing from your phone whether you’re climbing a hill, driving a vehicle, holidaying or even working.   TechCrunch called it “the livestreaming app Twitter should have built.” Business Insider explained why people are “going crazy” over the app. GeekWire says it makes Twitter “oh so much more fun.” The Wall Street Journal has already written up its backstory.

Meerkat, a live-streaming phone app, became the latest fascination for many Twitter users, less than a week after its launch. The app,  named after the small, carnivorous member of the mongoose family, is built to allow users to live-stream video straight to the web. It relies on Twitter to alert people to Meerkat broadcasts.  It was launched on Friday 27 February by Life On Air, a live-stream startup team of just 10 people. Meerkat had originally been conceived as a side project but the company’s CEO, has decided to focus the whole team on Meerkat.

Using Meerkat is simple. You download the app. You open the app. You sync it up with Twitter. There is a box saying “Write what’s happening …” There is  no option to embed your Meerkats, which limits the possibilities for journalists using it to stream live from breaking news scenes. The mobile livestreaming idea is not entirely new. In 2007, Justin.tv allowed viewers to watch the eponymous Justin Kan “lifecast” his day.

The rules of ‘meerkat’ look simple:  Everything that happens on meerkat happens on Twitter; Streams will be pushed to followers in real time via push notifications; People can only watch it live. No reruns ; Watchers can restream any stream to their followers in real time. Your own streams can be kept locally on your phone, but never on the cloud.; Everyone can watch on web.

So are you in tune with the latest technology and do you have ‘FoMo’

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

6^th Mar 2015. Photo credit : livescience.com