Wow, big relaunched, very different from Airtime's initial desktop version. Here's an interview with @sparker and @shawnfanning back in 2012 when it first launched:
Great overview of the new app by TechCrunch's @joshconstinehere.
@chrismessina@rrhoover I was wondering the same. The 1st Airtime was a kind of a big flop (the timing wasn't the best?), probably the new Airtime will have more traction. Best of luck for the team, looking forward to see how evolves
@pmcpinto@chrismessina I haven't had a chance to play with it yet but consumer behavior and tech has changed so much since 2012. Curious to see how this plays out.
Airtime, video chat for bored people?
"The product we’re launching today is built around groups, organized in a notion we call ‘rooms’. A room can be empty or have lots of people in it. People enter and leave. Inside the room, people are engaging in all manners of entertainment — from simple text and video chat to watching movies to listening to music."
I appreciate the confidence in a statement like "This is the future of social." but it feels more like a slight tweak the Snapchat stories model — multiple user on screen at the same time — than a divergent future.
It's also interesting to read this swipe against Periscope and Snapchat (the former is of the "hey, look at me" model, the latter isn't real-time), but isn't the async model more convenient?
"A few other companies have recently launched products that enable you to live stream to a bunch of friends and followers. That’s interesting, but it extends the hey, look at me broadcast model of older social systems. It’s way more impactful to actually experience the same moment with your friends, talk to them, and see each other’s reactions. Airtime is a hugely different and more special product."
If you check out the demo, it looks like a combination of Snapchat + Hangouts + Chat Roulette:
If this is the future of social, I guess it means we'll all just be staring into our phones forever, and never making eye contact IRL. Hmm.
To be fair to the creators — I don't have any problem w/ another take on a live video app... there's plenty of room for improving the experience and honing in on certain activities and contexts... I just found the video demo a little odd/disingenuous. But maybe I'm not in the target demo anymore — this is for younger/post-Millennial kids.
We’re so excited to announce Airtime is live today. Over the past few years we have been heads down building, testing, iterating, exploring and working day to day to create the new Airtime.
Today the world has a chance to explore Airtime with friends and family for the first time. Think about Airtime as a space where you can do everything you’d do if you were physically together — watch music videos while doing homework, check out a stack of photos and relive last night’s adventures, or just hang out. Our lightweight, high-quality group video combined with robust media integrations offers a social experience that will make you feel like you’re right there with your friends and family.
All of this has been made possible by our incredibly ambitious team. We have built some of the best mobile video infrastructure around. Our implementation and extension of WebRTC delivers an amazingly good video chat experience - fast, stable, and high-quality - whether you're next door or on the other side of the planet.
We can't wait for you to give Airtime a try. Invite some friends and get a room. It's seriously fun.
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This looks really amazing! But as @nivo0o0 asked, how you'd compare this to other popular livestreaming apps? :)
@colemercer Hi, Cole. I'm on the Community team at Airtime and thought I'd share with you that usernames are live now! Feedback like yours about how tricky it could be to find your friends helped drive our latest update. Thanks!
I love this app! The integrations with Spotify and YouTube are my favorite.
It's amazing that I can finally watch or listen to something in realtime with my friends no matter where we are. Instead of sending a video to someone and not hearing back or hearing back days later. Like "dude you're didn't even watch it".
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