Periscope: People Watching 40 Years of Video Per Day

Think Twitter's Periscope app is just a passing fad? The company on Wednesday announced that Periscope now has more than 10 million registered users.

The live-streaming app surpassed that milestone on Aug. 2 — less than five months after it first launched. But what's really impressive is the amount of content Periscope users are streaming.

"As of last week, we're seeing over 40 years of video watched per day," the Periscope team wrote in a blog post. The company defines time watched as the aggregate amount of time people spend watching live broadcasts on iOS and Android.

"We would like to thank every single one of you for taking the time to use something that we've worked so hard to create," the Periscope team wrote. "It means everything to us."

For the uninitiated, Twitter first unveiled Periscope in March to compete with the surprise hit Meerkat. The service lets you stream live video from your phone to the rest of the Internet, and save and replay live streams, giving videos a shelf-life that Meerkat doesn't provide.

Periscope has been slowly but surely adding new features since its launch, including Web replays and a new map view, which lets you find live broadcasts from a specific location, and support for a number of new languages.

Initially available only for iPhone, Periscope in May launched on Android 4.4 KitKat and above. Like the iOS version, those on Android can start a public or private broadcast, choose to allow comments only from followers, and chat or send hearts to a broadcaster.

For more, see PCMag's review of Twitter's Periscope for iPhone and Android.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes.

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app.

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth.

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light.

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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