From Articles on March 3rd 2013: Live streaming service Hang w/ hit Apple’s App Store in late March and has accrued 100,000 users, including several notable celebrities, and 2 million user sessions over the past six weeks.
Andrew Maltin, the CEO of Hang w/ developer MEDL Mobile, noted in a blog post that the app’s trajectory has been better than expected. The app had 50,000 users and 550,000 user sessions three weeks after its soft launch.
“This proves that fans will rush in droves to Hang With their favorite celebrities and friends. And that once they arrive, they tell more people about it. Now we can start to put some marketing muscle behind it,” Maltin said.
The company’s president, Dave Swartz, called the numbers “phenomenal” when matched up against the hundreds of apps that MEDL has released.
The ad-supported app lets users sign up as broadcasters to share three minutes of live-streaming video of what they’re up to. Streams can be shared to Facebook or Twitter.
Unlike Upfront, which was released on Thursday, Hang w/ allows anyone to start live-streaming and start connecting with viewers.
Hang w/ launched first on iPhone, but MEDL Mobile says an Android app is coming in the second quarter. Yes its out now March 2015.
The company touts Soulja Boy, Terrell Owens, Jamie Kennedy, Ali Landry and Cheech and Chong as among its registered broadcasters. MEDL offers to help secure branded sponsorship for influence's looking to monetize the platform.
I found the service to be fairly noisy, and it’s clear that the app is in its infancy. The celebrity draw is certainly an appeal, but most of the profiles I saw were inappropriate selfies from people that I wasn’t interested in following. Judging by the current crop of people in the Broadcasting Now section, the service appeals to the amateur webcam crowd.
Still, Hang w/ does have potential to be an easy lifestreaming solution. 100,000 users isn’t exactly massive in today’s mobile market, but it does represent solid initial traction. Assuming that celebrities continue to flock to the platform and stream content, MEDL should have no problem rapidly growing its user base.
Next Article March 2013:
In the past 5 years, the rise in mobile devices has lead to a huge growth in social media platforms for connecting with others in new ways. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and hundreds more all offering a new or different way to let users share parts of their life with the world. Hang W/ blends all the best ingredients of other social networks, and presents it in a beautifully wrapped, feature packed shell.
A Melting Pot of Social Networks
Hang W/ (free in the App Store) is a social video app that allows users to broadcast with the rest of the Hang W/ world. Borrowing elements from some of the worlds most popular social platforms, Hang W/ is a unique app unlike any other.
Hang W/ is most similar to Twitter, in the sense that users can share their stream of consciousness and discuss anything they choose. Users are able to interact with the viewers during their broadcast by utilizing the chat. Clicking on the chat bubble brings up the comments, and all viewers can interact with the broadcaster or each other.
Another element of Hang W/ that has a strong Twitter vibe is the way users connect. Users are able to follow and view broadcasts from anyone on the platform (whether they are following them or not), including several celebrities that have already jumped on board. For the more cautious users, Hang W/ also includes account privacy (like Twitter), which allows you to limit your broadcasts to your followers by setting your channel to private.
To keep broadcasts interesting and enjoyable, they are limited to a brief 3-minutes. During the broadcast users can share what they are seeing/doing using the rear-facing camera, get more personal and use the front-facing camera (similar to FaceTime), or blend the two to create a fun and interactive experience.
To borrow an element from YouTube, after a user completes a broadcast, they can choose to add it to their “Top 6″ which allows users who missed the broadcast to watch the archived video after the broadcast is finished. Users are able to select their favorite 6 (or less) and can swap them around as newer broadcasts come along. YouTube has also become a way for many to make some money, and Hang W/ is also looking to keep that idea alive.
The Added Value
Before viewing any broadcast, there is a 5-second ad which displays as the stream loads. This is not only used for buffering the stream of the broadcast, but also to help support the app and broadcasters. While ads can be annoying, Hang W/ is promising that broadcasters will get a cut of the ad revenue. While you do have to meet a certain dollar amount before being paid, setting it up is simple, requiring only a PayPal account or address for check-by-mail.
Because of this feature, the more a user broadcasts and the more followers they have, the higher the potential for earning some money. When is the last time Twitter sent you a paycheck for tweeting? This element of Hang W/ makes the idea of broadcasting that much more appealing, and adds a true value to your use of the app.
This raised the question who is copying who in the Live Video Streaming apps. Make sure you check out the original Live Streaming App with features that the others need to look at.