Meerkat mania: Live-streaming app is new Twitter trend

Meerkat mania is upon us. I'm Bridget Carey and this is your CNET Update. [MUSIC] Folks on this show it's my mission you're on top of everything trending and hot in technology. I don't want you to be left behind because in social media things move pretty fast. And right now you should know. Everyone is meerkating. A meerkat is a cute fuzzy creature but it's also an app that lets you broadcast video live to your Twitter followers. You have to have a Twitter account to watch a Meerkat but this isn't owned by Twitter. It's a separate species of social. If you have the Meerkat app you'll get push alerts when someone is live streaming video so you can jump on in and watch. But you'd better act quick, because once the stream ends the video broadcast is gone. Meerkat's move fast. If you ever one Meerkating you can see who is watching your stream and people can chat with you, but whatever you say on Meerkat shows up on your Twitter feed too. This is great for sharing something in real time as it's happening, but it helps to be on WiFi because you'll want a good connection for video. And moving on to a different kind streaming. There are some more reports coming in about HBO's upcoming stand alone streaming service. Sources say it will cost $15,00 a month and launch in April just in time for a new season of Game Of Thrones. International Business Times says it'll be called HBO Now and it'll be available on the Apple TV streaming box. It's possible this app will also be available on other boxes like the Roku. The details are just unclear now. The so called HBO Now would be a way to watch HBO without paying for cable or satellite service. A month ago, Sling TV launched as a way to watch a dozen live TV channels over the. Internet for $20 a month, and the service just added IFC and AMC to the line-up. For an extra $5 a month, you can get EPIX movie channels and SundanceTV. If you're looking for other forms of digital entertainment, ROCK Band is back. That's right, dust off your plastic guitars, because the karaoke jam sessions will return in Rock Band 4 coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The creators say old songs purchased will transfer over to the new system and your old instruments will still work if you kept them. And if you're throwing an old school Rock Band party, you may want to take advantage of Google's newest search feature, ask Google how to make a cocktail and up pops step by step instructions. Be sure to get you're most recipes ready for Apple's Watch event streaming Monday at 10:00 a.m. pacific, 1:00 p.m. eastern. Apple's expected to announce more details about the Smart Watch, like pricing and availability, and will likely see a few other products too. Be sure to keep it on Cnet Monday for our live coverage from the event. That's your tech news update from our studios in New York, I'm Bridget Carey.