Color, Verizon team up to provide livestreaming on 4G LTE smartphones

Color and Verizon team up to bring livestreaming to smartphone users
Verizon customers can stream live video directly from their phones to Facebook

Thanks to a new partnership between Color - a livestreaming app - and Verizon, 4G LTE users will be able to stream up to 30 seconds of live video directly from various Verizon smartphones to their Facebook profiles.

Facebook friends can use the app to receive notifications when their friends stream live video and can "like" pictures uploaded in real time within the app.

What's more they can send a livestream request to a Color user's smartphone.

The idea is that users upload photos of their activities, giving their friends the ability to request and view a live video stream.

The Color app is already available on iOS and Android phones, but Verizon's fast 4G LTE network should allow users to stream more and better-quality video than ever before -- in effect solidifying that LTE really is the fastest 4G data standard available today.

What does Verizon bring to Color

Color was created by serial entrepreneur Bill Nguyen after he sold his music-sharing app Lala to Apple for $85 million in 2009.

A partnership with Verizon could provide Color with a much-needed boost, as the app reportedly floundered since its impressive $41 million funding push in 2011.

Even its integration with Facebook later that year didn't much improve the startup's fortunes.

Verizon 4G LTE users will gain the ability to add audio to their broadcasts, something that's not possible in other versions of the app.

"Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network is a huge opportunity for creating new applications," Nguyen said in a press release today.

"It is revolutionary for app developers," he continued. "Color plans to develop additional features exclusively with Verizon Wireless to showcase its 4G LTE network."

From the horse's mouth

TechRadar spoke with the company today on the phone. According to Color, Verizon's networks - both 4G LTE and 3G - are the highest-quality networks in the country.

With the partnership, they'll be able to optimize Color's video and audio output.

In addition, Color will come pre-installed on some of Verizon's upcoming 4G LTE-enabled smartphones, though the company was unable to say specifically which ones.

As far as the "additional features" teased in the press release, the company said they're always working on improving video quality.

Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.


Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.