Former Apple Executives Launch New Social Gaming Broadcast Service 'Caffeine'

[MacRumors]

Two former Apple executives have today launched a new game broadcasting service called Caffeine, which allows users to watch and broadcast games and other entertainment on Mac, PC, and iPhone. In a press release, the company likened Caffeine to Amazon's Twitch platform, "only easier, safer, and more social."

Caffeine was founded by Ben Keighran and Sam Roberts, a former product design lead for Apple TV and lead user experience designer for Apple, respectively. Other than games, Caffeine will be a "social broadcasting platform" with tools for entertainment as well as other artistic content, and is backed by $46 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Greylock Partners

"We're incredibly excited to be sharing more details on the pre-release version of Caffeine," said Ben Keighran, CEO of Caffeine. "I left Apple to create a company that would fundamentally change the way we create, consume, share, and monetize live content. Our goal was to re-imagine every aspect of live broadcasting -- ignoring the good things we could do and focusing on the really great things instead.

We are committed to building the best experience for creators, giving them everything they need, from the broadcasting software all the way through to how the audience discovers and enjoys their content. We have put together a world-class engineering and content team that will transform the way the world thinks about live broadcasting."

The company described Caffeine's interface as simple and straightforward to use, with "1-click easy" controls and no additional software required to stream content. Users can broadcast games in three ways: using PC game broadcast software, a webcam from a Mac or PC, and through the iOS application.

Once you start using Caffeine, the app will showcase content and broadcasts from the people you follow in a "social circle," and you can join and watch content with them together. "There are no endless feeds of meaningless comments," the company said, because the app highlights personal conversations between friends and creators, helping to dispel toxicity in a real-time chat environment.

On the creator side of things, Caffeine is also touted as a way to "build more personal, meaningful relationships" with viewers, leading to more opportunities to monetize content as well. The company said that a monetization system that backs Caffeine's "easy to use" mantra will be coming in early 2018.

Right now, all versions of the service are technically in a pre-release build. If you're interested you can find the desktop site at caffeine.tv and the iPhone app on the iOS App Store [Direct Link]. As a few readers have pointed out, Caffeine does not currently support Safari on Mac, but instead encourages users to try Firefox or Chrome.

Article Link: Former Apple Executives Launch New Social Gaming Broadcast Service 'Caffeine'

 

[justperry]

They stole the name 'caffeine'.

 

[roar08]

I think Caffeine will make people Twitch.

 

[Mark-Technology]

Hahaha, it's not even supported on Safari currently. Seems like a slap on the face to their former employer.

 

[scrapesleon]

Might as well give it a try

 

[adamjackson]

No Safari Support. Not downloading another browser to try this out. Good luck everybody else.

On a personal note, I've been looking for a replacement or successor to Justin.tV for a while. Ustream and Twitch have gone their own way. I want to setup a miniPC w/ a USB web cam to stream from my house a weather feed to go along with my Wunderground station..not the old school upload a JPEG to an FTP server every 5 seconds but a full stream. Haven't found a good enough service yet..this seemed like it may have worked even if they are gaming-centric.

 

[jumanji]

well, twitch sucks so if it's halfway decent, it's a good idea...

 

[JayMysterio]

But to stream you need a windows 10? Gaming or otherwise? Doesn't seem to be very mac OS/IOS centric. Just another version of Twitch that doesn't even work with Safari.

 

[Solomani]

Oh right, like I enjoy spending money or paying a subscription to watch other people play games while they make money (taking viewers money).

 

[Mark-Technology]

well, twitch sucks so if it's halfway decent, it's a good idea...

Twitch sucks???

Lol you must be over the age of 30.
[doublepost=1517425199][/doublepost]

Oh right, like I enjoy spending money or paying a subscription to watch other people play games while they make money (taking viewers money).

But paying for cable to watch others run around on a field with a football is fine. Because you're "too old" to be mainstream.

 

[dampfnudel]

Twitch sucks???

Lol you must be over the age of 30.
[doublepost=1517425199][/doublepost]
But paying for cable to watch others run around on a field with a football is fine. Because you're "too old" to be mainstream.

Ageism, the “safe” alternative to racism and sexism, but in reality just as vile as the others. I wonder if you’re acquainted with them as well?

 

[toph2toast]

Twitch sucks???

Lol you must be over the age of 30.
[doublepost=1517425199][/doublepost]
But paying for cable to watch others run around on a field with a football is fine. Because you're "too old" to be mainstream.

Yes, it is fine. You're paying to watch athletes at the top of their game, not a JV high school game. I'd say a good chunk of our economy consists of paying for goods/services/events that you can't do yourself. To me, there is nothing special about playing a video game while chatting with people. I've done that all through college and into my adult life. I have no desire for people to watch me do that, nor do I have a desire to watch other people do that.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Two former Apple executives have today launched a new game broadcasting service called Caffeine, which allows users to watch and broadcast games and other entertainment on Mac, PC, and iPhone.

....

Caffeine was founded by Ben Keighran and Sam Roberts, a former product design lead for Apple TV and lead user experience designer for Apple, respectively.

Now we know why they're are "former" executives at Apple, cause at the very least this app they've created looks like a damn mess in terms of design! It would've been better to start off minimal and gradually grow/changeup the UI design but going full mess is horrible.

 

[sirozha]

Oh right, like I enjoy spending money or paying a subscription to watch other people play games while they make money (taking viewers money).

You don’t have time for it? How do you survive without it?

 

[expiredyogurt]

incoming lawsuit from. caffeine, the homebrew app that i use all day err day.

 

[Jesse Waugh]

Social media isn’t as valuable as it was hyped up to be. Whatever value it has disappears as quickly as posts. What lasting value does it have? Perhaps as an archive?

I think it’s pretty obvious now that social media was designed as as a data-gathering drug - an abyss to swallow our souls. Like this!