It’s been a long time coming for voice calling in WhatsApp. The company decided on an extremely dragged out rollout of the much-anticipated feature, but now it appears that anyone using the latest version of WhatsApp for Android has access to calling as many friends as they would like…
One of the service’s most-requested features, WhatsApp has today launched its web-based chat client. Rumors of it coming soon started appearing yesterday when screenshots of the latest WhatsApp app leaked showing an interface for logging into the web app, and now we have an idea of how that interface is used. With the quick scan of a QR code in-browser, you can start chatting with your WhatsApp friends from the desktop.
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WhatsApp yesterday started handing out 24 hour bans to users of third-party clients built for the service, but it wasn’t certain at the time what would happen to these apps or whether or not WhatsApp was going to allow them to continue operations as normal. Users being banned from WhatsApp for 24 hours was an obvious setback, but now it’s more clear what the Facebook-owned company has in mind. WhatsApp+, the most popular third-party WhatsApp client, has received a cease and desist letter.
WhatsApp is one of the most-used messaging apps in existence, and today countless users of the service have taken to Google+ and Twitter to report that they’re being banned from the service for 24 hours. The common denominator between those reporting the ban seems to be the use of third-party WhatsApp clients on Android, specifically a popular one called WhatsApp+.
For several months we’ve followed the U.S. government’s attempts to work around encryption in chat apps, even taking the hyperbole to an illogical extreme at one point, but we haven’t yet seen similar threats from other nations… or at least, we hadn’t until today.
British prime minister David Cameron said today that unless the government is given backdoor access to encrypted messaging services, he’s just going to outlaw them:
The Wall Street Journal reports that WhatsApp has been updated with end-to-end encryption for messages sent and received between Android smartphones and tablets. The cross-platform messaging service claims it will be unable to help decrypt messages for law enforcement, a noteworthy move given increasing concerns about government surveillance and tracking over the past few years.
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Although this isn’t an actual update to the app, WhatsApp is now sporting a nifty new feature that—although small—might make a big difference in how users of the messaging app stay in touch with their friends. The Facebook-owned app, which would previously show double check marks if a sent message had been received, now goes one step further and turns those check marks blue if the message has been read.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq1wl5jQO8s]
Google has announced that Glass owners will soon be able to immediately view any notification from their Android phone using a new feature, Notification Sync.
Max sent you a WhatsApp message, marycam81 tagged you in a photo, your Lyft has arrived… these are just some of the reasons for pulling out your phone. You want to know about the things that matter to you, but you don’t want to be distracted by your phone when you could be enjoying the moment.
Today we’re launching Notification Sync on Glass, which means you can see your Android phone app notifications at a glance …
A beta update for the ridiculously popular WhatsApp messenger for Android has been released with official support for Android Wear, extending its wrist capabilities beyond just viewing and clearing notifications. Among the additions that are included in the update are stacked notifications, complete preview of received messages and, most importantly, the ability to reply to messages with voice.
Sundar Pichai at D: All Things Digital conference
Despite widespread reporting that Google bid and failed to purchase WhatsApp ahead of Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of the messaging platform company, Google SVP Sundar Pichai went on the record during a panel discussion at Mobile World Congress to put that claim to bed, The Telegraph reports.
“Whatsapp was definitely an exciting product,” he said. “We never made an offer to acquire them. Press reports to the contrary are simply untrue.”
The source of the reports that Google attempted to pick up WhatsApp for $10 billion source back to a report by Fortune citing “two separate sources” claiming Google had previously underbid Facebook.
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Image: mobilegeeks.de
Update: TheInformation is reporting that Google was willing to beat Facebook’s $19 billion offer. More behind a paywall here.
Google tried to buy messaging service WhatsApp for $10B prior to Facebook’s successful $19B bid, according to two separate sources cited by Fortune. It has also been reported that Google had earlier offered WhatsApp “millions of dollars” simply for the right to be informed if WhatsApp received an offer from anyone else, an offer the messaging company turned down.
The size of the offers seem almost incredible given that the app is free and has no ads. Its entire revenue stream depends on users signing up to a 99c annual subscription after their first year, giving it – at present – a revenue ceiling of $450M a year.
But it’s likely that WhatsApp’s real appeal was it provides access to a core market for the future: mobile-first users in developing markets …
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Popular chat app whatsapp now allows Android users to exchange voice messages with a push-to-talk style function. The feature is also being pushed out simultaneously on the app’s other platforms: iOS, Blackberry, Nokia and Windows Phone.
We spend a lot of time at WhatsApp thinking how we can make keeping in touch easier, and we know there’s no substitute for hearing the sound of a friend or family member’s voice. So today we are introducing a new feature we are truly excited about: Voice Messages
While there are other push-to-talk apps out there, whatsapp has introduced a number of features which it says makes the functionality particularly easy to use …
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This past weekend, a rumor had claimed that Google is holding talks with WhatsApp to acquire the messaging service for around $1 billion. Tonight, WhatsApp has told AllThingsD that it is not holding sales talks with Google. Meanwhile, Google is rumored to soon be launching its own “Babel” messaging service.
A message reported by a Google+ users suggests that Google’s rumored Babel integrated messaging service may be close to launch:
The screengrab posted by Patrick Dhawaan shows the message All conversations have been moved to the Trash. Because one or more are part of a Babel chat, these messages are still available in other Babel chat applications …
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Update: WhatsApp denies the rumor
Digital Trends claims that Google is negotiating to buy the hugely popular messaging app, WhatsApp – with the company said to have rejected initial offers and to be holding out for a price said to be close to $1 billion (via Gizmodo).
Google is on record as acknowledging its weakness in the mobile messaging field, with Digital Trends arguing that the acquisition makes perfect sense.
There are rumors that Google Babel will combine Google’s disparate communication services under one roof, but the platform still needs to do something to innovate in this space; mobile messaging has been taken over by smaller apps and Facebook has made a major push as well. Google hasn’t given an answer to this competition. Even Google Product Manager Nikhyl Singhal confessed to GigaOM in June of last year that “We have done an incredibly poor job of servicing our users here.” Messaging is a huge, gaping hole in Google’s mobile strategy.
Google Voice already offers most of the features of What’s App making the acquisition primarily a subscriber play, but we’re not exactly holding our breath on this one. Remember Google already has some Bable thing being cooked up, so adding something huge like this might put a wrench in the works.
