WhatsApp now for voice calling

Early 2014 saw announcement of WhatsApp to introduce voice calling features to attract its users. There have been no signs to this, apart from a few hidden services. Androidworld.nl which is an Android based site allegedly published a few screenshots of the calling facilities of WhatsApp. Maybe, the new feature is now being used by the employees or testers and will be included in the app, when officially announced. The leaked screen shots suggest a separate screen for voice call dialing to the call logs, WhatsApp contacts, etc. Conversation window screen shots also feature missed calls & received calls icons. It is difficult to realize whether the screen shots are true or not as no confirmation has been made by WhatsApp as to whether or not it is testing the app feature through beta builds. The website previously also claimed that a reader had discovered group of voice calling icons, in the build of the app. Technical hurdles have resulted for the delays in rolling out the voice calling feature in WhatsApp. This was confirmed by Jan Koum, WhatsApp CEO. At an industry conference in October, Jan also said that the service will be facilitated by the first quarter of 2015.

WhatsApp is the largest messaging app with more than 600 million active users. After introduction of the voice call facility, it will directly compete with the major service providers like Line, Viber, WeChat, etc, which are already featuring these services.

About WhatsApp:

WhatsApp Messenger is an instant messaging app for smartphones that operates under a subscription business model. The proprietary, cross-platform app enables users of select feature phones to use the Internet to transmit communication. In addition to text messaging, WhatsApp can be used to send images, video, and audio media messages. Locations can also be shared through the use of integrated mapping features. WhatsApp Inc. was founded in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, both former employees of Yahoo!. The company is based in Mountain View, California and employs 55 people. It is in the process of takeover after Facebook announced its acquisition of WhatsApp Inc. on February 19, 2014, for US$19 billion Read more on Wikipedia.

Textual Content License: Part of this News Article’s content is taken from Wikipedia which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.