“Nobody manages this centrally. You literally can't shut it down”
Open Garden Sales and Marketing
Manager, Christophe Daligault, commenting on the Viral Nature of FireChat
A new App, FireChat, has
launched on Apple iOS was launched in March 2014 already it’s creating a
sensation as noted in “Don't
Blink! FireChat takes ephemeral messaging to whole new level”, published
April 1, 2014 4:00 AM PDT by Nick Statt, CNET
News has basically resurrected Napster’s concept of P2P (Peer-to-Peer) Networking.
Why?
Because it’s the first App whose popularity is literally, spreading on
Apple iPhones like a virus, even at a rate that showing signs of eclipsing
WhatsApp’s 1 million new users per day! And it’s not even on Android!
Current stats for the FireChat App created by two year old Startup Open Garden read like an Advertiser’s
dream:
1.
1.14 users per second
2.
98496 users per 24 hour day
3.
100,000 downloads a day
It’s already the top Downloaded app in the following countries according
the article “FireChat
sees 100K app downloads a day with a huge uptake overseas”, published MAR.
26, 2014 - 5:27 PM PDT by Kevin Fitchard, Gigaom:
1.
Germany
2.
Belgium
3.
Israel
4.
China
5.
Australia
6.
Taiwan
Plans are afoot for an Android App and picture sharing, as Android
smartphones (surprise) don’t have P2P (peer-to-peer) Protocols built in.
When that happens, BBM will have a baby Brother that may eventually
switch on a VoIP Chat Service that doesn’t need Cellular Service to Send Voice
Notes and create ephemeral conversations as noted in my blog article
entitled “BBM
2.0 now with Voice and Dropbox Integration – WhatsApp beaten for sure as Free
File Sharing and Voice Calling result in BBM Transcendence on Android and iOS”.
Close the app, and all records of your conversations disappear, a lot
like Snapchat. However, because of the random, unidentified and uninitiated
nature of the contacts made, it’s also a lot like Whisper and Ask.fm as
described in my blog article
entitled “Ask.fm,
the new Q&A Social Network popular among Millennials and Tweens is
connected to Teen suicides - You Don’t have to answer every question as your
Ask.fm friends are not you Drinking Buddies”.
But how does FireChat, a close relative of Snapchat, with a dash of the
anonymous Whisper as described in my blog article
entitled “Whisper,
the Anonymous Secret Sharing Social Mobile Network - Confession of Awkward
Moment being revealed fuelled by the desire to Bare your Soul to Strangers”,
work exactly?
Apple’s Multi-peer Connectivity
Network – Napster-esque P2P Mesh Networks for Millennials
The app takes advantage of Apple iPhone’s little used Multi-peer
Connectivity Network to basically create peer-to-peer Networks of persons
chatting in real time to each other. Apple’s Multi-peer
Connectivity Network basically allows any two Apple iPhones to communicate sans a Telecom Provider’s Network, be it
3G/4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) or even GPRS (Global Packet Radio Service) or
EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution).
It instead seeks out connectivity to another Apple iPhone or other device
running the Multi-peer
Connectivity Network and connects via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or any other
Connectivity standard, so long as a strong signal is available.
However, if the Apple iPhone it is connecting to a 3G/4G LTE or even
GPRS/EDGE Network, it will use that to further its reach, allowing the P2P Network
to be global. Effectively, this is a Mesh Network, which ironically is a
potential Network Methodology being researched in Australia to connect many in
the Outback to Broadband Internet as described in my blog article entitled “Digicel
and Wimax 4G Mobile - the Great Australian Outback”.
To this end, it’s a local P2P (peer-to-peer) Network with a global P2P
reach, sorta like Napster but for the smartphone. Thus it allows locally
connected groups of persons communicating via Multi-peer
Connectivity Network using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to have casual conversation
with perfect strangers connected via Multi-peer
Connectivity Network over 3G/4G LTE or even GPRS/EDGE. Simply put!
At this rate, it’s already on its way to beat out SnapChat, which buried
Facebook’s Poke as noted in my blog article entitled “Facebook
gets Mission Impossible serious with Poke as the Snapchat bringing “Sexting”
back”.
Imagine what
will happen when Open Garden, the makers of FireChat,
releases their API (Application Interface) and SDK (Software Development Kit)
to allow Developers to design their own Apps and Games for the Platform. This
is the same Open Source Strategy used by Ontario, Canada based Kik as described
in my blog
article entitled “Kik
hits the 100 million member mark - Open Source Mobile Rise of the Planet of the
Apes for Mobile Social Networks to develope smartphone OS Defense Against the
Dark Arts of Google+”.
Worse when they
allow picture sharing, as that’ll make the “Everyone”, Room, a shared chatroom
of eighty (80) Random strangers within the country, explode with a riot of
picture sending that I predicted will best Snapchat's 350 million
self-destructing pictures as noted in my blog article
entitled “Snapchat
now racks up 350 million shares of self-deleting snaps per day - Millennial
Girl’s Litmus Test for Friends and future boyfriends”.
Mesh Networking is Back – WhatsApp
potential rival as Open Garden tames the Beast
Open Garden arrived at the 80 chatroom
size cap at random, when they realized that the Mesh was growing out of
control. Thus, this implies that they DO INDEED HAVE some means of centrally
controlling the Mesh Network, despite the insistence of Open Garden Sales and Marketing Manager, Christophe Daligault stating
a lack of centralized Server Control, quote: “Nobody manages this centrally.
You literally can't shut it down”.
Most likely they
control FireChat via virally spreading updates and backdoor IRC (Internet Relay
Chat) and P2P (Peer-to-Peer) Protocol Commands, also spread via the Mesh Network
they’ve created. The speed of the spread of commands to make changes or fetch
analytical Stats may not be as fast a Client/Server based Network Topology, but
it also reduces the need for huge Server investments.
This Network
could be literally be managed by a powerful enough array of Desktop computers
and Mainframes, all merely sending updates and instructions over the Mesh Network.
This isn’t a new way to communicate, mind you.
Rather, it takes
advantage of a long forgotten fact; most smartphones ALREADY had the capability
to communicate directly with each other. It was just ignored as for one, it
wasn’t seen as being as reliable as IM (Instant Messaging) that’s Internet
based Communication over Telecom Networks.
But it has the
advantage of being able to facilitate Communication where none may be possible.
Countries that have censorship on Social Media Communications e.g. China and
more recently Turkey blocking Twitter and YouTube as explained in “Turkey
blocks YouTube days after Twitter crackdown”, published March 28, 2014 By
Gul Tuysuz and Ivan Watson, CNN as well as in emergency situations
where Telecom Networks may be down due to Acts of God such as Natural
Disasters, Wars, Satellite Blackouts due to Solar Flare activity would love
FireChat!
Latest update:
For the record, Turkey has turned on Twitter as stated in “Turkey welcomes
back Twitter”, published April 3, 2014 9:38 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News; not so sure about YouTube though!
Now that it’s clear that Open
Garden has control, we await the arrival of their API and SDK for Android.
Once that lands and applications are uploaded to the shared Consciousness
that’s FireChat, prepare to see some exciting Applications. Mostly Games, probably
ported from Android, are initially expected.
Advertisers will definitely jump on this, as it’s also a lot like Direct
Targeted Marketing using Bluetooth-based as was the plan by RJR Communications
Group to enlist the help of British Tech Company Bluewave to implement as
stated in my blog
article entitled “Broadcasting
and Advertising - Why is the Dog's Nose is Cold”.
But when they start making VoIP Apps, we might be seeing a P2P Rival to
Facebook’s WhatsApp as described in my blog article
entitled “WhatsApp
VoIP Calling in Second Quarter of 2014 - WhatsApp kills International Calling
at the Advent of Facetime-eqsue Premium Video VoIP Calling on smartphones”
that can work even in the Australian Outback!
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