My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica: How WhatsApp Video Calling in 2016 is Apple's FaceTime, Microsoft's Skype and Google Hangouts competition

Monday, December 28, 2015

How WhatsApp Video Calling in 2016 is Apple's FaceTime, Microsoft's Skype and Google Hangouts competition

 WhatsApp apparently has decided to give us their Christmas present in the Year of the Monkey. This by throwing a monkey wrench at the Video Calling world!

So says German site MacerKopf, which has leaked photos suggesting that WhatApp will be introducing Video Calling as reported in the article “WhatsApp is reportedly adding video calls soon”, published December 23 2015 by Napier Lopez, The Next Web

The leaked feature shown in German site MacerKopf screenshot is allegedly taken from version 2.12.16.2 as noted in “WhatsApp to launch new video calling feature”, published December 26, 2015 By News Desk, The Pakistan Tribune.
 

It's slated to come to the popular IM (Instant Messaging) for the Apple iOS App as an update some time in January 2016. Sorry Android fans, but you'll have to wait a bit as they try out Video Calling on the Apple guinea pigs first.

Along with version 2.12.16.2 update will also come with a tabbed conversation feature that'll allow multiple user chats as noted in “New WhatsApp messenger to introduce video calling, tabbed chats”, published 26 December 2015, MaltaToday.

This mimics the tabbed browsing feature that's in most modern browsers.

How WhatsApp Video Calling in 2016 - Apple's FaceTime, Microsoft's Skype and Google Hangouts competition

Looks very simple and plain, but it'll give IM Apple's FaceTime, Microsoft's Skype, Google Hangouts and other some serious competition as noted in the article “Massive WhatsApp Update Starts Google, Microsoft, Apple Attack”, published December 26 2015, by Gordon Kelly, Forbes.

This 900 million strong IM will also be a huge challenger to the Telecom Providers in Jamaica, who are already actively blockings WhatsApp as noted in my blog article entitled “Digicel and FLOW Block WhatsApp - How Jamaica makes money from IXP via VoIP Cloud Servers, SIP and MVNO”.

So expect University students such as those at MICO University to still keep using WhatsApp Voice Notes and Voice calling but on Wi-Fi as noted in my blog article entitled “@WhatApp Voice Calling comes to Version 2.12.1 - How Wi-Fi Calling by Proxy coming to Jamaica with Features to Boot”. 

That is, if they haven't blocked that as well as noted in my blog article entitled “Internet blockade at MICO - How to use VPN and Proxy to access blocked websites”. Hoping to see this soon on Google Android, as it means Video Calling Will go mainstream in the Year of the Monkey!




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