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| By MakeUsesOf |
Christmas
may be over, but it looks like WhatsApp is about to provide a gift that will
keep on giving to its users… and pile the pressure on Apple, Google, Microsoft
and phone carriers.
Leaked
screenshots attained by German site MacerKopf reveal the astonishingly popular
messaging service, which has picked up over 900M users in just 6 years, is set
to launch video messaging.
The
shots show a relatively barebones service, but it is the bare bones simplicity
of WhatsApp which has made it so popular in the first place and it will send
shivers down the spine of Apple (FaceTime), Microsoft (Skype), Google
(Hangouts) and carriers. Especially as MacerKopt says WhatsApp video calling
could roll out as soon as January.
MUST
READ:
In
addition to video calling, MacerKopt also says a new tabbed interface is being
tested in the second notable shakeup of the messaging app’s UI in the last
year. It hasn’t managed to attain screenshots of this, but says shades of green
dominate the design.
Interestingly,
should the German site be on the money, it would mark an impressive period of
acceleration for WhatsApp’s development. Having remained relatively unchanged
for five years, its sixth (crucially since a stunning $19BN takeover by
Facebook) will have seen interface redesigns, desktop access, plus the addition
of voice and video calling.
To
its credit Facebook has also been smart enough to keep WhatsApp separate from
its massively popular, but equally polarising social network. In fact when
combined the two services will now have a total user base of over 2BN users
(admittedly with substantial overlap) and it is hard to see anyone challenging
their dominance going forward.
Consequently
WhatsApp video calling not only looks likely, but a complete no brainer…
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