whatsapp.pngWhatsApp CEO Jan Koum has announced at Mobile World Congress 2014 that the company will add voice calling to its popular messaging platform in Q2 2014, reports TechCrunch. The voice service will be added to iOS and Android first, with other platforms receiving the update at an unannounced future date.

We use the least amount of bandwidth and we use the hell out of it,” he said. “We will focus on simplicity.” Voice will come to Android and iOS first and then following on some Nokia and BlackBerry phones, he added.

Koum also announced the popular cross-platform messaging service has grown to 465 million monthly active users and 330 million daily users, an increase of 15 million from the statistics released last December. The company recently was acquired by Facebook in a deal worth up to $19 billion, including $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in Facebook stock and an additional $3 billion in employee restricted stock units.

Little will change for WhatsApp users following the Facebook acquisition. Koum assured users the service will remain autonomous and operate independently of Facebook. It also won't change its "no marketing, no ads" strategy and will continue to remain reasonably priced with a $0.99 annual fee after the first free year.

Top Rated Comments

Serelus Avatar
132 months ago
Gotta compete with Telegram, people rapidly deleting accounts at the speed facebook isn't liking. QUICK tell everyone we're adding call support.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B4U Avatar
132 months ago
Doesn't matter. Already removed due to failbookphobia.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rohitp Avatar
132 months ago
This is what Facebook allegedly does...

This is what Facebook allegedly does... hope they crash and burn soon.

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/This-Man-s-600-000-Facebook-Ad-Disaster-Is-A-5258472.php#page-1

Naturally, Brar began disputing his bill with Facebook. He wanted his clicks audited by a third party, to see how many were genuine. Then he discovered that Facebook's terms of service forbid third-party verification of its clicks...
What?

Anyone agrees to that?

No audits? No third-party verification? No recourse?

You're kidding, right?

Sure, there will be discrepancies. Some people will click the ad and then close the browser before your site gets the request. That can happen, either due to some sort of network problem or simply because the user clicked by mistake.

But at this alleged level?

At one point, data from Facebook indicated his ads had delivered 606,000 clicks, but the site itself registered only 160,000 incoming clicks from Facebook, according to data supplied by Brar.
From: http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=228793
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
seamer Avatar
132 months ago
So, if I do a simple math, I get a potential $465 million income per year for Whatsapp. At that rate it will take 38 years to break even on the investment Facebook made. I can only guess that there is something else going on here that they are investing in. Maybe they will have an additional charge for the voice or something? But if they stay with no ads and only charge 99 cents per year, I do not see the $19,000,000,000.00 investment making any sense.

They bought the phone contacts that we try to hide from the official FB app. It will let their data scientists to create richer relationships between users that FB had not built yet, but may be otherwise very strong offline. The reason being if it's in your contact list you are probably friends are rely on that service a lot. (Dentist, etc). So I wouldn't be surprised if Yelp got bought out too to supplement the non-unique personal phone contacts we have.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Carl Sagan Avatar
132 months ago
Finally. Now release an iPad version!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
roadbloc Avatar
132 months ago
With the icon I assumed it already had it. Apparently not.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...