 |
| Yahoo hopes its audio-less video chat app LiveText will challenge WhatsApp |
YAHOO has released a new cross-platform messaging app with a bizarre gimmick.
The US internet firm this week released a new app called Livetext which seeks to make video calling as private as texting.
Yahoo says video calls can be better than texts for expressing emotions, but their audio component makes private conversations public.
With Livetext, you simply message friends by typing – just like texting – but you see video of friends without the audio.
It's the latest example of Yahoo trying to catch up in mobile services since Marissa Mayer became the company's CEO three years ago.
WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype and other services already deliver video calls. Yahoo's twist is silencing the audio.
However it's not clear how much – if any – traction this new app will get.
Friends will also need to be using Livetext, and for now, the pool of users is much, much smaller than those with established rivals.
Yahoo says it didn't want to tap its existing network of millions of users, in an effort to keep the Livetext experience more intimate.
To use Livetext, users create a separate ID and make friend requests using the address book in their smartphone.
Following tests in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Ireland, as well as someUS college campuses, the app was released this week on Android and iOS.
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook Disqus