WhatsApp vs. Skype vs. Viber – Spoiled for Choice

There are many clients available for instant messaging and making VoIP calls through the desktop or through mobile phones. Chatting has now left the PC and entered the mobile world in a very big way.

Messaging apps offer additional features, such as making voice and video calls as well. You can even send and receive files, share photos and videos and group conversations through such hangouts. In fact, there are so many apps, such as WhatsApp, Skype and Viber, that the user is spoiled for choice. What makes one better than the other? Let’s see if we can sort it out.

WhatsApp

It is a very popular messaging app for mobile platforms and has more than 200 million users from all over the world. It is available for the Android and iOS phones, as well as for the BlackBerry and Windows Phones. It was recently bought over by Facebook and is also looking towards including audio calls in the near future. Its top features are text chatting, including chatting with groups. It also offers sharing of files, such as photos and videos and location sharing.

WhatsApp is very accessible and simple to use. You don’t have to incur any more SMS charges through your carrier, if your friends also have the app installed on their smartphones. You get a free trial for a year after which you have to pay $1 for a year as subscription. However, at present, you cannot make audio or video calls through this application. In addition, it does not have a presence on PCs and is available only for the mobile platform. It was founded in the year 2009 by two Yahoo employees who created this SMS alternative.

Skype

Skype has the largest user base among all VoIP apps and presently enjoys more than 300 million users from all over the world. It works on the desktop as well as on mobile platforms. The app is a cross platform one and can be installed on the Android and iOS devices, as well as Windows Phone and the BlackBerry. You can also install it on your Windows 8 desktop or a Mac OS X. Skype offers text chatting and instant messaging as well as group chatting. In addition, Skype also offers audio and video calls for free, to all other users who have the app on their devices. You can also make calls to other landlines and other mobile numbers at a very reasonable rate. Skype enables sharing of files, photos and videos as well in addition to a screen-sharing feature.

Skype has become so synonymous with Internet calls that it has gained a verb status. Those who want to make free or cheap international calls generally make use of this app. It has also entered smart TVs and the Xbox One as well as mobile phones. You can have group-chatting with hundreds of users or contacts at the same time. Skype has also introduced the Skype Qik, which can be used for sending short video messages to contacts.

Viber

Viber is a very popular messaging, audio and video calling application with more than 200 million users. It is available for all mobile platforms, such as Android, iOS and Windows Phone as well as BlackBerry devices. It can also be installed on your desktop, Windows 8 or Mac OS X. Viber allows free calls to contacts already having the app. You can access group chatting, audio and video calls as well as share files and access location sharing features. Your phone number is your ID, so you don’t have to create any account or add contacts to the app, which is not the case with Skype. You can also make Viber Out calls to those who do not have the app, and in this case it will be charged to your usual call allowance on your phone.

BBM 2.2 for Android and iOS Brings Easier Sign-Up, Friending, and More

It was late last year that Canadian smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry released its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) on Android and iOS platforms for free. Now the latest version of BBM (version 2.2) is available for download on Google Play, with the iOS version all set to hit the App Store in the coming days.

On the official BlackBerry blog, Inside BlackBerry, Jeff Gadway, head of product and brand marketing writes about the new version which has hit the Google Play store on Wednesday, "This next release (v.2.2) is focused on streamlining key aspects of the BBM experience. Our goal was to make it simpler for new users to join the BBM community and to make it faster and easier to add new BBM contacts."

The new features on BBM v2.2 for Android include an easier way to add contacts via email, wherein a user who receives a BBM invite by email can just become a contact by clicking on the link provided, rather than sending a PIN invite back, as is the current method. Even signing up for BBM is easier. All that new users require are an email ID, name and password, and they can start using it.

On the cosmetic side there are 16 new emoticons that will be added to the new version. These include a hotdog, hacker, a pair of hot lips amongst others. The 'Updates' tab has been renamed to 'Feeds', to represent a user better. It will include latest statuses and profile photos from BBM contacts and newer posts from the BBM channels that users follow. The latest version also brings a range of bug fixes and performance improvements.

The updated BBM v2.2 app Android version can be downloaded from Google Play. In addition to that the blog also makes a mention of the fact that there is something new in store for BlackBerry users. While Gadway has not given away much details in the post, he does write that the special release of the BBM for BlackBerry smartphones will be for the BBOS and BlackBerry 10 smartphones. "This special release of BBM for BlackBerry smartphones will include many of the things we've talked about here...and a few special things added for good measure," he writes.

It is also important to note that the previous update which had come to BBM (for Android, BB10 and iOS) around two months ago offered larger and bolder images, brought sticker support, as well as the ability to share photos in multi-person chats. It also increased the file sharing limit from 6MB to 16MB.

Windows Phone is still the only major smartphone ecosystem BBM has not yet made a foray into. It was however confirmed by BlackBerry that it is looking for a Q2 2014 release of BBM for Windows Phone.

BlackBerry starts daily free BB10 app giveaways, discounted $0.99 app offers

Canadian handset maker is betting on
the apps ecosystem to turn around its
fortunes with free and discounts on
apps across categories like games, music
and productivity for users of its BB10
platform.

" BlackBerry is kicking off the winter
festive season with a variety of offers
on some of its most popular apps on the
BlackBerry World. The offers will roll
out throughout the month of December
2013," a BlackBerry spokesperson told
PTI.

He added that the offer would be
available to users of handsets like Q5,
Q10, Z10 and Z30, which run on its
BB10 operating system across the
world.

The company does not disclose the
number of its users.
Under the first offer, BlackBerry will
offer one free app each day between
December 1 and December 25.
"One free app per day from the likes
of Angry Birds, Pacemaker and
Monopoly would be available for free
download for a 24 hour period," the
spokesperson said.
Under the second offer, BlackBerry
will launch its 'Hello Winter USD 0.99
Sale', where content will be offered at
the discounted price during the entire
month of December.

"BlackBerry World has over 1,40,000
apps for BB10 OS. India in particular
has been a robust growth market for
us from an apps standpoint, so I am
confident that we will see tremendous
traction with these offers," the
spokesperson said.

According to sources, 27-30 per cent of
its sales in India is of devices powered
by the BB10 platform.
In India, the four BB10-powered
devices are priced between Rs. 22,000
and Rs. 44,000.

The Canadian firm has been facing
stiff competition from other
smartphone makers like Apple and
Samsung as sales have declined over the
past few months.

It is now placing big bets on apps,
including taking its popular messaging
service BBM to other operating
systems, aimed at raking in additional
revenue in the coming months.