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FireChat is verifying users in Hong Kong, hoping to add trusted voices to its...
Only 15 users have gotten verified status, but almost all of them are Hong Kong journalists who Open Garden hopes will become trusted sources of information during the protests. FireChat is verifying...
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BlackBerry adds Snapchat-style self-destructing messages to BBM
New features added to BBM messenger allow the sender to retract a message or set a time limit for the recipient to view it. BlackBerry adds Snapchat-style self-destructing messages to BBM originally...
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Softphone provider TextPlus becomes NextPlus, expands into the UK
The app formerly known as Gogii will soon be formerly known as TextPlus. TextPlus is launching its next-generation communications app, NextPlus, which is designed around the virtual phone number....
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It’s all about the fractals: How goTenna designed its off-grid messaging device
goTenna is using fractal geometry to create a self-tuning antenna that will pump as much range and efficiency possible into its messaging baton. It’s all about the fractals: How goTenna designed its...
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Facebook’s Messenger app hits half a billion monthly active users
Facebook’s Messenger app has grown in popularity — no doubt because the company forced people to install it — and now 500 million people use it every month. By comparison, 600 million people use...
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Twitter teases a bunch of new product features, including new apps and...
Today on Twitter's first ever analyst call, the company previewed a massive range of products it's developing. Here's a rundown on the most important features. Twitter teases a bunch of new product...
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PeeeM, an anonymous messaging and file-sharing app, sets its sights on the U.S.
An anonymous messaging app called PeeeM has made a name for itself in the Middle East, where it’s found a following among youngsters and communities that can’t flaunt their lifestyles in public. PeeeM,...
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WhatsApp adds end-to-end encryption to its Android app
Whatsapp just got a whole lot more secure for Android users. On Tuesday, the company announced that it's added a strong encryption protocol to its Android app, which means that Whatsapp can no longer...
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The next WeChat is hiding in Canada and eyeing the U.S.
Four years since its launch, Kik is positioning itself as America’s version of WeChat, the messaging behemoth of China. It believes it has the right product (text messaging, the old-fashioned kind) and...
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Should we expect every messaging app to offer full privacy?
Earlier this week a bunch of former Skype employees launched a new app called Wire, which offers Skype-esque voice calls, messaging, and the ability to embed things like YouTube videos and SoundCloud...
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Open Garden’s hard sell: A world of shared radios
On the evening of Sept 28, Open Garden co-founder and CEO Micha Benoliel was on Skype call in a hotel room in Hong Kong complaining to his CMO Christophe Daligault that their new app FireChat wasn’t...
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Kik’s new hashtags reveal the potential of a chat network
Kik continues to ship new features for its chatting application. Following on the heels of Promoted Chats and its in-app browser comes the hashtag. It’s an easy way to create a group chat and invite...
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Samsung cans cross-platform ChatOn messaging service
As predicted last month, Samsung is pulling the plug on its ChatOn messaging service. The Korean news service Yonhap reported on Friday that will axe the service on February 1, quoting the company as...
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Bebo attempts the near-impossible: A comeback
Remember the popular ’90s social networking app Bebo? Yeah, me neither. The Facebook predecessor, which dominated British social networking for awhile, sold to AOL for $850 million in 2008. The...
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Shady but smart: Secret’s CES feed copies Yik Yak for a new crowd
That savvy Secret. The anonymous sharing network, which recently redesigned its entire product to save itself, isn’t going quietly into that dark night. It unrolled a new feature Monday allowing people...
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Has Snapchat peaked? Comscore numbers suggest flat growth in 2014
Snapchat’s user growth seems to have stalled toward the end of 2014, according to new Comscore numbers I obtained on Friday. As you can see from the below graph, Snapchat hit a peak around March 2014...
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WhatsApp cracks down on people using unofficial clients
WhatsApp is banning users from its service for 24 hours because they were caught sending and receiving messages on an unofficial client that wasn’t made by WhatsApp. Many users afflicted an were using...
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WhatSim sells a WhatsApp-only mobile plan on the cheap
WhatsApp is now capturing a good deal of the world’s texting traffic, so an Italian company figured it was time to create a WhatsApp data plan for the world. The people behind Italy’s Zeromobile have...
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Twitter tries to up its game with group messages and native video
With competitors like Snapchat and WhatsApp continuing to grow and expand the range of their features, Twitter is rolling out a new group direct-message offering as well as a hosted video feature it...
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Can media do for Snapchat what it did for Facebook?
Snapchat is distancing itself from its core messaging feature with its new Discover product. Instead of offering new communication tools, it’s focusing on media content to hook users. It’s hoping that...
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