29 Nov 2016

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WhatsApp Introduces Video Calling

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As time progresses, means of communication have also evolved a lot. The immense devolopment in smartphone industry and their new specifications have been acting as a catalyst for the evolution of real-time means of communication. From text messages to e-mails, to voice calls and finally now, we have video calls. Various messaging floors have been providing this facility to many millions of users of video chatting, because what is better than seeing your friends and family even when you are away from home.

WhatsApp has been a very widely used messaging app in the recent past. According to February 2016, there are over a Billion monthly active users using WhatsApp. Yes, ONE BILLION. But one function WhatsApp had been missing out on is also video calling. After acquiring WhatsApp for a huge 19 million dollars, Facebook has made video calling possible on WhatsApp. Previously on Facebook messenger since one and a half years, Facebook thought it would be really awesome to spread out the service to WhatsApp users as well. WhatsApp, by introducing the new feature, is getting into being one of the first messaging apps to provide Video Calling.

"VIDEO CALLING IS ONE OF THE MOST REQUESTED FEATURES FROM PEOPLE IN INDIA. WE’RE PROUD TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LAUNCH THIS FEATURE IN INDIA, WHERE WE NOW HAVE 160 MILLION USERS, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING PEOPLE USE WHATSAPP TO TALK TO THEIR FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES FACE TO FACE" 
-JAN KOUM-CEO & CO-FOUNDER, WHATSAPP.

Facebook had been testing out the Video Calling feature on WhatsApp for "Selected users" since May and now they believe that they are set to open it for all the users. The quality of the video and sound is something to be debated upon since its just the beginning. The video is said to be working out well only with good high-speed internet. The users who rely upon mobile data with decent speed might not find it perfect to use it but in the near future, this problem is expected to be made better.

How to Avail video calling on your WhatsApp Account.

At first you have to make sure, your phone supports video calling AND have the latest updated version of WhatsApp Messenger. If you have these two, then:-

  • Open Whatsapp and select a person from your Whatsapp contact list to make a video call
  • Click on the call icon on the upper right corner
  • A popup will appear asking if you want to make the video call or not
With this huge devolopment in real-time communication, Video Calling is said to be the future of communication. The Online Real-time communication market is expected to reach US$4.45 billion by 2020, with CAGR of 50.9% between 2015 and 2020.