WhatsApp Will Introduce Voice Calling

It became known that WhatsApp started working on adding free voice-calling to its text messaging app for mobile devices, which was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion just a few weeks ago. Jan Koum, the WhatsApp founder and CEO, confirmed that the newly acquired Facebook company has been working on voice calling to be introduced into the messaging app for a while now. According to his estimations, the iPhone and Android versions will get this feature in the second quarter of 2014, and BlackBerry and Windows Phone will be updated later.

Jan Koum, like many other brilliant IT technicians, grew up in Russia. He remembers that they had a telephone line, but most of their neighbors didn’t. In USSR and in times of perestroika the landline telephone was a shared resource for the whole apartment complex. People – neighbors, friends or relatives – could come and knock on the door to ask to call someone in another city.

Although today you can call to the moon and back from any place in the world, WhatsApp decided to add voice to its client “so people could stay in touch with friends and loved ones even if they are far from each other”. I would admit it’s pretty normal – I still buy myself toys I couldn’t get in childhood, too.

Jan Koum said that the evolution of the WhatsApp service goes to another stage, continuing its mission to connect people and keep them in touch. The developer also explained that they had taken the speed and efficiency of text messaging to voice, claiming that WhatsApp would have the best voice product on the market. Well, this may change things.

Koum said they use the least amount of bandwidth out there, but have extremely optimized it. In other words, they made sure the quality is there, just like the messaging functions of the app known worldwide.

WhatsApp CEO also explained that no changes were planned for his company after Facebook acquisition. Apparently, WhatsApp will be allowed to operate as a standalone company, maintaining its startup mentality with a bit more than 50 employees, today’s changing industry.