You’ll soon be able to make real-time voice calls through WhatsApp.
The messaging company’s CEO Jan Koum announced the news while speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today. It’s a key feature addition for the app, which has almost half a billion users worldwide and was recently acquired by Facebook in a deal worth $19 billion (£11.3 billion).
It’s also a feature WhatsApp has lacked in spite of competition from the likes of Viber, Tango and Skype offering it for many years.
UK telecoms companies could see it two ways given that a quarter of Brits use WhatsApp: free calls via an app means fewer being made using regular talk time. On the plus side, more calls made through apps means more data being consumed, and increasingly it’s data the networks are placing their bets on for future growth.
Koum didn’t confirm a specific date as to when the app would get voice call capability, but did say iOS and Android users will get it first some time during the second quarter of this year… Source wired.co.uk
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