Messaging app firm Line has given up majority control of its Line Games business after it raised outside financing to expand its collection of titles and go after global opportunities. The Line Games business was formed earlier this year when Line merged its existing gaming division from NextFloor, the Korea-based game publisher that it acquired in […]
View More Chat app Line’s games business raises $110M for growth opportunitiesCategory: Messaging Apps
China’s fast-rising Bullet Messenger hit with copyright complaint
Bullet Messenger, a fast-rising Chinese messaging upstart that’s gunning to take on local behemoth, WeChat, has been pulled from the iOS App Store owing to what its owners couch as a copyright complaint. Reuters reported the development earlier, saying Bullet’s owner, Beijing-based Kuairu Technology, claimed in a social media posting that the app had been taken down […]
View More China’s fast-rising Bullet Messenger hit with copyright complaintSiilo injects $5.1M to try to transplant WhatsApp use in hospitals
Consumer messaging apps like WhatsApp are not only insanely popular for chatting with friends but have pushed deep into the workplace too, thanks to the speed and convenience they offer. They have even crept into hospitals, as time-strapped doctors reach for a quick and easy way to collaborate over patient cases on the ward. Yet […]
View More Siilo injects $5.1M to try to transplant WhatsApp use in hospitalsApple expands Business Chat with new businesses and additional countries
Apple Business Chat launched earlier this year as a way for consumers to communicate directly with businesses on Apple’s messaging platform. Today the company announced it was expanding the program to add new businesses and support for additional countries. When it launched in January, business partners included Discover, Hilton, Lowe’s and Wells Fargo. Today’s announcement […]
View More Apple expands Business Chat with new businesses and additional countriesTencent shakeup puts the focus on enterprise
Chinese internet giant Tencent is reorganizing its business to place more emphasis on enterprise as it prepares for the future of technology and looks to alleviate the pressure on its under-fire consumer business. The reorg, which Reuters reports is the company’s first shakeup for six years, was announced over the weekend — ahead of a […]
View More Tencent shakeup puts the focus on enterpriseFirst DJI, now Bang & Olufsen gets Line Friends-themed products
Line is a pretty busy company. Beyond a messaging app that claims over 160 million users, the company operates service like music streaming, manga, food delivery, games and it is also venturing into crypto. The company has long been known for its playful characters — Line Friends — which are a core part of its […]
View More First DJI, now Bang & Olufsen gets Line Friends-themed productsWhatsApp founder, Brian Acton, says Facebook used him to get its acquisition past EU regulators
WhatsApp founder, Brian Acton, who left Facebook a year ago — before going on to publicly bite the hand that fed him, by voicing support for the #DeleteFacebook movement (and donating $50M to alternative encrypted messaging app, Signal) — has delved into the ethics clash behind his acrimonious departure in an interview with Forbes. And for leaving a cool […]
View More WhatsApp founder, Brian Acton, says Facebook used him to get its acquisition past EU regulatorsTelegram to replace iOS messaging app with Telegram X Swift rebuild
Telegram has announced it will be migrating iOS users of its messaging app to a rebuilt-from-scratch Swift version. It’s been running two versions of its app in parallel on iOS and Android during 2018 — officially announcing Telegram X in January, when it billed it as an experiment and said the alternative app “may or may […]
View More Telegram to replace iOS messaging app with Telegram X Swift rebuildGoogle gets more RCS messaging support from Samsung
Google has secured a bit more buy in from Samsung for a next generation text messaging standard it’s long been promoting. The Android OS maker’s hope for Rich Communication Services (RCS), which upgrades what SMS can offer to support richer comms and content swapping, can provide its fragmented Android ecosystem with a way to offer comparably rich […]
View More Google gets more RCS messaging support from SamsungChat app Line to raise $1.33BN via convertible bonds to double down on financial services
Move over stickers and games: Japanese messaging app firm Line has announced it’s raising around 148.1 billion yen ($1.33BN) through convertible bonds to fund aggressive expansion into the financial services business, Reuters reports. Line said it plans to spend most of the money on promoting its Line Pay service and for other new financial services by the […]
View More Chat app Line to raise $1.33BN via convertible bonds to double down on financial servicesChat app Line hopes its own crypto token can solve its user growth problem
Line, the Japanese messaging app firm that’s best known for its cutesy characters and stickers, is pushing deeper into crypto after it launched its own token to help grow its stagnant user base. Line went public two years ago with 218 million monthly active users, but it hasn’t been able to kick on. The company no longer gives out […]
View More Chat app Line hopes its own crypto token can solve its user growth problemWhatsApp now allows group voice and video calls between up to 4 people
WhatsApp has added a much-requested new feature after it began to allow users to make group voice and video calls. It’s been just over three years since the company, which is owned by Facebook, introduced voice calls and later a video option one year later. Today, WhatsApp counts over 1.5 billion monthly users and it says […]
View More WhatsApp now allows group voice and video calls between up to 4 people