Facebook Flip-Flops on Messenger After WhatsApp Acquisition

by kurt wagner

it was just four months ago that Facebook updated its standalone messaging app, Messenger, with the goal of making the user experience more like texting.

That task appears to be easier said than done. Facebook's $19 billion acquisition of messaging app WhatsApp on Wednesday effectively confirmed that Messenger didn't live up to the task, at least not outside the U.S.

With the acquisition, Facebook has started preaching a very different strategy for Messenger than was outlined just four months ago.

With the Messenger update in October, Facebook opened messaging to all its users' mobile contacts, not just those on Messenger. Users needed only to add their phone numbers within the app. Messenger was redesigned to look like a standard text message inbox, and messages were delivered more quickly than before, according to Facebook product managers.

The app even had icons to alert users if they were sending a message to someone on mobile instead of their Facebook inbox. The update, in short, was intended to produce a real rival to SMS — not to mention WhatsApp.

"All of our changes around the new Messenger are about making it a mobile-to-mobile experience, so that I know I can dependably reach you instantly," Peter Martinazzi, Messenger product manager at Facebook, told Mashable last October. "If you're on Messenger, its going to go to your phone and you're going to treat it just like you would SMS, as a high priority mobile to mobile message."

Fast forward to Wednesday, when Mark Zuckerberg discussed WhatsApp with investors and mentioned Messenger frequently. Gone was the comparison to SMS. Messenger was suddenly an app for casual conversations between Facebook friends.

Messenger "evolved from Facebook chat, which was more instant messaging, not SMS," said Zuckerberg. "It's widely used today for chatting with your Facebook friends, and a lot of the messages people send are not real-time. Someone will send someone a message like a more informal email and then expect a reply later in the day."

So what happened? Facebook simply bought a better way to capture the global messaging audience, which WhatsApp reaches. In the 10 days leading up to Wednesday's acquisition, WhatsApp was the top social networking app on iOS every day but one in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy, according to App Annie.

"Facebook tends to be floppy," says Gartner analyst Brian Blau. "They try one thing, it doesn't work out, then they immediately try something else. It's how Facebook tries to innovate."

It would be hard to see Messenger disappearing anytime soon, Blau added. It seems likely that Facebook was simply hedging its bets — building an app to compete with WhatsApp while simultaneously pursuing it.

Regardless of the reason, it appears that Messenger has been relegated back to its original use case — casual conversations between Facebook friends. Because if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.

Will WhatsApp Reach 1 Billion Users Faster Than Facebook Did?

by kurt wagner

it appears that the billion-user club is about to get a new member.

Facebook announced the acquisition of messaging app WhatsApp on Wednesday, a deal worth up to $19 billion in cash and stock that puts serious muscle behind Facebook's international reach.

In a call with investors to outline the acquisition, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum hinted multiple times that they expect WhatsApp to become a billion-user platform, a milestone that Facebook eclipsed less than 18 months ago.

"WhatsApp is the only widely used app we've ever seen that has more engagement and a higher percent of people using it daily than Facebook itself," Zuckerberg said on the acquisition call Wednesday, noting that WhatsApp has doubled in size over the past year. "Based on our experience of building global services with strong growth and engagement, we believe WhatsApp is on a path to reach over one billion people in the next few years."

WhatsApp has already over 450 million monthly active users (320 of which are daily active users), and the company claims it is adding more than one million new users per day. For comparison purposes, Twitter added nine million new users in the entire Q4 2013; Facebook did better, adding 40 million in the same three month period, but growth is slower for a company with a billion-plus users already under its belt.

Facebook reached one billion in October 2012, roughly eight and a half years after launch. Could WhatsApp hit one billion even faster?

Assuming the company continues to add one million users per day, then yes. Much faster, actually.

WhatsApp is on pace to reach one billion users in August of 2015, approximately a year and a half after being acquired by Facebook. At that time, WhatsApp will be a little more than 6 years old, achieving the billion user milestone more than two years faster than Facebook did.

Of course, WhatsApp's trajectory is likely to change over time. Just like other consumer services like Facebook and Twitter, growth may slow as the user base gets larger and new users are harder to find.

Regardless of the timing, Zuckerberg seems poised to own two separate billion-user brands in the near future, and he's understandably excited.

"Services in the world that have a billion people using them are incredibly valuable," he said.

For $19 billion, we'd certainly hope so.

Google Adds 'Relationships' Option to Voice Search on Android

by Adario Strange

Another piece of Google's voice search puzzle fell into place on Tuesday as the search giant announced that Android users will now be able to voice search on their smartphones by relationship terms in addition to name searches.

The update, as described by Google, will bring up any contact you've designated as having a particular familial connection to you in the "relationship" field in your contacts tool on Android. This additional functionality is meant to allow a user to now speak a phrase such as "call mom," or "text sister" to initiate those actions without the user needing to say the person's name as it's listed in their contacts.

In order to launch contacts on your Android handset via voice you first need to allow the Google search app to access your contacts and the profile information attached to each person or place.

However, during repeated testing of the update on a Moto G handset running Android 4.4.2, we were unable to get the relationship voice function to work automatically, despite a number of attempts using various listing configurations. Rather than simply recognizing the relationship assigned to the contact in the People contacts app, Google still asked "who is your brother?" prompting us to pick a contact to assign the designation of "brother."

Despite that, the system's "name" search by voice worked perfectly, which indicates that the update, which is being rolled out on Google's side, may be reaching some users sooner than others.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Android Apps May Be Coming to Windows

by Karissa Bell

In an effort to boost interest in its desktop and mobile platform, Microsoft is reportedly considering opening up Windows to Android apps.

Citing "sources familiar with Microsoft's plans," The Verge says there are serious discussions within Microsoft over whether to open up the company's desktop and mobile platforms to Android apps. The idea would be to let consumers download the apps from a store run by a third-party "enabler" where Microsoft is still the gatekeeper.

According to the report, the discussions are in early stages and there is an ongoing internal debate over whether the plan should go ahead. While some Microsoft executives believe it would draw more users to Windows' platforms, others worry it would be Windows' undoing.

It wouldn't be the first time Android apps have appeared on Windows with a third-party enabler. Software maker BlueStacks already allows users to run Android apps on Windows devices, including Microsoft's Surface Pro.

The report comes on the heels of rumors that Nokia will be releasing its own Android handset at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month. The low-cost phone would be targeted toward emerging markets.

Nokia had earlier agreed to end its own software efforts and focus exclusively on Windows after being acquired by Microsoft.

Microsoft declined to comment.