Change is a good thing. Just when
people thought there were no other alternatives to making free ISD calls other
than Skype, the world is introduced to Viber. Why is Viber the answer to all
our problems?? Because let’s face it, we all know about the services of Skype,
and how we have to say “Hello, can you hear me” for 80% of the time we are
online. Viber was the answer to all our problems.
Viber
is an instant messaging and Voice over IP
(VoIP) app for smartphones developed by Viber Media. In addition
to instant messaging, users can exchange images,
video and audio media messages. So in a sense it is a
combination of both WhatsApp and Skype targeting the users of both these apps
and successfully taking over them if I might add. Viber has overcome the
“glitches” that both these applications had and planned to combine the both so
all kinds of users could use this; people who love to text and people who love
to talk endlessly on the phone. With its unique features and constant
improvising and updating, Viber has successfully taken over its target market.
Almost all smartphones today has Viber in it.
Viber was founded by four Israeli
partners: Talmon Marco, Igor Megzinik, Sani Maroli and Ofer Smocha, with Talmon Marco
as its CEO.
Though initially launched for iPhone
on December 2, 2010, in direct competition with Skype,
a pre-release version for Android appeared in May 2011
but was restricted to 50,000 users. An unrestricted version was released on
July 19, 2012. Viber for BlackBerry and Windows Phone devices was launched on
May 8, 2012. On reaching 90 million users on July 24, 2012, group messaging
service and HD Voice engine were added to both Android and iPhone applications.
Viber also provides its users with an array of different types of interesting
“stickers”. A new and interesting feature of Viber is the doodles which they
have introduced.
Viber is also now available on Windows and Mac OS X.
As of December 2013, Viber officially launched Viber Out, a feature that
provides users the option to call mobile and landline numbers; thus Viber users
can call people not using a Viber app.
Viber includes text and picture messaging across all
platforms, with voice calling available only to iPhone, Android and Microsoft's
Windows Phone. The latest Viber
update brings this popular messaging and calling app much closer to its
competition by adding mobile video calling to the menu. The vast number of
Viber users all over the world has been looking forward to the video calling
feature. It enables them to always talk in the way that’s most convenient for
them, wherever they happen to be.
As of June 2014, the company announced it now has
100 million- plus active users and more than 360 million unique registered
users. With their constant update and innovative ideas, Viber gained a
considerable competitive advantage in the market over its competitors and is at
a potential to become one of the most widely used service applications whether
it comes to texting, calling someone or making a video call.
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