Google Inc. is sharpening its talons as competition in the mobile messaging space heats up. The company is allegedly poised to take the wraps off its own mobile messaging app that will throw the gauntlet to Facebook-owned WhatsApp.
The information is courtesy of Economic Times, an India-based business daily, which spilled the beans on Friday, Oct. 3. The newspaper cited sources who have divulged Google's plans and let on that India will be one of the test markets for the mobile messenger.
"After losing WhatsApp to Facebook in a multibillion dollar acquisition bid, Google is planning to launch its own mobile messaging app which the search giant is likely to test in India and other emerging markets," reports Economic Times.
The publication also disclosed that the app was still in its early stages and would likely be released in 2015. The intended name of the alleged messenger is also not known at this juncture.
The newspaper also revealed that Google had supposedly made an offer on WhatsApp of over $10 billion.
Currently, Google's Nikhyl Singhal, product manager for Google+, Hangouts, is on a tour of several Asia Pacific countries to gain a better understanding of the native ecosystems. In September, Singhal had traveled to India to conduct a recce of the existing ecosystems in the region.
India is a massive market for mobile messaging apps. India accounts for 65 million of the total 600 million WhatsApp users worldwide. Popular mobile messaging applications like WeChat, Viber and Line also boast a substantial number of users in the country. Home-grown app Hike also has 35 million active users, which gives an indication of the popularity of instant messaging mobile apps in India.
According to the report, Google's messenger service will not compel users to deploy their Google login. In a bid to entice more users the service will be free. Google will also look to localize the messenger and, therefore, will likely add support for specific languages. Google may also include voice-to-text messaging.
A company spokesperson dismissed the matter by saying Google do not comment on rumors.
