WeChat's Latest Update Includes a Walkie-Talkie Live Chat

By Willis Wee | Tech in Asia – Fri, Feb 8, 2013

Latest on Y! News »

  • Opposition crackdown shows reforms a lie, say Pakatan leaders
    Opposition crackdown shows reforms a lie, say Pakatan leaders

    PETALING JAYA, May 24 — The security dragnet on opposition leaders and critics this past week is the clearest sign yet that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government was never honest in wanting real political reforms, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders told a rally here last night.

  • Pakatan to push for parliamentary panel to redraw seats fairly
    Pakatan to push for parliamentary panel to redraw seats fairly

    PETALING JAYA, May 24 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) wants a parliamentary select committee (PSC) as a bilateral platform to ensure a fairer constituency redelineation exercise once Parliament convenes, its leaders said last night.

  • Tian Chua, Haris, Tamrin to be detained overnight at Jinjang
    Tian Chua, Haris, Tamrin to be detained overnight at Jinjang

    KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers Chua Tian Chang and Tamrin Ghafar, and political activist Haris Ibrahim, have been arrested for sedition and will be held overnight at the police lockup in Jinjang today.

  • Bar suggests new laws to give MACC more power
    Bar suggests new laws to give MACC more power

    KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should be given more power to fight graft with the introduction of new legislation, the Malaysian Bar has said.

  • May 25 rally to proceed despite arrests, vows SAMM
    May 25 rally to proceed despite arrests, vows SAMM

    The 'People's Gathering' in front of the Amcorp Mall field in Petaling Jaya on Saturday will go ahead despite the police arresting several leaders of opposition political parties and non-governmental organisations today.

More

wechat-live-chat

After several people asking us for a review, we finally got two of our team members to update to the latest WeChat version 4.5.0.9 and give the live chat a test. Sorry for the slight delay, people.

Overall? I would rate it a lukewarm good. There were times when our voices were unclear (though that could be the sucky internet!) but generally the experience was pretty decent. Long story short, WeChat’s live chat works like a walkie-talkie. You and your friends are put into the same group (see right) to have quick voice chats. Push the button and speak. Release to send. Not rocket science.

It’s similar to the current voice chat but more fun and convenient, plus it enables you to converse in a group. If the network connection is OK, you could practically replace your walkie-talkie with the WeChat app. We can foresee ourselves using the app to do quick communication when running our conferences. Only thing that might be of concern is that voice messages in live chat mode aren’t trackable. But that seems like an acceptable sacrifice for fast mass voice communication.

We also asked ourselves how the live chat is different from call and recorded voice chat. Our conclusion was that walkie-talkie live chat allows you to save data usage and also battery life. Data is only used when voice messages are sent and received, so there’s minimal data consumption when live chat is on standby mode. Meanwhile, calls charge money regardless of whether you’re speaking or not, and voice recorded chat isn’t real-time enough to facilitate fast communication in groups.

The rest of the changes are pretty minor and straightforward. With the updated app, you can now invite friends to a group chat using QR codes, search through chat histories, and perhaps more importantly backup and restore your WeChat conversations.

WeChat recently also hit the 300 million users milestone.


The post WeChat's Latest Update Includes a Walkie-Talkie Live Chat appeared first on Tech in Asia.
Loading...

Comments on Yahoo! pages are subject to our link to Comments Guidelines. You are responsible for any content that you post. Yahoo! is not responsible or liable in any way for comments posted by its users. Yahoo! does not in any way endorse or support comments made by its users.

Most Popular »

  • Pathmanabhan, tiga pekerja ladang ke tali gantung kerana bunuh Sosilawati dan tiga individu lain Bernama

    SHAH ALAM, 23 Mei (Bernama) -- Mahkamah Tinggi di sini hari ini mendapatibekas peguam N. Pathmanabhan dan tiga pekerja ladangnya bersalah membunuhjutawan kosmetik Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya dan tiga individu lain tiga tahunlepas, dan dijatuhi hukuman gantung sampai mati. Hakim Datuk Akhtar Tahir memutuskan sedemikian selepas berpuas hati bahawapihak pembelaan gagal menimbulkan keraguan munasabah terhadap kes pendakwaan. Pathmanabhan serta tiga pekerja ladang iaitu T. Thilaiyalagan, R. Matan danR.

  • Crackdown begins! The Malaysian Insider
    Crackdown begins!

    KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 ― Batu MP Chua Tian Chang, activist Haris Ibrahim and PAS’s Tamrin Ghafar were arrested for sedition today and brought to the Jinjang police station for questioning, according to reports.

  • BN to face angrier Malaysians with continued crackdown, warns Ambiga The Malaysian Insider
    BN to face angrier Malaysians with continued crackdown, warns Ambiga

    KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — Putrajaya will only face more wrath from right-thinking Malaysians if it continues its nationwide crackdown on opposition supporters, Datuk Ambiga Sreenavasan said today.

  • ‘Haram’ to topple government through violence, repeats Fatwa Council The Malaysian Insider

    NILAI, May 22 – The National Fatwa Council reiterated a “fatwa” declaring demonstrations and rallies to topple government through violence as “haram” (forbidden) yesterday, becoming the latest Islamic body to comment on the issue.

  • 'GST will burden every M'sian by RM1,000 a year' Malaysiakini
    'GST will burden every M'sian by RM1,000 a year'

    Every Malaysian will be burdened by an extra RM 1,000 a year should the government impose a seven percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has said.

Show More