Yahoo debuts Livetext silent video messaging app
As expected, Yahoo on Wednesday officially announced a new messaging service called Livetext that features live two-way video chats for mobile device users, but with a twist.
Marketed as "live video texting without sound," Livetext is a bit like FaceTime, but instead of talking to each other as they would in a face-to-face conversation, users communicate through facial expressions and typed text.
Yahoo in a press release said the immediacy and spontaneity Livetext affords brings the service closer to real life conversations. A silent live video app addresses problems with both text and voice communications, Yahoo claims. For example, users often misinterpret texts or take hours to respond, while telephone conversations require a relatively quiet environment.
"We see video as a way to make your conversations more authentic, and we see text as a way to connect that's quick and non-intrusive," said Arjun Sethi, senior director of product management at Yahoo.
It seems Yahoo is positioning Livetext as more of an augmentation to texting, not a stripped down video chat client. It remains to be seen whether or not customers agree in light of other mobile-centric video messaging solutions like Apple's own FaceTime.
Livetext has been under in testing in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Ireland, and is slated to go live in Canada, France, Germany, UK and the U.S. on Thursday. The iOS app comes in at 26MB and will be available for free from the App Store.
Marketed as "live video texting without sound," Livetext is a bit like FaceTime, but instead of talking to each other as they would in a face-to-face conversation, users communicate through facial expressions and typed text.
Yahoo in a press release said the immediacy and spontaneity Livetext affords brings the service closer to real life conversations. A silent live video app addresses problems with both text and voice communications, Yahoo claims. For example, users often misinterpret texts or take hours to respond, while telephone conversations require a relatively quiet environment.
"We see video as a way to make your conversations more authentic, and we see text as a way to connect that's quick and non-intrusive," said Arjun Sethi, senior director of product management at Yahoo.
It seems Yahoo is positioning Livetext as more of an augmentation to texting, not a stripped down video chat client. It remains to be seen whether or not customers agree in light of other mobile-centric video messaging solutions like Apple's own FaceTime.
Livetext has been under in testing in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Ireland, and is slated to go live in Canada, France, Germany, UK and the U.S. on Thursday. The iOS app comes in at 26MB and will be available for free from the App Store.
Comments
Competing for second place with Snapchat for the Snapchat demographics.
How far the mighty have fallen!
Text alone cannot properly convey the good news!
So Yahoo had a press conference to announce a no sound video chat app? Groundbreaking.
Gotta give props where it's due. A unique idea.
Did Porn business have this long time ago, online Porn site service?
BTW, this is a dumbest video chat I've ever seen...
You just found their market target! Live sex chats lol
Edit: on AI
Yahoo !!!!!!!!!!!
ah gawd, I think I've over punctuated ...
Gotta give props where it's due. A unique idea.
I agree.
It's an interesting idea. I think the problem they are addressing is the need to emote while texting. I've always thought adding emojis was cumbersome and time-consuming. This app tries to meet that need.
But as others have said, with Snapchat and FaceTime already available, it seems difficult for this to gain traction.
This is to FaceTime what regular texting is to making a phone call.
It's really funny to me how literally ANY story about a new app / service receives tons of comments about how stupid it is. Do you people just not have any imagination?
I'll definitely be checking this out tomorrow.
Use Facetime with freaking headphones that includes a mic. I don't ever recall having an issue using this setup in public areas -- cafe, Bryant & Central Parks, stores, etc. WTF