Janus Friis, co-founder of Skype, debuted a new messaging platform called Wire. At first brush, Wire looks just like every other messaging app, albeit more beautiful.
Although Friis helped co-found Skype, he didn’t pull any punches when talking about Skype’s age. “Skype was launched more than a decade ago. A lot has changed since then – we are all used to free calls and texting, and we have taken to carrying our computers in our pockets,” said Friis. “It is time to create the best possible communication tools, as beautiful as they are useful. Wire is just that.”
Beyond its design, Wire promises secure messaging with end-to-end encryption and high definition voice calls. Media shared using Wire also shows up in-line with your messages. Instead of simple links that need to be accessed outside of the app, Wire plays YouTube and Soundcloud media inside your chat.
“Skype was launched more than a decade ago. A lot has changed since then.”
Wire also features a “ping” feature to help you get the attention of your friends without ringing them. There’s also group chats which closely resembles Facebook’s recently launched Groups app with its circular icons.
But Wire is missing a major component that built Skype’s success: video chat. In this first release, Wire only supports text and voice messaging. It’s a big oversight but Friis is confident that the Wire team has the ability to build in video chat later. Wire will also offer some premium features (paid) in the future.
Wire is available on Android, iOS, and Mac. The company plans to bring the platform to the web to increase compatibility with as many operating systems as possible.
Source: Wire
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