Google will launch Android Chat Service: Challenge iMessage and WhatsApp

Google will launch a new chat service that will replace the standard SMS service. Analysts believe that this move will provide Android users with advanced features already existing in Apple iMessage and Facebook WhatsApp.

However, this plan also represents a major strategic retreat for Google. The company has been difficult to develop its own dedicated chat application. This new service called Chat is not Google's chat application, but it will be with dozens of locations around the world. Home operators start cooperation and run through Android phones.

Chat will bring several upgrades to Android users who use SMS. With the new Rich Media Communication Service Standard (RCS), users can send high-definition picture videos and GIFs via Chat. They can also receive a receipt and see if the other party is Entering information. Google is also preparing to provide Google Assistant services through Chat.

The Global System for Mobile Communication Association (GSMA) estimates that 350 million people will use the RCS protocol by the end of this year and will double in 2019. Although many low-cost handsets cannot use this new protocol, GSMA estimates that 3 billion people will upgrade to RCS.

Sprint has already supported the agreement in the United States. T-Mobile also said it will support the agreement this year. However, Verizon has not yet supported this agreement. AT&T did not comment.

Prior to the launch of Chat, Google had developed multiple chat applications of its own. For example, the recent Allo was launched two years ago, but its popularity has not matched Facebook's WhatsApp and Messenger. The latter two products have 1.5 billion and 1.3 billion respectively. Users. Google has now suspended Allo's development and instead devoted efforts to developing Chat.

Yory Wurmser, an analyst at eMarketer, a US market research company, said that Google Chat is not the company’s ideal solution. This is a commercial compromise. 'They definitely want to compete directly with Messenger or WhatsApp, but Unable to overcome the challenge, it is difficult to obtain enough users to achieve rapid development. 'He said, 'They need a backup strategy, by installing control of their own desires to Android.

Other experts pointed out that Chat contains privacy deficiencies because the service does not use end-to-end encryption technology. 'The key is: Google developed an insecure message system, which is controlled by the operator, while the operator and the rest of the world The government is very close. But the public around the world is now more worried than ever about data collection and theft. 'Veteran technology media veteran Walt Mossberg issued a tweet last Friday.

Both iMessage and WhatsApp use end-to-end encryption, so only the sender and receiver can see the message content.

Like SMS, new message standards can be compatible with different carrier networks, but it is up to the operator to enable this service. These messages are sent over the Internet. However, if Android users send to an incompatible Chat. Chat message, this message will be sent using the SMS standard.

Apple has not commented on whether the iPhone will support the RCS standard.

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