Facebook’s Messenger adds movie talk

The world’s largest social network goes toe-to-toe with Apple’s FaceTime and Microsoft’s Skype.

Movie talk has become a superb way for people to communicate with friends and family, especially across international borders. Facebook now wants a lump of that act.

Facebook users can soon use the social network’s Messenger app to talk face-to-face over Wi-Fi or cellular networks, simply by tapping on a movie camera icon at the top. The service will work inbetween Apple devices and those powered by Google’s Android software.

Facebook thinks its Messenger movie talk has an edge over competitors — including FaceTime from Apple , Hangouts from Google and Skype from Microsoft — because it lets users spontaneously switch from texting to movie.

"Everything starts from texting," said Stan Chudnovsky, head of product for Facebook’s messaging efforts.

Facebook wants to become more than a site where people share their vacation pictures or the latest cat movie. One way it plans to do that is with text messaging, where Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has invested considerable resources. Last year, Facebook spent more than $Nineteen billion to buy WhatsApp , a separate messaging app that has become popular in part because it helped people subvert expensive text-messaging costs on cellular phones. The service now has more than eight hundred million active users around the world .

Facebook has also been beefing up its Messenger app to make it the go-to service for every and all kinds of communication — from dialing calls and sending money inbetween friends to customer support.

Messenger has accumulated a growing set of implements to stave off competitive from a growing list of competitors, particularly the ephemeral talk service Snapchat. Last month, Facebook suggested fresh features such as the capability for people to send movies, photos and other items from other apps to friends using Messenger. It also suggested users the capability to communicate with businesses, such as to ask a question about an order or to purchase a fresh item.

Facebook claims the fresh movie talk produces the best audio and movie, across different types of Internet connections and data networks.

"We want to make sure someone on a high-end iPhone here can make a call to someone with an Android in India," Chudnovsky said.

Last week, the company said that ten percent of all audio talks on the Internet happened in Messenger. That feature was released two years ago . Movie, Facebook said, was one of the top things users having been asking for since then.

Facebook s Messenger adds movie talk

Facebook’s Messenger adds movie talk

The world’s largest social network goes toe-to-toe with Apple’s FaceTime and Microsoft’s Skype.

Movie talk has become a good way for people to communicate with friends and family, especially across international borders. Facebook now wants a lump of that act.

Facebook users can soon use the social network’s Messenger app to talk face-to-face over Wi-Fi or cellular networks, simply by tapping on a movie camera icon at the top. The service will work inbetween Apple devices and those powered by Google’s Android software.

Facebook thinks its Messenger movie talk has an edge over competitors — including FaceTime from Apple , Hangouts from Google and Skype from Microsoft — because it lets users spontaneously switch from texting to movie.

"Everything starts from texting," said Stan Chudnovsky, head of product for Facebook’s messaging efforts.

Facebook wants to become more than a site where people share their vacation pictures or the latest cat movie. One way it plans to do that is with text messaging, where Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has invested considerable resources. Last year, Facebook spent more than $Nineteen billion to buy WhatsApp , a separate messaging app that has become popular in part because it helped people subvert expensive text-messaging costs on cellular phones. The service now has more than eight hundred million active users around the world .

Facebook has also been beefing up its Messenger app to make it the go-to service for every and all kinds of communication — from dialing calls and sending money inbetween friends to customer support.

Messenger has accumulated a growing set of instruments to stave off competitive from a growing list of competitors, particularly the ephemeral talk service Snapchat. Last month, Facebook suggested fresh features such as the capability for people to send movies, photos and other items from other apps to friends using Messenger. It also suggested users the capability to communicate with businesses, such as to ask a question about an order or to purchase a fresh item.

Facebook claims the fresh movie talk supplies the best audio and movie, across different types of Internet connections and data networks.

"We want to make sure someone on a high-end iPhone here can make a call to someone with an Android in India," Chudnovsky said.

Last week, the company said that ten percent of all audio talks on the Internet happened in Messenger. That feature was released two years ago . Movie, Facebook said, was one of the top things users having been asking for since then.

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