Before the popularization of 3rd generation mobile telecommunications (3G) and Wi-Fi technology, people use Short Message Service (SMS) to text their colleagues, partners, friends and other people. Although handy, SMS has several drawbacks itself. The messaging cost is sometimes a trouble-some problem and the character limit of one message also poses a barrier to people using standard SMS as an exchange of information. Using other types of instant messaging tools on smartphones cannot solve the problem either because of compatibility issues. But now as Whatsapp Messenger (Whatsapp) emerges, these problems seem to be solved. This survey will focus on the working mechanisms of Whatsapp and how it affects the society.
Whatsapp is messaging software available on several popular mobile operating systems, including iOS, Android, Blackberry and Symbian. It makes use of internet connection, instead of cellular connection used by SMS, to deliver messages from one phone to another.
When a person sends a message, Whatsapp will deliver the message to the server. The server will then deliver the message to the destination. No matter what kind of smartphone the user is using, as long as it is installed with the messenger, the messages can be delivered to the phone and can be seen. The compatibility issues do not exist. Other than simple text, Whatsapp message can also be consisted of photos, videos and audios.
As 3G and Wi-Fi technologies are gaining popularity all around the world, and more and more people are replacing their cellular phones by smartphones, the number of Whatsapp users is growing. Its cross-platform feature also enables people to exchange messages between different brands of smartphones. In addition to the basic text messaging functionality, it also supports multimedia messages, which enriches the context of the messages. More importantly, it connects to the server via the Internet, and only requires the user to have a data plan for the 3G services or to have access to Wi-Fi coverage; the cost of messaging is much reduced.
All in all, the emergence of Whatsapp provides a more convenient way for people to send instant messages with enriched context and a lower cost. It can be foreseen that in the future, as the cost of 3G services getting cheaper, Whatsapp Messenger will gradually replace the standard SMS as the major messenger tool in the society.
Whatsapp is messaging software available on several popular mobile operating systems, including iOS, Android, Blackberry and Symbian. It makes use of internet connection, instead of cellular connection used by SMS, to deliver messages from one phone to another.
When a person sends a message, Whatsapp will deliver the message to the server. The server will then deliver the message to the destination. No matter what kind of smartphone the user is using, as long as it is installed with the messenger, the messages can be delivered to the phone and can be seen. The compatibility issues do not exist. Other than simple text, Whatsapp message can also be consisted of photos, videos and audios.
As 3G and Wi-Fi technologies are gaining popularity all around the world, and more and more people are replacing their cellular phones by smartphones, the number of Whatsapp users is growing. Its cross-platform feature also enables people to exchange messages between different brands of smartphones. In addition to the basic text messaging functionality, it also supports multimedia messages, which enriches the context of the messages. More importantly, it connects to the server via the Internet, and only requires the user to have a data plan for the 3G services or to have access to Wi-Fi coverage; the cost of messaging is much reduced.
All in all, the emergence of Whatsapp provides a more convenient way for people to send instant messages with enriched context and a lower cost. It can be foreseen that in the future, as the cost of 3G services getting cheaper, Whatsapp Messenger will gradually replace the standard SMS as the major messenger tool in the society.
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