August 31st, Beijing Time - According to reports, after a week of internal testing, KouXin (similar to WhatsApp) began its public beta yesterday. It allows users to send voice messages, pictures, and text, and also integrates SMS functionality. This marks that Qihoo 360 has officially entered the mobile social communication market to compete with Tencent's WeChat and Xiaomi Technology's MiTalk.
KouXin supports the three major platforms: iOS, Android, and Symbian. The official website is also online with the domain kouxin.com/, using the slogan "Leave a message whenever you want."
As a familiar communication tool: Not IM, not SNS
WeChat and MiTalk are the two most popular voice chat applications domestically. Despite fierce competition, their evolutionary directions have diverged. After adding LBS functionality, WeChat focuses on "universal social networking," while Lei Jun still positions MiTalk as a familiar person's social tool.
What about Qihoo 360's KouXin? Official introductions show that KouXin is a familiar person's communication tool based on the phone contact list. Compared to the positioning during the internal testing phase as "a social and communication tool based on the phone contact list," KouXin's latest positioning emphasizes communication between familiar people even more.
Zhou Hongyi openly stated that KouXin is not an IM or SNS but rather a tool for friends and colleagues to send free SMS, MMS, and voice walkie-talkies.
In terms of registration process settings, KouXin only supports activation via mobile phone number and suggests users use their real names. Afterwards, KouXin will automatically search for other KouXin users through the user's phone contact list, helping establish connections between users. KouXin uses the app name and phone number as identity verification and does not establish a set of identity systems similar to "MiTalk numbers" or "WeChat IDs."
KouXin also has an invitation feature, currently supporting users inviting friends who don't yet have KouXin via Weibo or SMS.
Integration of SMS
KouXin allows users to send voice messages, pictures, and text for free. It supports recording voice messages up to one minute long. Additionally, KouXin supports mass messaging but does not support creating group chats.
However, these features can only be considered the "standard configuration" for voice chat applications.
KouXin's biggest highlight lies in integrating regular SMS functionality, automatically switching between free network messages and SMS based on the user and recipient's network conditions.
Both the Android and Symbian versions of KouXin include this function, offering users three modes: smart mode, KouXin mode, and SMS mode.
Under smart mode, KouXin will simultaneously handle regular SMS and free KouXin messages, automatically determining whether to send a free KouXin message or a regular SMS based on the recipient's real-time online status, ensuring timely delivery of messages. Under KouXin mode, it only sends KouXin messages to KouXin contacts; if the recipient is offline, they will receive the offline message when they come back online. Under SMS mode, no network connection is used, and regular SMS is sent under any circumstances.
However, Apple users are out of luck because the iOS version of KouXin does not provide this function.
The relevant person in charge of KouXin said that this feature could solve the problem where users cannot receive messages promptly due to "false online" situations.
Additionally, all three versions of KouXin support forwarding or mass-sending messages to mobile SMS.
Multi-platform
On the launch day, KouXin released clients for iOS, Android, and Symbian all at once, without launching a WP client. Among them, the Android version supports standard Android systems 2.0 and above, not suitable for dual-mode, M9, and other non-standard Android system phones. The Symbian version applies to S60V3 and will later apply to S60V5 and Symbian 3 systems. According to insiders from 360, all three versions have been submitted for review, and the time for listing on app stores is yet to be determined.
Analysts pointed out that transitioning from a single platform to cross-platform is becoming a trend in application development. By releasing clients supporting multiple platforms simultaneously, compared to a single platform, KouXin can attract users faster and expand its user base. However, device compatibility, version updates, and maintenance will pose challenges to the development team.
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