NEW DELHI: All-in-one instant messenger Nimbuzz has launched a Ping service which can deliver offline chat messages as SMS, or offline short messages, to the users of non-smartphones.
The company has already tied up with Aircel and Idea, which are now offering the service to their users at no extra price. Nimbuzz plans to tie up with other mobile operators in due course.
All-in-one messenger softwares such as Nimbuzz, Fring and IM+ have turned quite popular with the advent of smartphones and tablets. Users prefer them over downloading multiple chat clients. Some email providers allow receipt of offline chats as emails. But there are hardly any solutions for delivering chats as offline instant messages on the phones that do not support Java or push notifications.
In India, between 65-70 per cent of the mobile phones that are being used do not support push notifications.
The uniqueness of Nimbuzz’s push-notification service is that it delivers messages free of charge up to a certain number on low-end Internet-enabled phones too.
The company claims the Ping feature works well, for instance, on almost all type of Symbian-based phones, without draining the battery life. Majority of India’s current installed base of phones runs of Symbian.
If used wisely, Ping may also act like a replacement for SMS, thereby reducing the communication costs. For example, instead of buying an SMS pack, youngsters can just buy an Internet pack.
The service was first launched in Indonesia on the Telkomsel Network and proved to be popular amongst Nimbuzz users in Indonesia. In India, Aircel and Idea are the first to roll out Nimbuzz Ping. Users can activate the service by registering their mobile number under the Nimbuzz Ping settings, or via the operators’ websites.
Nimbuzz is a Netherlands-based company in which South Africa’s Naspers Group has invested. It has 52 million registered users globally.