Evan Spiegel, 23, and Bobby Murphy, 25, the co-founders of Snapchat are unknown names to the majority of its users. For many of those over thirty, however, they are known as a combined 48 years of age that turned down a reported $3 billion from Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) in late October last year.
Just a week after the popular private photo sharing app announced the addition of both text chats (instant messaging) and video calls, the company yesterday confirmed the acquisition of AddLive in order to power the latter. The Verge reported that it appears the deal was finalized last month according to sources close to the deal.
Snapchat – Addlive: A real confirmation
The other side of the deal expounded on the confirmation a bit more. “We are very happy to announce that AddLive is joining Snapchat. While we have no immediate plans to add new customers to the platform, we intend to continue providing our ongoing video chat services to some of the most innovative companies in the world. Our special thanks go out to all our early customers and everyone who has helped us along the way. We look forward to continuing our journey with Snapchat,” wrote AddLive founder and CEO Kavan Seggie in a blog post Monday.
The new video chat function lets users know when a friend is “here” and allows them to simply hold the video chat button to begin video calling.
Ephemeral chat
The new text chats available on the platform provide similar privacy options as the original app provided. Its ephemeral photo feature has made it both popular with teens and perfect for “sexting.” If Snapchat were available two years ago I would have no idea who Anthony Weiner is. The new texting feature offers a similar level of privacy to Snapchatters by immediately deleting the conversation and images shared between users once the chat screen is closed. There is, however, an option to manually save important things by tapping a toggle box or taking a screenshot. Something that kind of defeats the purpose of the app and may not leave the other participant particularly at ease.
