A Whatsapp App Page Is Seen On Facebook On A Samsung Galaxy S4 Phone
A Whatsapp App page is seen on Facebook on a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, February 20, 2014. Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock in a landmark deal that places the world's largest social network closer to the heart of mobile communications and may bring younger users into the fold. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

WhatsApp may be working on a new program that can put pressure on Google, Apple and Microsoft. The popular messaging system, with over 900 million users, will reportedly launch a video messaging system soon.

German site MacerKopf revealed screenshots of the program. From the images published, people can see a messaging system with its bare bones simplicity. Nonetheless, according to Forbes, the same simplicity has made WhatsApp so popular in the first place. Apart from video calling, MacerKopf reported that the company is also testing a tabbed interface. There were no screenshots of this but it is expected to be predominantly in green. The new tabbed interface is also part of the company's efforts to change its UI.

WhatsApp and its new video messaging service can be threatening for the likes of Apple, Google and Microsoft with similar offerings and targets. The Wall Street Journal reportedly previously that Google is already working on a messaging app that can rival Facebook's Messenger. The new mobile-messaging service will also utilize chatbot technology and artificial intelligence. Google is pushing the service along with the new technologies in a bid to catch up to companies like Facebook. Wall Street cited sources familiar to the matter.

Google's chatbot software will be able to answer questions within the app, according to the sources. People can either choose to chat their friends about something or talk to the chatbot that can search the Web for answers. There are no further details on when Google will be releasing the system. Nonetheless, WhatsApp's new video messaging system will reportedly come out in January.

One of the people also said that Google will likely allow outside developers to create chatbots that can function within the app. According to analysts, this is a strategic move considering that chatbots and other messaging apps are threatening Google's position as a premier search engine.

“All users care about is a convenient way to find what they are looking for and if Google isn’t in front of the consumer, that is a problem for them,” explained Scott Stanford who is a co-founder at venture-capital firm Sherpa Capital.

“Messaging is a subset of the Internet where Google is not strong. They have to win and be the dominant player in messaging,” he added.

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