In an attempt to change the face of mobile communication, three Bangalore-based entrepreneurs, (Rajesh Kamra, Peeyush Jain and Ashwin Sharma) have come together and developed a mobile app, called Wiev. "We believe that communication, the face-to-face kind, as well as the written kind has suffered with the advent of technology in the last decade. Because of texting as well as social media, we've forgotten how to speak to people properly," says Rajesh Kamra, an IIT Kanpur alumnus, who co-founded Wiev and previously the online fashion portal Koovs.com.
Wiev is basically a cross-platform and cross device video communication Internet application for smart phones and smart devices. As of now, Weiv records and sends video messages instantly on smartphones and other devices to contacts from anywhere, anytime, as long as a relatively strong Internet connection is available. "I like convenience. I hate typing long messages. It makes people bad communicators. It's tedious and time consuming and a lot can get lost in translation. According to a survey we read, almost 30 million users will be using video messaging by 2020. We want to facilitate this video messaging and make it as convenient as possible at the same time," says Rajesh.
Different from Whatsapp which also allows users to send video messages to contacts, Wiev allows instant viewing of the video. "We've kept the user side of the app very light. All the actual work happens through our cloud site, so that the user experiences no trouble sending instant videos. Unlike whatsapp, where a number of steps need to be followed to send a video message, through Wiev, a person just needs to open the app and record the message. It gets instantly downloaded to the contact's inbox. It all happens in real time," explains Ashwin Sharma, who is the co-founder of Wiev.
Rajesh believes that the app will be useful for parents who want to keep in touch with their children, since video messages can provide adequate context to the immediate surroundings of the child. "It is also useful for bosses who want to give a quick message to his employees as e-mails can be misinterpreted a lot of times," chips in Peeyush.
Armed with over 10,000 users in its Beta version, Wiev will make its iOS launch towards the end of May, and is now available on Android phones. "We're keeping the app free right now. It's not an easy battle to fight, this battle against text messaging. The app will soon be made available on all kinds of platforms and devices, from your smartphone to smart watches to even the Google Glass. It doesn't matter if you have a `5000 phone or a ` 50,000 device - the app will work as long as you have a camera and a decent Internet connection," says Rajesh.
Wiev is available on all Android devices for free.