Telecom operators are left with nothing when the rear in the lucrative text messaging have been replaced by instant messaging applications.

Instant Messaging Applications popularity has grown at a pace that does not seem to wane. On Thursday, WhatsApp announced that its messaging application used at present 900 million people every month.

WhatsApp exceeded 800 million active user mark in April. The service is therefore likely to exceed one billion user mark later this year.

Billion milestone has already exceeded its own way, as Whatsapp is loaded with Android phones, more than one billion times.

Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/sinne-meni-operaattoreiden-kultakaivos-yksi-yritys-kahmaisi-lahes-koko-bisneksen-3482161

WhatsApp Hits 800 Million Users — 1 Billion by Year-End?
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/04/17/whatsapp-hits-800000-users-1-billion-by-year-end/

Enough to Finance 6 Annual budgets of Detroit city

Purchased the entire Facebook initial public offering

Enough to build 4 times of the World Trade Center… Lol

Thanks for sharing

Just a little over four months ago, in late August, WhatsApp announced that it surpassed 600 million monthly active users.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/whatsapp-passes-700-million-2015-1#ixzz3O8Pau3wZ

Exclusief: WhatsApp Web, webversie in code gespot [screenshot]
http://androidworld.nl/apps/whatsapp-web/

(Reuters) – Facebook Inc (FB.O) closed its acquisition of mobile messaging service WhatsApp on Monday, with the final price tag rising an additional $3 billion to roughly $22 billion because of the increased value of Facebook’s stock in recent months.

WhatsApp founder Jan Koum will receive nearly $2 billion in stock, vesting over a four-year period, as an inducement for him to stay with the company, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

The acquisition, which Facebook announced in February and recently received regulatory approval in Europe, underscores the sky-rocketing values of fast-growing Internet startups, and the willingness of established players such as Facebook and Google Inc (GOOGL.O)(GOOG.O) to pay out for them.

Facebook (FB.O), the world’s leading social network, will win unconditional EU approval for its $19 billion offer for mobile messaging startup WhatsApp in a deal pitting it against telecoms operators, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

A plan by WhatsApp to add free voice-call services for its 450 million customers later this year, however, makes it a potentially powerful competitor to companies such as Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) and Telefonica (TEF.MC).

Analysts said the move is likely to hit telecoms providers’ turnover as the industry heads into its fifth year of revenue decline. The sector had looked to EU regulators to extract concessions from Facebook.

“It’s unconditional clearance,” one of the people said, declining to be named because the decision by the European Commission was not yet public.

Facebook has asked the competition wing of the European Commission to probe its $19bn buyout of WhatsApp in a move to apparently nullify a host of investigations being sparked in multiple EU nations.

The newspaper noted that European telcos have already begun to complain about the merger by arguing that the Mark Zuckerberg-run free content ad network could gift itself with a dominant market position for instant messaging in the EU.

As further proof of how WhatsApp remains the world’s most popular messaging app, it revealed today that it has hit a new record after processing 64 billion messages in just 24 hours.

It seems like WhatsApp is keen to put those concerns to rest by announcing this new record. Less than a year ago, WhatsApp was processing 27 billion messages a day.

Facebook is buying Oculus VR, a startup that makes virtual reality headsets, in a $2 billion deal.

Console gaming companies have sensed the threat of Oculus

According to a statement from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company plans to expand Oculus beyond gaming

Zuckerberg expanded on that in a conference call following the announcement, saying he believes virtual reality will be the next big computing platform after mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.