#MOBILE MESSAGING: INTRODUCING PALM CHAT

In the small messaging app eats large corporation’s messaging app world, Tecno’s Palmchat is the new one the block. The Chinese have refused to carry last. In the last year we’ve seen Tencent’s WeChat grow astronomically alongside Line, Viber and WhatsApp. They’re growing so fast, Google just had to launch Hangouts in competition.
Enter Palmchat: The most likely and yet unlikely contender. I stumbled across it a few days ago when I was checking out 2go for Android. Palmchat is just like any other messaging service but it’s got features from every other messaging service. Here’s the breakdown

User ID

Each Palmchat user is handed an ID. This ID serves the same purpose as a BlackBerry PIN. You can search users by ID and add them up.

Search
Unlike WhatsApp and other messaging platforms which require you to have a contact’s details before you can message them, Palmchat has Look Around and Search By Info features. Look Around shows Palmchat users around you and how close they are to your location. Search By Info lets you search for a user based on different values of information. Just like how you find friends on Skype.
Chatrooms   

Because 2go is a serious competitor (2go came pre-installed on the Tecno N3 in the markets where Tecno is growing), Tecno has created chatrooms for Palmchat. Chatrooms range from Romance to Football and allow users exchange messages around various topics. Chatrooms are also the best places to find new friends (and errr.. set P).
Private Messaging

You can’t have a messaging app without this. Like every other app on the market, Palmchat allows you send private messages to another Palmchat user. You can also attach images and audio files. I like that this part has a slightly different interface from what we’re used to. There’s a message bubble or smiley or file and the timestamp comes below the message.
Shake Shake

Shake Shake is a Tecno hookup tool that displays a random profile when you go to that section and shake your phone. I think they just wanted to add some fun to it.
What does Tecno intend to do with this?
It’s pretty obvious. With the speed at which Tecno’s Android and feature phones are eating up the market, Palmchat will be a serious competitor to other messaging apps. All Tecno has to do is pre-install them on every Tecno phone. Just like Samsung is doing with ChatOn. Palmchat currently has between 1,000 and 5,000 downloads via Google Play. That’s just an estimation but the graph is worth looking at. It’s going upwards. In the future we might even see a video call feature within Palmchat. Then Tecno will join the army of telcom competitors.


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