(Reuters) – Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp has rolled out a beta version of its desktop app that features voice and video calls for the first time, according to a report by tech blog WABetaInfo.
The move to facilitate calls over large screens would put WhatsApp on par with video-conferencing bigwigs Zoom and Google Meet that have seen a meteoric rise in usage during the pandemic, but it is unclear if it has ambitions to compete with the two. (https://bit.ly/2K9Tx6W)
WhatsApp did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
With over 2 billion users globally, WhatsApp is second only to its parent firm Facebook Inc’s namesake app, yet it is largely used for personal calls, unlike Zoom or Google Meet..
(Reporting by Chavi Mehta and Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
