Hike launches Internet-free messaging service Hike Direct
Hike Direct allows mobile phones to connect directly with one another within a 100 meter radius completely by passing the telecom networks. The big catch is that only those within a 100-meter radius of each other can connect via this option built into the latest version of Hike Messenger. If you want to use hike direct, you just have to start a conversation with a friend and choose Hike Direct from the 3 dot menu found on the top right of the screen.
The transfers can happen directly with a speed of up to 40Mbps.
Effectively, if you have to transfer 100MB of data, it would take less than 10 seconds on hike direct, without any data charges.
As per reports, recently, Hike, Instant messaging platform launched a innovative feature named Hike Direct, which will permit the app to do their chatting task even without an Internet connection. The upgrade, which employs Wi-Fi Direct and will be available from 8 October midnight on all smartphones above Android 4.0.6 operating system, will let users share files at a speed of 40 Mbps. However, the iOS and Windows Phone users might have to wait till next year for an update.
Few other features that Hike offers include access to news, Hindi news bytes, localised stickers in 30 languages, automatic sticker suggestions, group calling, group chat upto 500 members and 100 MB file sharing.
Hike was founded in July 2012 by Kavin Bharti Mittal, son of Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal.
Hike is a peer-to-peer app that uses both data and texts to deliver messages.
Mittal said on an average, a user on Hike spends over 140 minutes per week and 20 billion messages are being exchanged per month by the consumers.
“The reason people buy data packs is to consume internet services offered by OTT players…if we were not there, people would not be buying data”, Mittal also said.