Gupshup introduces new messenger app

Gupshup Technologies today introduced its mobile application called GupShup Messenger that promises to bridge smart-phones and feature-phones — enabling users to reach every mobile device.

The app combines public and private messaging in one place, enabling users to reach every friend and follower.

The GupShup app works on Android, iOS, Blackberry and Nokia S40 platforms. The app, along with the previously available SMS and web interfaces, enables GupShup users to now send and receive messages from every mobile and web device.

Smart-phone users send/receive messages using the data channel, while feature-phone users send/receive messages using sms. If the message recipient does not have the app, GupShup will deliver a text message to them free of cost. In a way, that's unlimited, free text messages bundled into the app — the app user need not buy an sms plan.

“Emerging markets such as India and Indonesia have numerous feature-phone users even as smart-phone adoption is growing. Services like GupShup that integrate data and SMS, are well suited to the needs of emerging markets,” said Beerud Sheth, co-founder and CEO of GupShup.

He further added that social media tools cannot afford to leave vast populations out of the conversation — they must be inclusive, not exclusive. By combining public and private messaging in the same app, users can seamlessly switch and easily share messages with followers and friends respectively.

The public messaging feature enables users to follow any of GupShup’s numerous communities or post messages to their own. The private messaging feature makes the whole address book active and reachable, unlike other messenger apps that can only reach users that have also downloaded the same app.

The app includes a rich collection of emoticons that allows users to express themselves in personalized ways. The app includes access to a large, growing online library of emoticons, to which users can even upload their own. The GupShup service is used by over 65 million users that have created over 5 million communities.

Existing SMS users of GupShup that migrate to the app will still maintain their profiles, history and relationships with other users. The service, previously known as SMS GupShup, will now be known simply as GupShup, reflecting it’s extension beyond sms.