Hike, the homegrown instant messaging application that competes with likes of WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat and others has today announced a revolutionary new feature that may be extremely useful for group of users in close proximity.
Called Hike Direct, the new feature allows users to Chat, exchange stickers, transfer photos and any of kind of file seamlessly without internet within a radius of 100 metres.
Hike claims that they are the first application in the world and first instant messaging app to offer such feature to users.
Hike Direct does not incur any data charges for users and offers transfer speeds of upto 40 Mbits per second. Hike Direct feature is currently available on Android OS and will soon be launched for iOS and Windows phone as well.
How does Hike Direct work?
Hike Direct allows mobile phones to connect with one another directly within a 100 meter radius completely by passing the telecom networks. It does this by using Wifi Direct technology systems that help establish peer to peer network connection between two phone.
If you are not aware of ‘WiFi Direct’ technology – it enables a smartphone to connect to another smartphone through WiFi (just like you would connect to a Wireless Hotspot for internet)
To start chatting or sharing files, the users simply need to open a chat with a friend and choose Hike Direct from the 3 dot menu on top right of the screen and hike does the rest. Hike automatically pairs up with the other phone and lets you chat and share files with your friends without the internet.
Speaking on the launch, Kavin Mittal, Founder & CEO hike messenger said “Today is the day we completely redefine messaging. Hike Direct has been built on breakthrough technology that adds a whole new dimension to messaging enabling hikers to chat and share files with their friends without the internet and without incurring any data charges. One can get speeds up to 40 Mbit/sec when chatting and sharing files through hike direct. Data or no data, hike will always work. It’s incredibly powerful.”
We tried to download the new Hike app – however, while the update date for Android app shows 6th October, the app did not seem to have included the WiFi Direct feature. Its possible that roll out of this new feature may be in the process right now.
If you have used Hike Direct feature, do tell us your experience.
will hike direct works in samsung galaxy ace duos….as i read that its works in hike version 4.0.9 onward but my device support hike 3.9.9 what can i do to use hike direct