just saying as i recall previous posters mentioning the...

just saying as i recall previous posters mentioning the similarity to this comoany- not a bad $$$ value of a similar app to our newborn baby

http://www.copyright link/technolog...py-chinas-tencentowned-wechat-20170411-gvihge

As milestones go, this was a big one. While the world was focused on missile strikes in Syria and presidential meetings in Florida, a Chinese company entered an exclusive club.

Almost unnoticed Tencent, the Shenzhen based technology outfit, became the 10th most valuable listed company in the world, replacing US bank Wells Fargo, as its market capitalisation climbed through $US279 billion ($372 billion).

It now sits among the world's tech elite, in a top 10 which includes Apple, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook.

And while Tencent, best known for its messaging app WeChat which has 768 million daily active users, is new to this group, its membership is unlikely to be fleeting.

  
That's because the Hong Kong-listed company has done more than just appropriate the best aspects of foreign technology and put them behind China's Great Fire Wall - where the likes of Google and Facebook are banned.

Certainly it's done some of this, but there's also been plenty of unique innovation along the way, some of which is now being copied by the likes of WhatsApp, owned by Facebook.

This goes against the old narrative of China as the "copycat nation", while signalling mainland technology companies are increasingly making their mark globally and have become brands in their own right.

Inevitably, this will result in WeChat coming up against its US rivals, though the nature of this competition will be different from traditional battles to secure market shares and users.

"WeChat is not going to take over the world," says Peter Cook, the chief executive of ASX-listed payments company Novatti. "But it will be used by those wanting to interact with Chinese people and sell to chinese consumers

(sound familiar)

WeChat has developed its own ecosystem; it's like an alternative internet or a super app," says Cook.

Cater to all

This is the real innovation of WeChat.

Rather than opening separate apps for different functions, it allows users to book a taxi, order food, buy an airline ticket, reserve a hotel room, extend a library book loan or check for speeding fines all within the WeChat app.

You can even report a polluting company, apply for a travel pass to Hong Kong, check if tax invoices are genuine and pay court fees.

Basically anything you want to do online can be done from WeChat along with using its messaging system, making video calls or posting photos and comments to its social media platform.

This makes WeChat a combination of Facebook, Amazon, WhatsApp and ApplePay with a bit of Uber and airbnb to throw in the mix