Admin 3 wrote:
In Costa Rica, WhatsApp has surpassed Line. The basic premise with WhatsApp is that contacts are identified by their worldwide unique telephone number, but the communication is via Internet.
So, if a person has access to WiFi their communication is free. The app does a great job of sending photos and even recorded voice. You just install the free app on any major platform (Android, iPhone) and it uses your existing contact book to communicate with people.
In Latin America, Lime may have been the first mover, but Whatsapp has won the race. This is much repeated pattern for Internet technologies. For example, Yahoo was the first big search engine, but in the end Google ate their lunch.
Facebook bought Whapsapp and is planning to develop Whatsapp so that it is basically a free version of Skype. However, this free service is only expected to work in Latin America where per minute cell phone calls are very expensive.
Bottom line is just about all the girls use Whatsapp. It's free and everyone has it.
If you need to make phone calls to the United States, then sign up for Skype, install app on your smart phone and get a Skype US telephone number. It's not that expensive, and the call quality is great on a good smart phone with a decent WiFi Internet connection.
I believe Whatsapp is no longer free. They have implemented a 99 cents annual fee as of last year. If you subscribed before then, you are grandfathered in and it is still free.