Comments on: Tango raises $42M, will fight Skype on the desktop

By: Ryan Lawler

Ryan Lawler — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:42:57 +0000

Gabe, Totally agree with you. The one thing I will note is that, on mobile devices people seem much more willing to install something on a whim than on a desktop environment for whatever reason. So it’s at least easier to get people to try out a free app. But Skype is a heavy hitter, no doubt. And will only remain moreso now that it’s becoming more ubiquitous with Facebook integration, soon Xbox and Comcast set-top boxes, etc.

By: Tracy Gregory

Tracy Gregory — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 23:08:08 +0000

Mobile video chat applications are definitely becoming more competitive. I deal with a lot of foreign clients and I found a handy chat app called Transfire (http://www.transfireapp.com) that instantly translates my text messages to my client’s language and I receive their responses in English. It’s easy, fast, and I think it is going to become a global business necessity.

By: Gabe

Gabe — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:03:29 +0000

should mention, I’m asking primarily from a mobile perspective

By: Gabriel Brown

Gabriel Brown — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:00:22 +0000

Hi Ryan — an interesting app/company. What do you think of the view that this type of app will tend to struggle to really break out of niche demographics?

To make the argument: A typical user may only have one or two contacts on this system, and utility/interest kind of dries up after the first few uses. The reach of the service will always be limited by discoverability and accessibility, since how would you know to install it, get your contacts on it, etc? Skype’s the only one that’s really broken out so far, and even that is for quite specific use-cases for most people.