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As the coronavirus pandemic has transformed operations and healthcare facilities, resulting in more video conferencing than ever before, secure messaging app Telegram has added video calling to its suite of products.
The company made the announcement in a blog post that it added the alpha version of one-on-one video calling on both its Android and iOS apps.
“All video calls are protected with end-to-end encryption,” Telegram wrote in the blog post. “To confirm your connection, compare the four emojis displayed on the screen for you and your chat partner – if they match, your call is 100% secured by time-tested encryption, also used in Telegram’s Secret Chats and Voice Calls.”
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In the post, Telegram, which ran from the Securities and Exchange Commission to a cryptocurrency sale, said more features and improvements, including group video calls, would come in the future.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 459.63 | -0.41 | -0.09% |
| ZM | ZOOM VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS INC. | 244.91 | -2.34 | -0.95% |
The blog post marked the seventh anniversary of the app in Dubai. In April, Telegram said it reached more than 400 million active users during the day.
The move puts Telegram in direct competition with Apple’s FaceTime and Zoom, both of which have seen increased use due to the work-from-home and stay-at-home orders that have been put in place since the pandemic.
On the company’s fiscal third-quarter fiscal call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company saw “increased engagement” on FaceTime, as did iMessage and Siri in the fourth quarter.
In April, the Department of Health and Human Services made the announcement to allow video chat apps like FaceTime and Zoom for medical consultations.
According to Teladoc, a telehealth company, the demand for telehealth and telemedicine services is growing rapidly as volume of patient visits has spiked in recent months due to the pandemic.
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As of Sunday morning, more than 21.49 million coronavirus cases have been diagnosed worldwide, more than 5.3 million are in the US, the most affected country in the world.
Shares of Apple and Zoom both closed slightly lower on Friday, falling 0.1% and 0.95% to $ 459.63 and $ 244.91 per share, respectively.
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