Rumours have been circulating that on the 4th June when the HTC Evo launches exclusively on the Sprint network, the bundled Qik app that enables two-way video chat would cost an extra $4.99 per month on top of the handset owners monthly call-plan.
Those of you who have been sweating over the additional cost can breathe a sigh of relief because Qik has officially confirmed that the core functionality of its Qik video chat will be free for customers, charging $4.99 for additional “advanced premium” features.
Qik co-founder Bhaskar Roy contacted the team over at AndroidGuys to clarify the companies position, directing them to a blog post on the Qik site:
Well, there’re a number of rumors flying around that the 2-way Qik mobile video service will require a premium subscription. We wanted to clarify what that really means. Firstly, rest assured that the core Qik service that lets you communicate live from your phone to other phones, web and desktop will be FREE. Yes – this means that the core capability of doing 2-way Qik video chat will be FREE for Sprint EVO 4G users. The subscription fee will be for some advanced premium features that we are working on, which we will be announcing on June 4th – the day the amazing HTC EVO 4G phone launches.
So, tune back in on June 4th for a complete list of features of the new Qik along with the optional advanced premium features for you to enjoy!
Quite understandably Qik are choosing to keep its cards close to its chest until the the HTC superphone is released.
The clarification comes at a telling time for Qik, especially after Skype’s announcement that it will be releasing an official video chat app for Android, providing a direct competitor to Qik’s app.
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Let the video chat wars begin.
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