KakaoHome, the Facebook Home-style Android application from South Korea’s top messaging company Kakao, has crossed the one-million download mark just four days after it passed 500,000 downloads last week.
The figure – listed on its Google Play page – is impressive considering that KakaoHome was launched only 13 days ago and is only available within Korea. In contrast, Facebook Home took four weeks to hit one million downloads.
KakaoHome is similar to Facebook Home – it provides more visible notifications, faster replies, various Kakao-branded widgets and a deeper integration than the regular chat app offers. The jump in downloads for KakaoHome comes after the app was promoted to Korea-based users of the Kakao Talk and Kakao Story apps last week.
On the other hand, Facebook Home has run into some obstacles recently, with the HTC First, the only smartphone to come pre-installed with Facebook Home, being delayed for its United Kingdom launch.
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The device had been scheduled to launch with local network operators EE and Orange this summer, but Facebook reportedly decided to cancel all pre-orders and shipments until further notice, due to “customer feedback” following its availability in the US. The HTC First had been expected to give a certain degree of exclusivity for Facebook Home, but the standalone app was released around the same time as HTC First’s introduction in the US and could have eaten into its potential.
The Kakao Talk service has 90 million registered users worldwide, but it remains strongest in Korea. The company says it is installed in the country on more than 90 percent of smartphones, of which 90 percent are Android-powered.
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