kakaotalk

Kakao co-CEO resigns, company to invest over $300M to build data center after mass outage

Whon Namkoong, the co-chief executive of Kakao, has resigned in a remarkable demonstration of corporate accountability after a fire incident at an SK C&C data center in Pangyo, south of Seoul, cau

Kakao says emoji subscription purchases fell by a third due to Google’s new in-app policy

The number of emoji subscription purchases on the South Korean messaging app KakaoTalk has dropped by a third over the year, parent firm Kakao said in quarterly earnings call Thursday. It blamed Googl

Kakao confirms it is removing its external payment option after standoff with Google 

South Korean messaging giant Kakao confirmed today it will remove an external payment option after Google blocked the South Korean company behind KakaoTalk from issuing updates.  Kakao continued usin

This Week in Apps: Google battles KakaoTalk, Twitter deal in jeopardy, FTC asked to investigate TikTok

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues to grow, with a re

Google halts KakaoTalk updates on Play Store in Korea after messaging app refused to remove its own payment links 

Google has stopped providing updates to popular messaging app KakaoTalk in South Korea, according to a local report, after Kakao continued using an external payment link in its Android app, against Go

Chat app Kakao raises $437M for its Korean ride-hailing service

Korea’s Kakao, the country’s top mobile messenger company with some 50 million monthly users, has continued to diversify its business with a move to spin-out the unit managing its mobilit

Banks should not underestimate Facebook Messenger

The potential for chat apps in financial services is by no means limited to social payments. Facebook has already confirmed that they are pursuing Wechat's success, venturing into eCommerce. This is o

Welcome to the post-app world?

As instant messaging and voice control takes off, it increasingly seems that apps are not the solution for everything.

Daum Kakao Debuts Uber Rival KakaoTaxi In South Korea

Daum Kakao, the maker of South Korea’s most popular messaging app, launched KakaoTaxi in Korea today. The new service is a potentially strong competitor to Uber and is the beginning of Daum Kakao's

Three Ways Asia Could Continue To Inspire The Rest Of The Mobile Gaming World

Asia has inspired and dominated the global video-game market since the past decade and has given no sign of relinquishing its throne. Japan and China represent two of the top three video-game markets

Korea’s Daum Kakao Prepares To Launch Kakao Taxi As Uber Faces Legal Woes

Like other Asian messaging apps, South Korea’s KakaoTalk is intent on moving beyond being a communications tool to offering a wide selection of services. Today, Daum Kakao, the app’s maker, took t

Facebook Will Monetize Games With Ads, Not Messenger

How is Facebook going to monetize Messenger? Not by featuring games in the app like Korea’s KakaoTalk, at least for now. Instead, Facebook could concentrate on solving new problems with Messeng

Korean Internet Giant Daum Kakao Launches Its Own Mobile Payment Platform

Daum Kakao, one of the largest Internet companies in South Korea, has launched a mobile payment platform called BankWalletKakao as it addresses concerns about its ability to grow in international mark

KakaoTalk Now Lets Users Test New Features Before They Launch

One month after its merger with Daum created one of South Korea's largest Internet companies, messaging app maker Kakao has launched Kakao Lab, which lets Android users test new features before they a

KakaoTalk Launches Its First Desktop Client For Mac

KakaoTalk has launched its first desktop client for Mac, which is currently available in Korean and English. The release, which can potentially help South Korea's top messaging service score more user

Messaging 2.0 Is Now Over

The second messaging revolution is now quickly coming to a close. With the news today that Korea’s leading messenger KakaoTalk is merging with one of that country’s largest internet portals, Daum

Kakao And Daum To Merge, Creating One Of South Korea’s Largest Internet Companies

Kakao and Daum announced today that they will merge through an equity swap, creating a company with a 3.4 trillion won (about $2.9 billion) market capitalization. Kakao and Daum stand to become one of

Alibaba’s IPO Means Consumer Tech Innovations From Asia Can’t Be Ignored Anymore

Asia’s tech companies still have a reputation in the West for being copycats. But Alibaba’s massive IPO is proof that consumer tech innovations from Asia can no longer be ignored. Alibaba

Korean Messaging Service Kakao Gets Ready For A $2 Billion IPO

Korean messaging leader Kakao is negotiating with Morgan Stanley and Samsung Securities Co. to file for an IPO in Korea, according to the WSJ. The seven-year-old company is mostly known for its domina

KakaoTalk Looking At Adding News Content Service To Its 130M-User-Strong Mobile Messaging Platform

South Korea’s KakaoTalk is considering launching a news content service, to further flesh out its mobile messaging app feature set which already includes group voice chats, event scheduling &amp
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