Paltalk, of PRISM fame, brings video chats with strangers to tablets
The once-inconspicuous Paltalk, the least known of the technology companies said to be involved in the National Security Agency’s PRISM surveillance program, released a video-chat application for iPad and Android tablets on Monday.
Paltalk differentiates itself from Skype, Google, ooVoo, Tango, Fring and other major video-chat operators by letting an unlimited number of people gather in chat rooms. Chat rooms on Paltalk include the practical – English practice room – and the entertaining – Charlie’s music and oldies.
“You can come together around topics and interests with people outside of your address book,†said Wilson Kriegel, president and chief operating officer.
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Since coming over from game developer Zynga in December, Kriegel has tried to steer 14-year-old Paltalk into start-up mode. He wants it to constantly develop new features and products.
“I saw there was a huge opportunity in evolving a legacy product,†he said. “There was also huge opportunity on the mobile side.â€
Among the things next on the list is the ability to watch multimedia content, such as videos from YouTube or songs from Spotify, as a group. Paltalk also wants to stop making users have to download software to use the service.
The company gained unexpected attention in June when a slide released by fugitive NSA contractor Edward Snowden suggested that the NSA was collecting data from Paltalk. In statements, the company said it had never before heard of PRISM.
This week, Paltalk did not sign a letter that leading tech companies sent to federal leaders asking that the government be more transparent to consumers about the secret data requests it sends to online services. The others on the slide released by Snowden -- Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL – signed the letter.
“Even though we’ve been mentioned, we’re much smaller and the data we’re collecting isn’t the same,†Kriegel said. He added that Paltalk still must be in compliance with legal requests.
The tablet app will show the video streams of up to seven other people in a room at a time. It can tap into the front or rear cameras and works over Wi-Fi or cell service. The app is free to download and use. Paltalk, which says it’s profitable, makes money from ads, selling virtual gifts and charging for higher-quality streams.
Paltalk has about 5 million active monthly users. Kriegel said a survey found about a third of them have tablets, so he expects hundreds of thousands of downloads of the new app.
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