As one of the most evolved markets in the world for mobile communications - Singapore was reported to have a mobile penetration rate of over 148.9% of which three-quarters were 3G subscriptions - mobile social communication apps, like WeChat, move into the spotlight as a more innovative and safer way to connect with each other.

WeChat, the leading mobile social communication application, with 300 million registered user accounts worldwide, is all set to change the way social-media-savvy Singaporeans interact with their friends and people from all around the world.

“Whether it is the desire of creating their own profile, sharing moments, or engaging in live chats over audio and video with fellow users, Singaporeans can now enjoy these innovative features in one integrated mobile social app, WeChat, for free*”, said Poshu Yeung, Vice President of International Business at Tencent.

Yeung adds, “As Singapore is one of our strategic markets in Southeast Asia, we are now launching a series of brand engagements for WeChat to reach as many Singaporeans as possible, so that they are aware of this new, creative and free medium to express themselves, communicate with one another, and connect with the world.”

Designed for users to easily chat with friends or to connect with people from all around the world, WeChat enables users to add friends through various methods including, scanning QR codes, connecting via phone books and activating location-based functions such as “Look Around” and “Shake”.

WeChat also comes with a new social network for one’s selected circle of friends called “Moments”, which gives users the ability to share pictures, comments and URL links. As a precautionary measure to safeguard the privacy of WeChat users, only friends who are granted permission to connect will be able to view these pictures and comments. This level of safeguard also applies to users who wish to initiate voice or video chats on WeChat. Against the backdrop of security and privacy concerns on social media, these measures leave users with a peace of mind, and ensure that users are sharing and interacting only with fellow users who are trusted contacts.

As telcos continue to ramp up the roll-out of 4G network coverage in Singapore, connecting with friends and expressing oneself on WeChat will only become more seamless and fun. The app’s latest advertising campaign features popular celebrity-WeChat users, Rainie Yang and Show Lo and enacts how users can playfully express and romance each other through WeChat’s signature platforms like its “Hold-to-Talk” function . Hold-to-Talk enables users to record voice messages and exchange communications through the mobile data network.

For users who would prefer to speak ‘face-to-face’ with friends, WeChat offers a real time Video Chat function. And thanks to its network efficiency feature, users can switch between voice and video dynamically without finishing the call.

One other function that is bound to pique the interest of Singaporeans is the ability to personalize emoticons. To many, emoticons are as essential to social conversation as acronyms. And with WeChat, users are able to either download unique emoticons from its vast online portfolio or choose to create personalized ones with photos from the albums on their very own devices.

WeChat is available for download on iOS, Android, Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Phone smartphones and remains the most downloaded mobile social app on iOS and Android smartphones in many Asian countries including Indonesia and Malaysia.

By MediaBUZZ