New Hike Direct services bypass internet

Homegrown internet company Hike Messenger on Thursday launched Hike Direct, which works even without an internet connection.

With the new service, users will be allowed to chat, exchange stickers, transfer photos and all kinds of small and large files without the internet or incurring data charges. With Hike Direct, mobile devices within radius of 100 meter will be able to connect with one another totally bypassing the telecom networks.

On getting connected, users will be able to chat as well as share files just like they do on other messaging apps. The transfers will be done at a speed of up to 40Mbps. Transferring 100MB of data will be done in less than 10 seconds on Hike Direct.

Speaking on the launch, Kavin Mittal, founder and chief executive of hike messenger, said, ''Today is the day we completely redefine messaging. Hike Direct has been built on breakthrough technology that adds a whole new dimension to messaging enabling hikers to chat and share files with their friends without the internet and without incurring any data charges. One can get speeds up to 40 Mbit/sec when chatting and sharing files through hike direct. Data or no data, hike will always work. It's incredibly powerful.''

Hike Direct makes use of Wi-Fi Direct technology systems, which helps in establishing peer to peer network connections between two phones. If you want to use hike direct, you just have to start a conversation with a friend and choose Hike Direct from the 3 dot menu found on the top right of the screen.

After that, you will be automatically paired up with the other phone, following which you can chat with your friends without internet. You can also share files with your friends.

To avail the feature, Android users can upgrade to the latest version of Hike, version 4.0.6 and above. This can be found on the Google Play Store. The feature will be rolled out for iOS and Windows users next year.