1/9/12

Texting across the pond

My little sister Karin and her fiance Nick moved to London in September of 2011. They moved for grad school and Nick's job and will be there for 2 years. I was so excited for them, what an adventure, who wouldn't want to jump the pond for a few years and explore.

When they left we set up Skype accounts to keep in touch, as well as email and Facebook. However, I still felt disconnected and Skyping was tough because we had to set up a time, then with the time difference of 6 hours we had to Skype when we were both free, you get the point.

Karin and Nick were back in Iowa for Christmas and she told about this application for our smart phones that's called What's app.
WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. WhatsApp Messenger is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Nokia and yes, those phones can all message each other! Because WhatsApp Messenger uses the same Internet data plan that you use for email and web browsing, there is no cost to message and stay in touch with your friends.



In addition to basic messaging iPhone, Android, Nokia and BlackBerry WhatsApp Messenger users can send each other unlimited images, video and audio media messages. (taken from whatsapp.com)

It has allowed Karin and I to text daily with no extra charges for international texts, we can text when each of of is by our phones, not when we are both available at the same time.  I've been able to send pictures of Drew to her and she even gave me what sounds like a yummy recipe over What's App today.  If you don't have texting, I would highly recommend getting What's app and sending invites to your friends and family.  We love it and it allows me to keep in contact with my little sister as she explores London.





4 comments:

aliciamarie911 said...

I use whatsapp to text my friends in Venezuela. I use Nimbuzz to text and call my friend in England. If you would wish to talk to your sister more, I'd recommend Nimbuzz. As long as you're sister has Nimbuzz too, you'll be able to call and text anytime on WiFi or 3G for free.

Anonymous said...

Wish that had been around when my little sister was in England several years ago...the phone bills were huge!

Abby said...

Aliciamarie, thank you so very! I am going to give Nimbuzz and shot!

The Danielson's said...

How does your sister pronounce her name? I'm Karin as well, but it's pronounced car-in, not Karen :)
Love your blog!

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