MXit

[Tomo3000]

MXit (pronounced "mix it") is a mobile instant messenging application developed in South Africa that runs on GPRS/3G mobile phones with java support. It allows the user to send and receive text messages to and from PCs that are connected to the Internet and other phones running MXit. These messages are sent and received via the mobile Internet, rather than with standard SMS technology.

The user can also exchange messages with online chat communities like MSN Messenger, ICQ, and Jabber. Messages are limited to 2 000 characters. Because messages are billed by the amount of data sent, they are much cheaper to send than traditional SMS messages.

MXit claims to have a registered userbase of two million and about five million log-ons per day. The application is distributed internationally, but the bulk of its userbase are South African teenagers.

 

[Derrick]

[UPDATE]

MXit is a global mobile instant messaging and social network that allows users to chat to one another on their mobile phones or PC anywhere in the world. MXit does not charge for the sending and receiving of multimedia messages to and from mobile phones and PCs as it uses the internet which is much cheaper than standard SMS technology.

MXit first introduced mobile instant messaging to South Africa in 2005. It started as a mobile game developer and evolved into a mobile instant messaging company, allowing its users to send messages at a fraction of the cost of traditional SMS.

 

[QuintonB]

MXit Update

In September 2011, MXit founder Herman Heunis and MIH Holdings (a subsidiary of Naspers) sold their entire shareholding in MXit to Alan Knott Craig Junior, founder of World of Avatar, and former iBurst MD.

Latest figures in 2011 put MXit at having over 35 million registered user accounts in over 120 countries, with 11 million active users.

Additionally, MXit is also in the process of releasing the MXit Wallet - a payment application that integrates several retail outlets and restaurants with the comapny's digital wallet platform. The platform isn't a replace the already-established micro-payment "Moola" platform, but rather to provide a new platform which extends to larger transactions.