US – Yesterday, on July 22, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is bringing its in-mail chat app called as ‘Send’ for iPhones. The app was formerly known as ‘Flow’. This in-mail chat belongs to Microsoft’s Garage incubator. Currently, the in-mal chat app ‘Send’ is available for the iPhone uses from U.S. and Canada. They can download the app from iTunes store. The ‘Send’ app will soon debut on Android and Windows Phones.
Who can use Microsoft’s in-mail chat app, ‘Send’?
Earlier ‘Send’ was codenamed as ‘Flow’ by Microsoft. Flow belongs to Microsoft’s Garage incubator. This in-mail chat app is available for the users who have Office 365 business or Outlook email accounts. Microsoft mentions that though currently the in-mail chat app is available only for the iPhone users, it will be “more broadly available in the coming months.”
Send, the new in-mail chat app will require iOS 8.0 or later. The app can be used on iPhone 5, 6 and 6 Plus, as well as on iPad, and iPod Touch. With the arrival of ‘Send’, many people suspected whether that the Outlook for iOS app will be replaced by this new in-mail chat app. However, this is not the case. ‘Send’ will complement the Outlook for iOS app, which is a rebranded version of the ‘Acompli’ email application. Acompli was bought last year by Microsoft. Send won’t replace Acompli for sure.
Microsoft mentioned about ‘Send’:
“While tools like text messaging and IM are great for short messages, you often don’t have your co-worker’s cell phone number or an IM app on your work phone. And we’ve heard loud and clear from people at work, they want all their communications available in Outlook — even if they send them from other apps. This is where Send comes in! Send gives you the simple, quick text message-like experience while allowing you to reach all co-workers and have all of your communications in Outlook for reference later. Send lets you quickly and easily send any co-worker a message without a subject line or formal email constructs.”
It will be interesting to see how Microsoft’s new in-mail chat app, Send, works for rest of the mobile platforms, after iPhones.