14 DAY TRIAL // One of the ways Google is looking to revamp itself and drive innovation is by trying to mimic the way startups work and having small teams working pretty much independently on new products. One of the best examples is the former Slide team which is creating a rather under-the-radar group messaging app, Disco.
Disco was launched, for the iPhone exclusively, a couple of months ago, but Google didn't say much at the time.
Well, it didn't say anything really, it couldn't hide the fact that it's a Google-built app, but the company didn't have anything to add.
Since then the Android version has landed, again without a peep from Google, and now a new version of the app for both platforms has landed, as TechCrunch noticed.
While, at launch, Disco was rather lacking compared to its competition, the updated version comes with some badly needed features and gives it an equal fighting chance.
Some of the big new features are push notifications and in-app chat, which means that you won't have to rely on SMS alone from now on. Push notifications, which inform users that they have a message, work on all iPhones but only on Android 2.2 devices for now.
The second big feature is the possibility of chatting with your friends from the app, making it easier to have real-time conversations, rather than waiting for the text messages to arrive and then for a reply.
With these two additions, Disco should be mostly on par with its better known competitors. And the app itself is rather slick, even though it doesn't stand out right now, the fast update pace indicates that it could become an important player in the space soon.
Still, Google won't say nothing about the app. It could be that it's letting the team get the app to a state where it can really brag about it, but it may have to do with Google's more recent policy of not saying much about its social products.