The Leaked New Features with WeChat 5.0 Look Too Good

We’ve been waiting for the new version of WeChat (or Weixin), edition 5.0, for a while that reportedly would be a major update. Today we heard about some of the new features, some of which sound too good. We still have to wait for the launch day, which is still unknown, to see it for ourselves. (Update: a post published later tonight on the online media run by Tencent, WeChat’s parent company, confirmed all the rumors. It reads that the new version is under testing and changes may be made later accordingly.)

• The Almighty Scanner

1. Scan to see places around you. The feature can locate where you are and show images of places around  your location. It sounds possible to add such a capability as Tencent’s Soso Maps also has a  Google Street View-like service.
2. Scan for translations. A text in one language can be translated into another if you scan it with WeChat scanner. It also sounds feasible as Soso Huiyan, an app from QQ Labs, can do so.
3. Scan to get the information of a good. The details about a book or CD would show up after you scan the bar code on it. It also can be realized by Soso Huiyan (see the screenshot below).

1. Scan to make payments. Users can make payments by scanning a QR code. It must be powered by Tenpay, Tencent’s payments service.

• Shake to get videos

Currently the version for the mainland China can recognized music if you shake your phone. It seems it works the same with the music recognition function that it tells and searchs for a video through the sound  (see the screenshot below).

• Chat history, including voice messages, and posts on Moments will be saved automatically. The capability has been well-functioning and much welcomed by QQ IM users. The current version can save the chat history for users for seven days but you have to turn it on manually.

imge credit: tech.qq.com