Tencent QQ

Tencent QQ

Screenshot  QQ2011 main user interface
Developer(s)	Tencent Holdings Limited
Stable release	See current releases
Preview release	See preview releases
Operating system	Android, iOS, Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Windows Phone, Windows Mobile/CE, Symbian, Java ME, Web App
Available in	Chinese, English, French, Japanese
Type	Instant messaging
License	Proprietary (adware)
Website	www.qq.com Simplified Chinese Traditional Chinese International

Tencent QQ, generally referred to as QQ, is the most popular free instant messaging computer program in mainland China. As of July 11, 2011, the active QQ users accounts for QQ IM totaled 812.3 million,^[1] possibly making it the world's second largest online community. The number of simultaneous online QQ accounts exceeded 100 million.^[2] In February 2011, QQ.com ranked 10th overall in the Alexa Internet rankings just behind Twitter ranked 9th.^[3] The program is maintained by Tencent Holdings Limited (HKEX: 0700), owned in part by Naspers.^[4] Since its entrance into Chinese households, QQ quickly emerged as a modern cultural phenomenon, now being portrayed in popular culture. Aside from the chat program, QQ has also developed many subfeatures including games, virtual pets, ringtone downloads, blogs, etc.

Current releases

Stable

Version	Release date	Operating system
QQ2009 SP3	March 17, 2011 (2011-03-17)	Windows XP, Vista, 7
QQ 1.1.1[5][6]	June 23, 2011 (2011-06-23)	Mac OS X Snow Leopard
QQ International 1.1[7]	May 18, 2011 (2011-05-18)	Windows XP, Vista, 7
QQ2011 1.3[8]	August 30, 2011 (2011-08-30)	iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch)
QQ 2.1[9]	August 23, 2011 (2011-08-23)	iOS (iPad native)
QQ for Pad 1.6[10]	Unknown	Android tablets
WebQQ 3.0[11]	Unknown	N/A

Preview

Version	Release date	Operating system
QQ2011 beta 4 (Simplified Chinese)[12]	August 29, 2011 (2011-08-29)	Windows Vista, 7
QQ2011 beta (Traditional Chinese)[13]	June 23, 2011 (2011-06-23)	Windows XP, Vista, 7
QQ Concept beta 3[14]	July 22, 2010 (2010-07-22)	Windows 7
QQ 1.0 beta 1[15]	January 4, 2009 (2009-01-04)	Linux
QQ2011 beta 3 build 0115[16]	August 10, 2011 (2011-08-10)	Android phones
Tencent Messenger beta 3.3[17]	April 28, 2011 (2011-04-28)	Windows Vista, 7

Naming

The original name of QQ was OICQ ("Open ICQ"), based on an extant instant messaging service (IMS), ICQ.

The abbreviation "ICQ" came from using letters that sound like "I seek you".

History

Tencent was founded in Shenzhen, China, on November 11, 1998, by Ma Huateng. Tencent's instant messaging service platform, "QQ" was formally launched in February 1999. In March 2003, Tencent was able to buy the Internet Domain QQ.com.^[18] After years of strong business growth, on July 16, 2004, Tencent Holdings Limited (SEHK 700) went public.

Development

QQ was initially developed by Tencent Inc. in February 1999. It was first released as a "Network Paging" real time communications service. Then other features were successively added such as chatrooms, games, personal avatars (similar to "Meego" in MSN), internet storage, and internet dating services. Most of these features were free. Its variety of features and easy-to-use interface made it very popular, especially among teenage users. In a few short years, it was the most popular real time communications service in China.

The current preview version of QQ is QQ2011 beta2.^[19] Tencent periodically releases special versions of QQ to coincide with events such as the Olympics or Chinese New Year.

The official client runs on Microsoft Windows and a beta public version was launched for Mac OS X version 10.4.9 or newer.^[20] The web versions, WebQQ (full version) and WebQQ Mini (Lite version), which makes use of Ajax, are currently available.^[21][22] On July 31, 2008, Tencent released an official client for Linux,^[23] but this has not since been kept in step with the Windows version.

User Interface of Tencent Messenger

In response to competition with Windows Live Messenger, Tencent released Tencent Messenger, which is for business people. It also provides, in limited form, features that are only available to premium members in normal QQ.

A beta version of QQ is currently available for Symbian S60 3rd Edition.^[24]

Membership

QQ currently allows free registration for membership. In 2002, Tencent stopped its free membership registration, requiring all new members to pay a fee, but in 2003, this decision was reversed due to pressure from other instant messaging services such as Windows Live Messenger and Sina UC. Tencent currently offers a premium membership scheme, which offers features such as QQ mobile, ringtone downloads, and SMS sending/receiving. In addition, Tencent offers "Diamond" level memberships. Currently, there are seven diamond services available:

• Red, for the QQ Show service which features the ability to make an avatar for yourself.
• Yellow, for the Qzone service which is similar to a blog.
• Blue, which is for QQ games.
• Purple, which is shared between four Tencent games, QQNana, a Korean dancing game, QQTang, an action game, extremely similar to crazy acrade and Pacman and QQSpeed, a car race game, and R2beat, a roller skating rhythm racing game.
• Pink, for QQ pet, a small desktop game about raising a pet. So far there are 3 generations of pets. Penguin, Pig, and Bear (beta testing).
• Green, for QQ music, which is a software for listening to music directly from the Tencent server. Requiring no pre-download, though sometimes consuming a lot of disk space due to caching.
• VIP, for chatting, beta testing, removing advertising, and several additional features
• Black (recently introduced) DNF (地下城与勇士), a Tencent PVP game^[25]

Merchandise

Tencent has taken advantage of the popularity of the QQ brand, and has set up many Q-Gen stores selling QQ branded merchandise such as bags, watches, clothing as well as toy penguins.

Controversies and criticisms

QQ has faced many criticisms and controversies. Many users complain QQ provides fewer and fewer free services and an annoying number of ads.^{[citation needed]}

Dispute with Qihoo 360

Main article: 360 v. Tencent

China's anti-virus company, Qihoo 360, analyzed the QQ protocol and accused QQ of automatically scanning users' computers and of uploading their personal information to QQ's servers without users' consent. In response, Tencent called 360 itself malware and denied users with 360 installed access to some QQ services. The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information reprimanded both companies for "improper competition" and ordered them to come to an accord.^[26]

Other issues

A program distributed with QQ censors and monitors the user's behavior on the Web.^[27]

Because of QQ's extensive use of advertisements and processes related to ads, it has been branded as malicious adware by many anti-virus and anti-spyware vendors.^[28][29][30]

In August 2004, QQ Games began filtering keywords such as "钓鱼岛" (Diaoyu Islands) and "保钓" (Movement to protect the Diaoyu Islands). This act caused much controversy and Tencent has since lifted the filter.^[31]

On July 21, 2005, Tencent announced its intention to follow orders set by Shenzhen Police and enforce the requirement of real names for all the administrators and founders of QQ Groups. This caused much controversy on whether it can prevent the spread of pornographic and other indecent messages, or whether it intrudes on one's privacy. However, the difficulty of enforcement made the real name registration optional.^[32]

The resources required to run QQ have increased substantially since it was first released, which has caused some people^[who?] to turn to third party "lite" versions.^{[citation needed]}

Q coin

The Q coin is a virtual currency used by QQ users to "purchase" QQ related items for their avatar and blog. Q coins are obtained either by purchase, one coin for one RMB, or for using the mobile phone service. Due to the popularity of QQ among young Chinese, Q coins are now accepted by gradually more and more online stores and gaming sites in exchange for "real" merchandise such as small gifts, and raised the concern of replacing (and thus "inflating") real currency in these transactions. The People's Bank of China, China's central bank, says it is investigating the possibility of cracking down on Q coin, due to people using Q coins in exchange for real world goods.^[33] Tencent claims the Q coin was merely a regular commodity, and thus not a currency.^[34]

Modifications

Coral QQ, a modification of Tencent QQ, is a popular add on. While Tencent charges for some services and displays advertisement, Coral QQ provides free access to some of the services and blocks Tencent's advertisements. In 2006, Tencent filed a copyright lawsuit against Chen Shoufu (aka Soff), the author of Coral QQ, whose redistributing modified Tencent QQ was ruled illegal. Chen then published his modification as a separate add on. On August 16, 2007, Chen was detained again for allegedly making profits off of his ad-blocking add on.^[35] His case is pending at Shenzhen Nanshan district court.^{[citation needed]}

QQ International

In 2009, QQ began to expand its services internationally, with its IMQQ portal,^[36] working with partners throughout Asia and the USA.

In India, Tencent has partnered with ibibo^[37] to bring such services as chat, mail and game to the developing Indian internet sphere.

In Vietnam, Tencent has struck a deal with VinaGame^[38] to bring the QQ Casual Gaming portal as well as the QQ Messenger as an addition to the already thriving Vietnamese gaming communities.

In the United States, Tencent has partnered with AOL to bring QQ Games as a contender in the US social gaming market. Launched in 2007,^[39] QQ Games comes bundled with the AIM installer, and competes with AOL's own games.com to provide a gaming experience for the AIM user base.

Web QQ

Tencent launched its web-based QQ formally on September 15, 2009, the latest version of which being 3.0. Rather than solely a web-based IM, WebQQ 3.0 functions more like its own operating system, with a desktop in which web applications can be added.

Social network website

In 2009, Tencent launched Xiaoyou (校友, 'school friends'), its first social network website, trying to compete with Renren and Kaixin001, the leading Chinese social networks, for students mainly. In mid 2010, Tencent changed direction and replaced Xiaoyou with Pengyou.com (朋友, 'friends'), trying to establish a more widespread network, to which extant QQ users could be easily redirected, hence giving Pengyou.com a major advantage over its competitors.^[40]

Open source and cross-platform clients

Using reverse engineering, open source communities have come to understand the QQ protocol better and have attempted to implement client core libraries compatible with more user-friendly clients, free of advertisements. Most of these clients are cross-platform, so they are usable on operating systems which the official client does not support. However, these implementations had only a subset of the functions of the official client and therefore were more limited in features. Furthermore, QQ's parent company, Tencent, has over successive versions modified the QQ protocol to the extent that it can no longer be supported by most, and perhaps any, of the third-party implementations that were successful in the past (some of which are listed below). As of 2009, none of the developers of third-party clients have publicised any plans to restore QQ support.

• Pidgin, an open source cross-platform multiprotocol client, with third-party plugin
• Kopete, an open source multiprotocol client designed for KDE
  • Note: Kopete, old versions of Pidgin, and any other client whose QQ support is based on libpurple no longer supports QQ as of May 2011 ^[41]
• Miranda IM, an open source multiprotocol client, designed for Microsoft Windows, with MirandaQQ2^[42] plugin.
• Eva

See also

• Tencent
• Comparison of instant messaging clients
• Online communities with more than 100 million users

^[43]

References

1. ^ "About Tencent". Tencent.com. http://www.tencent.com/en-us/at/abouttencent.shtml. Retrieved 2011-01-23. 
2. ^ "腾讯QQ最新24小时在线数据". Im.qq.com. http://im.qq.com/online.shtml#qq. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
3. ^ "Alexa Web Search - QQ traffic details". http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/qq.com. Retrieved 2011-02-09. 
4. ^ Naspers Company Profile / Company History ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ QQ for Mac
6. ^ QQ International Mac download page
7. ^ QQ International Windows download page
8. ^ QQ2011 at the iOS App Store
9. ^ QQ HD for iPad at the iOS App Store
10. ^ QQ for Pad
11. ^ WebQQ
12. ^ QQ2011 (Simplified Chinese)
13. ^ QQ2011 Traditional Chinese
14. ^ QQ Concept
15. ^ QQ for Linux
16. ^ QQ for Android
17. ^ Tencent Messenger
18. ^ "Internet Hall of Fame Timeline - Two Letter Domains". Vb.com. http://www.vb.com/short.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
19. ^ "QQ Official Software Center". Im.qq.com. http://im.qq.com/index.shtml. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
20. ^ "im.qq.com/qq/mac/". Im.qq.com. http://im.qq.com/qq/mac/. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
21. ^ "WebQQ". webqq.qq.com. http://webqq.qq.com. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
22. ^ "WebQQ Mini". w.qq.com. http://w.qq.com. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
23. ^ "QQ for Linux". im.qq.com. http://im.qq.com/qq/linux/. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
24. ^ 手机QQ2008beta2发布^{[dead link]}
25. ^ "dnf.qq.com/vip/info.htm". Dnf.qq.com. http://dnf.qq.com/vip/info.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
26. ^ Hille, Kathrin (2010-11-21). "Beijing probes Tencent and Qihoo 360". Beijing: Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e0e12040-f5ab-11df-99d6-00144feab49a.html. Retrieved 2011-01-09. 
27. ^ Wines, Michael; Lafraniere, Sharon; Ansfield, Jonathan (2010-04-07). "China’s Censors Tackle and Trip Over the Internet". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/world/asia/08censor.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&ref=technology. 
28. ^ "Spyware Research Center - Tencent QQ". Tenebril. 2004-10-27. http://www.tenebril.com/src/info.php?id=441301950. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
29. ^ "www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/pest/pest.aspx?id=453083549". Ca.com. http://www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/pest/pest.aspx?id=453083549. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
30. ^ "Remove Tencent QQ - Spyware / Adware Uninstall Instruction". Securemost.com. http://www.securemost.com/articles/rm_tencent_qq.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
31. ^ "AsiaMedia :: CHINA: Web users get their ten cents worth despite the censors". Asiamedia.ucla.edu. http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=15581. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
32. ^ "信产部酝酿博客实名制". Tech.sina.com.cn. http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2006-10-19/09321191967.shtml. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
33. ^ "People's Daily Online - Central Bank alert on "virtual money"". English.people.com.cn. 2007-01-12. http://english.people.com.cn/200701/12/eng20070112_340681.html. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
34. ^ "Virtual currency requires tough new regulations". News.xinhuanet.com. 2007-02-12. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-02/12/content_5730970.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
35. ^ Ye, Juliet (November 29, 2007). "Debate Over IM Add-Ons in China". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119629787148507282.html. 
36. ^ "www.imqq.com". www.imqq.com. http://www.imqq.com. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
37. ^ www.livemint.com/2008/06/25234912/Ibibo-will-sell-50-to-Tencent.html
38. ^ "harryd844.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/zing-chat-prepares-to-sword-yahoo-chat/". Harryd844.wordpress.com. http://harryd844.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/zing-chat-prepares-to-sword-yahoo-chat/. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
39. ^ "news.digitaltrends.com/news-article/14367/aol-rolls-out-aim-6-5". News.digitaltrends.com. 2007-10-03. http://news.digitaltrends.com/news-article/14367/aol-rolls-out-aim-6-5. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
40. ^ RenRen IPO’s biggest hurdle might be PengYou, TradingStocks.me, April 2011.
41. ^ "Pidgin Developer Website". http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/13193. http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/13193. http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/13193. 
42. ^ "Miranda IM - Addons - MirandaQQ2". Addons.miranda-im.org. 2010-12-25. http://addons.miranda-im.org/details.php?action=viewfile&id=3348. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
43. ^ Refreshdallas.org. "RenRen IPO Review". http://www.refreshdallas.org/renren-ipo-review-should-you-buy-renren-com-ipo. Retrieved 2 May 2011. 

External links

• (Chinese) Official website
• (Chinese) QQ Portal
• (English) Official website
• (English) "Inside QQ" research report by +8* Plus Eight Star
• (English) Learning Chinese Using QQ (English-Chinese QQTranslator)
• (English) English beta for QQ
• (English) Tencent's first offering in the United States
• (English) Tencent QQ services overview
• (Thai) Thai localization of QQ