Call off the dogs, folks. Qik took to its blog late Friday (early Saturday according to the timestamp) to explain the documentation first found by Android Guys and later by Engadget (and, admittedly, later repeated by us) that its video chat service on the Sprint Evo 4G would cost an extra $4.99 a month. Basic video chat will, in fact, be free. “Advanced, premium features,” however, will cost something extra, though the blog doesn’t specifically say how much. Here’s the full skinny:
Well, there’re a number of rumors flying around that the 2-way Qik mobile video service will require a premium subscription. We wanted to clarify what that really means. Firstly, rest assured that the core Qik service that lets you communicate live from your phone to other phones, web and desktop will be FREE. Yes – this means that the core capability of doing 2-way Qik video chat will be FREE for Sprint EVO 4G users. The subscription fee will be for some advanced premium features that we are working on, which we will be announcing on June 4th – the day the amazing HTC EVO 4G phone launches.
So, tune back in on June 4th for a complete list of features of the new Qik along with the optional advanced premium features for you to enjoy!
Maybe this was one of those blog rumors gone wild. Maybe this was the plan all along. (Phil’s guess: More than likely just a garbled message that ended up in some documentation somewhere.) Qik didn’t respond to our e-mail Thursday night, and we’ll likely never know. But basic video chat will be free, and we can all go back to worrying about what’s really important: Complaining about when our phones will get the Froyo update. [Qik] Thanks, Rick!