During last week’s big developers conference: Google I/O, the company announced many new software features and services. Among them was their new way to communicate by making conversations come alive called Google Hangouts.
Previously, Google had multiple chat services spread out among different apps & platforms. They had Google Talk, Google Messenger, But that is now a thing of the past.
What Is Google Hangouts?
Google wants you to stop worrying about what app to use to reach a friend. With Google Hangouts a lot of things apps and forms of sharing come together. Hangouts will merge Google Talk, Google+ Messenger, & Google+ Hangout video chat to bring one service for your communication needs. You can use right from your Gmail on your desktop. You can upgrade Chat to Hangouts by clicking on your photo icon in Gmail’s chat list.
Check out some of Google Hangouts features:
- You can name your own chat,
- create group chat rooms,
- Google Hangouts has over 850 emoticons,
- you can share photos,
- do a group video chat of up to 10 people,
- and sync conversations between devices.
Not only is that cool but it will also become available across multiple platforms (Android, iOS, & the web). SMS integration isn’t available now but it on the way. Once they add Google Voice support, this will be your all-in-one app to handle all of your communication needs.
Download Google Hangouts
Download Google Hangouts for Android (although it should replace your Google Talk app when the app is updated).
Download Google Hangouts for Apple iOS.
Download Google Hangouts for your desktop / Chrome Extension
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahy3uRzRG9w?feature=player_embedded]
How many of you already use Google Talk? With the popularity of Gmail, and the ease of Google Hangouts integration, i think Hangouts will become very popular for communicating. It may become the new AIM of today!
