WebProNews

Tag: Hangouts

  • Google Hangouts Gets Its Own Website

    Google Hangouts Gets Its Own Website

    Google has finally given Hangouts its own dedicated site.

    Head on over to hangouts.google.com, and you’ll find a full-fledged web client for Google’s popular messaging service.

    “We are launching another way to use Hangouts today. From our new site you’ll be able to take advantage of the best of Hangouts in the browser, along with an inspiring image to get you through the day,” says Google’s Jordanna Chord.

    Before now, Google Hangouts were only really web accessible via another Google products, like Gmail or Google+ (or via Chrome extension). But as we know, Google is distancing a lot of its products from Google+. Given Hangouts’ popularity as a standalone product, it’s surprising it took this long for Google to give it its own destination.

    Earlier this year, Facebook gave Messenger its own standalone site. When looking to compete in the crowded field of messaging, it’s best to have a free-standing, easy-to-use location for said services. Google’s finally taken that step with Hangouts.

  • Yes, Your Google Hangouts Can Be Wiretapped

    Google encrypts your Hangouts conversations, but it doesn’t use end-to-end encryption. This means that Google can wiretap your Hangouts at the government’s request.

    That’s one big revelation from a recent reddit AMA with Richard Salgado, Google’s director for law enforcement and information security, and David Lieber, Google’s senior privacy policy counsel.

    The American Civil Liberties Union’s chief technologist Christopher Soghoian asked the Google reps why they’ve made a habit of dodging questions about Hangouts’ encryption, saying,

    “Hi. Google has repeatedly refused to acknowledge whether or not it is capable of wiretapping Hangouts for government agencies. In contrast, Apple’s FaceTime product uses end-to-end encryption and the company says it is not able to wiretap this service. Why has Google refused to be transparent about its ability to provide wiretaps for Hangouts? Given Google’s rather impressive track record regarding surveillance transparency, the total secrecy regarding the company’s surveillance capabilities for this product is quite unusual.”

    Google’s response (bolding ours)?

    “There are legal authorities that allow the government to wiretap communications. Google was the first company to disclose the number of wiretap orders it receives issued in criminal investigations. (There were a total of 7 wiretap orders in the first half of 2014, covering 9 accounts, for example). We also report requests made under national security authorities to the extent we are allowed by law. We want to be able to be much more granular about the number and nature of these demands, and think that’s important for people who use Google, policymakers and the public. Hangouts are encrypted in transit, and we’re continuing to extend and strengthen encryption across more services.”

    As reddit user reddit_poly put it, “this means that Hangouts are only encrypted on their way between your computer and Google’s servers. Once they arrive at Google’s end, Google has full access. In short, this is confirmation Google can wiretap Hangouts.”

    Google confirmed all of this to Vice:

    We asked Google to clarify, or elaborate, on Monday, and a spokesperson confirmed that Hangouts doesn’t use end-to-end encryption. That makes it technically possible for Google to wiretap conversations at the request of law enforcement agents, even when you turn on the “off the record” feature, which actually only prevents the chat conversations from appearing in your history—it doesn’t provide extra encryption or security.

    According to Google’s latest Transparency Report, the company received 25 wiretap requests from January 2013 to June 2014. Whether or not those had to do specifically with hangouts was not disclosed.

  • Google Hangouts App For Android Gets New Features

    Google launched an update for its Hangouts app for Android that includes a bunch of new features.

    For one, there are new “smart suggestions” in conversations.

    “When you’re trying to meet up with friends in real life and someone asks, ‘Where are you?’, Hangouts can now understand what you need and offer to help,” explains Google’s Rhett Robinson. “You’ll see a one-tap option to share your location right in the conversation, without you needing to hunt around in a map, drop a pin and send your position.”

    That’s pretty helpful.

    You can also now confirm your phone number so friends can more easily find you in the app. Another addition is that of “last seen” timestamps, so you know when your friends are ready to chat. This will be a familiar feature to Facebook Messenger users.

    There are sixteen new sticker packs, and Google will be launching additional ones. Also, you can now use video filters like sepia, vignette, and black & white. These are accessible by swiping down during a video call.

    There are additional new features, which Robinson said Google will just let users find on their own. Fair enough.

    Image via Google+

  • Google Launches Hangouts Chrome App

    Google Launches Hangouts Chrome App

    Google announced the launch of a new Hangouts Chrome app for Chrome OS and Windows, which it calls a “simpler, faster way to use Hangouts on your computer alongside whatever else your’e doing.”

    The point is that it keeps your chats accessible without getting in the way while you’re working, browsing reddit, watching Netflix or whatever.

    “Your contact list and all your chats are condensed into one easy to toggle window,” explains Google software engineer David Levin. “Also, you’ll get integrated notifications that alert you to new messages, so you can quickly find the conversation you’re looking for.”

    “It works outside of your browser so your chats are always available, not tucked away inside a window,” he adds. “You’ll get all your messages as long as you have the app running, and your chats will sync across Hangouts on all your devices.”

    The app includes video and voice features that are standard to Hangouts, and you can make phone calls with the Hangouts dialer from the desktop.

    The app is available in the Chrome Web Store.

    Image via Google

  • Google Hangouts Get Google Voice Integration

    Google has begun rolling out Google Voice integration to its Hangouts app. Users are being greeted with a message that says “Migrate Google Voice to Hangouts”.

    This lets users receive voicemail and send text messages in Hangouts. Users can turn the functionality on or decline to do so.

    Android Police appears to be the first to have reported on this, also noticing some hiccups:

    Parts of this seems to be working fine, but others not so much. For example, messages sent to your Google Voice number will appear in Hangouts (mobile and desktop) just fine. Replies, however, appear to be busted in both locations right now. Presumably this is all just a bump in the road early in deployment. Of course, someone might have simply thrown the switch too soon. We can be certain, however, this was a change on the backend. No Hangouts update is necessary to see the popup, but an update during the coming Update Wednesday may be required to iron out all the kinks.

    There’s reportedly a “via GV” note that lets users know messages were sent to their Google Voice number. Notices about messages being routed to Hangouts will reportedly also appear on the Google Voice website.

    Update: Google just officially announced the feature. You can read more about it here.

    Image via Google Play

  • Hangouts In Gmail Lets You See Who’s Online More Easily

    Google has added a new tab in Hangouts in Gmail to let you see more easily who’s online. The company announced the feature on its Gmail Google+ page. It says:

    Starting today it’s easier to see which of your chat buddies are currently online, thanks to a new tab in Hangouts in Gmail. In this new tab, friends who are online are shown first, followed by those who aren’t. Of course, you can still send your offline friends a message and they’ll get it the next time they check Hangouts on their computer, phone or tablet. Plus, you can also now pin your favorite contacts (you know, your mom, your BFFL, or your crush) to the top of your contact list.

    Many of you have asked for these features, so we hope you enjoy this update, which will be rolling out over the next few days. If you’re not already using Hangouts in Gmail, simply click on “Try the new Hangouts” under your chat settings to upgrade today. 

    Based on the comments people are leaving on the post, it would appear that users think this feature is long overdue.

    Image via Google

  • Google Gives Businesses A Hangout Button To Let Customers Video Chat From Their Sites

    Google Gives Businesses A Hangout Button To Let Customers Video Chat From Their Sites

    Google launched a new Hangout start button for businesses and developers, which can be embedded in any app or website.

    Google has already worked with a few enterprise software companies including Zendesk and Freshdesk for customer support hangouts, Zoho for recruiting hangouts, Lucidchart and Smartsheet for document and team collaboration.

    “Hangouts change the way employees connect and collaborate,” a spokesperson for Google tells WebProNews. “Both large and small companies like The Weather Channel or Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream — where the company’s COO lives in Los Angeles but is on Hangouts multiple times each day to stay connected with the Ohio-based company and its employees — are making great use of Hangouts to communicate just like in real life. Of course earlier this year we also launched Chromebox for meetings, which runs Hangouts to transform the meeting room experience.”

    Chromeboxes come in the form of hardware from companies like Asus and Dell

    “Whether you’re a sales rep working in a CRM app or an engineer in a project management tool, it only takes one click to launch a Hangout and your team will automatically be invited,” says Stephen Cho, head of Google Apps and Hangouts Technology Partnerships of the new button. “You can even improve customer service with the ability to quickly launch into a video Hangout with a client to resolve an issue.”

    “With this new Hangouts button, apps everywhere will let colleagues, partners, and customers meet face-to-face anytime, anywhere, and work more effectively together with just one click,” he adds.

    Here’s a video from Esna showing how you can start a hangout from within Salesforce.

    Barb Darrow at GigaOm suggests sites use the feature in place of live chat buttons that are often used throughout the web, though as a commenter points out, website chats don’t typically require a Google account.

    Either way, the button provides site owners with a new way to capture engagement on their sites – engagement between colleagues related to your content, or even among friends, depending on just what kind of content you actually provide.

    You can find the code for the button here. There is a variety of options, including markup, JavaScript, and HTML5.

    Back in November, Google added global address list support to Hangouts for Google Apps users to make it easier for business people to have conversations with their colleagues. They also added settings to let Google Apps admins customize which Hangouts feature were actually available to employees.

    Image via YouTube

  • Gmail Gets Update For Hangouts Chat

    Gmail Gets Update For Hangouts Chat

    Google announced some improvements to Hangouts chat in Gmail. This includes Google Apps for Business and Education users.

    Users will now see an updated user interface in their conversation list. This includes status markers as green bubbles. Also, the displayed contacts are in order of most recent chats.

    The new version also includes recent conversation snippets and a new contact search button.


    Image via Google+

  • Google Discusses New Campaign Type For Display Network

    Google hosted a “Hangout on Air” today about getting better performance out of Search Network with Display Select. This is a new hybrid campaign type, which the company says drives 35% better ROI for advertisers compared to the old Search and Display Networks campaign.

    In the hangout, Google Display Network product marketing manager Katie Hamilton speaks with Rich Griffin, the director of search engine marketing at Wordstream. They talk about what types of customers should try this campaign type, as well as some “success stories” and best practices.

    There’s also a Q&A.

    Image via YouTube

  • Learn More About Ecommerce And Goal Tracking In Google Analytics

    Google recently held a Google+ hangout discussing how to utilize ecommerce and goal tracking. it’s actually the second part in a series of hangouts about Analytics, if you’re selling online, this one might be for you.

    The next part in the series will focus on the multi-channel funnel, event flow and visitors flow. You can keep an eye on the Learn With Google YouTube channel for more videos from the series.

  • Gmail Brings Back Phone Calls Via Hangouts

    When Google recently transitioned Gmail’s chat feature to Hangouts, it got rid of voice calling, but Google announced that is back as part of Hangouts. In addition to that, calls to the US and Canada are free from all countries where the feature is available.

    “For those of you who have taken the plunge and are using desktop Hangouts in Gmail, Google+, and the Chrome extension, we’ve heard loud and clear that you miss the ability to make calls from Gmail, so today, we’re happy to announce it’s back – and better than before!” says Google senior software engineer Alex Wiesen.

    “Today’s launch also improves the desktop calling experience in a number of ways,” says Weisen. “For example: you can add multiple phone numbers and video participants to the same call; and you can play sound effects (like applause or laughter) with the Google Effects app.”

    You can access calling via the new phone icon in Gmail or from the “Call a phone” menu item in Google+ and the Chrome extension.

    Hangout calling

    The feature is rolling out this week.

  • Google+ Gets 41 New Features, Including Stream Redesign [Google I/O 2013]

    At Google I/O 2013, Google announced that Google+ was going to get 41 new features in the coming year. Those new features will be added to three key areas – stream, hangouts and photos.

    The first major change is an entire upheaval of the Google+ stream on desktop from a single column to a multi-column design. Some photos and videos will take up multiple columns while smaller stories will take up one out of three columns.

    Google is also introducing a new feature called related hashtags. In short, it tags stories based on contextual clues from photos and posts. One example is a photo of the Eifel Tower being tagged #eifeltower based solely on Google’s image algorithm recognizing the subject of the photo.

    For Hangouts, Google is introducing an app called Hangouts that’s separate from Google+. It’s kind of like Facebook Messenger, but with all of the sharing and video chat capabilities found in Google+ Hangouts. Google says that those participating in the Hangout app will feel like they’re in the same room together.

    Photos on Google+ will be adopting a new philosophy of “Your darkroom is a datacenter.” In other words, photographers on Google+ will be able to utilize Google’s cloud technology to make highlighting and sorting photos easier. The latter is especially impressive as Google+ can now automatically sort photos by landmark, human presence, aesthetics and other indicators. Photos will also be getting auto-enhance – a new application that automatically applies image enhancements without having to use complicated software like Photoshop.

    The final feature is called “auto-awesome.” One of its applications is called motion – it will take photos that are taken in burst mode and turn them into animated .gifs. The motion application is only one of five new features comprising the auto-awesome feature. Some other auto-awesome features include HDR and auto-collage.

    Most of these new features, including the new stream, will be rolling out to Google+ this afternoon.

  • Google Sets Up Mother’s Day Page To Suggest Gift Ideas And More

    Mother’s Day is quickly approaching. Do you have all the preparations ready to celebrate the most important woman in your life? If not, Google’s got your back.

    Google announced today that it has launched a special Mother’s Day page to help sons and daughters everywhere plan an extra special day for their mothers. The page includes a gift guide (with the obligatory link to Google Offers), a guide to local florists, and an offer to send a tech care package to help your technologically deficient mother get on the Internet so you can chat it up in a Google+ hangout.

    While it may reek of corporate shilling, Google is onto something here. You really should get your mother something nice on Sunday. That something nice can be as simple as a phone call (or a Google+ hangout) to tell her how much you really appreciate her.

    If you want to get more creative than a phone call or a hug, however, Google will be hosting a number of events this week to share some ideas. The first will be an AskMen sponsored Google+ hangout with the editors of Parenting.com. They will be suggesting “creative ideas” to make this Mother’s Day “a day your mom won’t forget.” Google has also set up a Mother’s Day Guide Google+ community for people to share ideas and stories with each other.

  • Google Now Automatically Mutes Loud Typers Inside Hangouts

    Google has just taken steps to eliminate a small, but annoying aspect of Google+ Hangouts: keyboard sounds.

    In an update launched today, Google will now mute your mic when you’re typing.

    Google’s Tim Haloun explains it as such:

    Does anyone actually like the sound of typing in a Hangout?
    click click clack clack click clack clack!

    If you’ve done Hangouts, you’ve almost certainly experienced it. It’s hard to chat over that typing. Maybe you’ve accidentally been that typist, and didn’t realize it until someone muted you! That’s why we’ve added automatic muting when you type. Specifically:

    – If someone keeps typing in a Hangout, their mic will be muted until they stop
    – They’ll see an in-Hangout notification, so they know they’re not interrupting the conversation
    – We’ll do this for larger Hangouts (4+ people).

    We hope this feature makes your Hangouts experience even more enjoyable, and we welcome your feedback in the comments!

    Users will be unmuted “within a couple hundred milliseconds of the end of typing.”

    The muting is triggered by the typing sounds, not the mere act of typing. And if you’re a quiet enough typer or use a headset mic, you’ll probably not trigger the mute.

    If you’re a person who types and talks a lot while using Hangouts, Google”s Chee Chew has this to say:

    “There are indeed cases where people want to type and talk. we’ve been dogfooding this internally within google, where we often have people presenting and such, so we’re sensitive to this concern. We find that the vast majority of times that happens in smaller hangouts where one person is showing something to someone else…which is why we turned this on for 4+ hangouts only.”

  • Joe Biden Is Talking About Guns On Google+ Again

    In January, Vice President Joe Biden participated in a Google+ hangout, discussing gun violence. Today, he will do so again.

    This is part of the White House’s series of fireside hangouts. Biden will discuss reducing gun violence with mayors from across the country. Specifically, he’ll be joined by Karen Freeman-Wilson from Gary, Indiana, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake from Baltimore, Maryland, R.T. Rybak from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Steve Scaffidi from Oak Cree, Wisconsin.

    You can watch it live here. It starts at 2:45 PM Eastern.

  • U.S. State Department To Kick Off Google+ Hangout Series

    Google announced today that the U.S. Department of State is launching a series of Google+ Hangouts, starting Friday, April 19 with one featuring Secretary of State John Kerry.

    The series follows various hangouts this year from members of the Obama administration, including the president himself.

    Google’s Ramya Raghavan writes on the official Google blog:

    Over the past year, Google+ has been used across the globe to connect people and enable free expression—from Syria Deeply, an independent news site which regularly uses Google+ and Hangouts to report about the crisis in Syria to Tom Fletcher, the British Ambassador to Lebanon, who issues dispatches from one country to another via Hangout.

    Today, the U.S. Department of State is building on this trend by announcing a new series of discussions called “Hangouts at State.” Each month, these conversations will bring people together across global boundaries to discuss the most pressing U.S. foreign policy issues, like democracy promotion, human rights, counterterrorism efforts, economic development, climate change and drug interdiction.

    Kerry’s hangout will begin at 1:00 PM E.T. on Friday. You can catch it on the Google Politics and Elections page.

  • Watch This Google Hangout On Improving Your Site (For AdSense)

    Google recently held a Google+ hangout sharing tips for improving the user experience on your site, which it uploaded to its AdSense YouTube channel. This week, Google shared the video on the AdSense blog bringing it to our attention.

    The video discusses how to better understand your users, increase engagement, and measure the success of changes you make.

  • Today’s Your Chance To Hang Out With Halle Berry On Google+

    We’ll see how much of a ghost town Google+ is tonight when Halle Berry shows up for a hang out to promote the new Brad Anderson flick The Call.

    (image)
    (image)

    Google+3 hours ago

    Have you ever dreamed of meeting famous movie stars? Today you can Hangout with the award-winning actress Halle Berry live from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

    The actress will talk to Brazilian fans about her new movie The Call. 

    Diamond Films Brasil originally shared:
    Quer entrevistar a Halle Berry Ao Vivo para todo o Brasil?

    Participe da promoção e concorra a fazer parte do Hangout On Air com atriz de Hollywood Halle Berry!

    Acesse o site e participe! (image)106    (image)1 Powered by socialditto

    Last year, Berry was injured on the set of the film (which at the time was called The Hive). Now you have something to ask her about.

    And of course, there’s always Catwoman.

  • Learn More About Enhanced Campaigns On The Google Display Network

    Google recently launched Enhanced Campaigns in AdWords, a controversial move in the advertising world. Controversial as they may be, they’re not going away, and Google is encouraging advertisers to upgrade. Either way, upgrades will start happening automatically on July 22.

    So if you haven’t gotten your feet wet yet, you may want to pay attention to the webinars on Enhanced Campaigns that Google has been providing. We recently shared one that focused on Google Shopping and Enhanced Campaigns. A new one that Google has provided deals with Enhanced Campaigns on the Google Display Network:

    This week, Google announced ad group mobile bid adjustments for Enhanced Campaigns.

  • ‘Capture’ All of Your Hangout Antics with New Google+ App

    Google is making it easier for you to capture all of your Hangout shenanigans with the launch of a new app inside the popular Google+ feature.

    It’s called Hangouts Capture.

    “Google+ Hangouts bring people together, and when they do, all sorts of awesome can unfold,” says Google’s Jeremy Ng. “The challenge, oftentimes, is capturing your favorite moments as they happen, so today we’re introducing the new Hangouts Capture app. With it you can take pictures of your Hangouts-in-progress, including a number of features not available in the usual screenshot workarounds.”

    What the Capture app does is add a camera button to the bottom of your Google+ Hangout screen. When the app is open, you can snap unlimited screenshots with a single click. Of course, you could just snap screenshots the old fashioned way, but this really is much more efficient.

    Mainly because every “capture” you make is saved to a shared album which is only visible to the other people in the Hangout.

    Afterward, the photos will be accessible in your own photo albums, or by finding the original Hangout post. Google says that Hangout participants will always know that the Capture app is in use, and whenever someone actually snaps a photo.

    You should see the Capture option pop up soon, says Google.

  • Gundotra: It Will Take Several More Years To Complete Our True Vision For Google+

    Everybody knows that (like most web products) Google+ is an ongoing effort that is not complete. According to Google, it will be “several years” until the vision is really fulfilled.

    Google’s Vic Gundotra participated in a Hangout with Norwegian social media news channel Sosial direkte to talk about the “project” (he says they call it a project rather than a product because it’s not complete).

    “We had a couple hundred million active users…just in the stream…just on plus.google.com,” he says. “And those numbers are numbers that we issued last year. That growth and that momentum has continued, and we’re very excited about the progress we’ve made just in the last year and a few months.”

    Actually, here are the stats Gundotra shared in December: “Today Google+ is the fastest-growing network thingy ever. More than 500 million people have upgraded, 235 million are active across Google (+1′ing apps in Google Play, hanging out in Gmail, connecting with friends in Search…), and 135 million are active in just the stream,” he said.

    The Vic Gundotra part starts about 34 minutes in.

    [via Google Plus Daily]