Google launches business-friendly video-calling version of Hangouts called Meet

By Christian de Looper February 28, 2017

google meet launch — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Google Hangouts may be on its way out of most people’s lives, but Google hasn’t given up on it yet. In fact, the company has just launched a new app called Meet by Google Hangouts, which is designed to allow businesses to conduct HD video calls.

The new app is the latest in Google’s G Suite lineup of business products, and while the app isn’t up and running just yet on the App Store, the website meet.google.com does seem to shed some light on the new service.

Recommended Videos

The Meet landing page looks something like the landing page for Google Hangouts, but it doesn’t allow users to start a call or chat. Instead, it simply allows users to enter a code to join a video call, and it shows meetings that you’ve already scheduled. While Hangouts has a 10-person limit, Meet supports HD video with up to 30 people.

The app itself seems to be built to make video calling on the go easy. For example, it offers dial-in numbers for travelers, and shows details about upcoming calls, including time, location, subject, and so on. A big, green “join” button also helps users attend a meeting straight from the phone.

Google has yet to officially announce Meet, but it’s likely we’ll hear more about the service in coming days. Google may publish a blog post about the new app, which will likely detail some more of the service’s features.

Topics

Christian de Looper

Contributor

Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

Mobile

Google is killing your passwords, and security experts are (mostly) happy

Logging into a Google account with passkeys on an iPhone.

Google is inching closer to making passwords obsolete. The solution is called "Passkeys," a unique form of password that is stored locally on your phone or PC, just the way a physical security key works. The passkeys are protected behind a layer of authentication, which can be your fingerprint or face scan — or just an on-screen pattern or PIN.

Passkeys are faster, linked across platforms, and save you the hassle of remembering passwords for websites or services that you have subscribed to. There is a smaller scope for human error, and the risks of 2-factor authentication code interception are also reduced.

Social Media

Meta brings cartoon avatars to video calls on Instagram and Messenger

Meta's cartoon avatars for Instagram and Messenger.

The pandemic was supposed to have made us all comfortable with video calls, but many folks still don’t particularly enjoy the process.

Having to think about what to wear, or how our hair looks, or even fretting about puffy eyes following another bout of hay fever can sometimes be a bit much, even more so if it’s an early-morning call and your brain is still in bed.

Mobile

Apple and Google are teaming up to make tracking devices less creepy

Apple AirTag lifestyle image.

Apple and Google are partnering to develop a new standard for Bluetooth tracking devices that seeks to stop malicious stalking and other abusive use of gadgets like the Apple AirTag. Essentially, this would be a universal, OS-level tracker detection and alert system that will work uniformly across Android and iOS. The two companies are inviting stakeholders to review the proposal and submit their feedback within the next three months.

Once the feedback period is over, all the involved parties will work together to finalize the technical standardization, with the hope of releasing a market-ready version by the end of the year. Following the release and adoption by makers of tracking devices, the tech will be generally made available via a software update for Android and iOS devices.
Better late than never