One of the major gripes users have had since the Google Hangouts platform and apps rolled out is that they could no longer actually see if their contacts are active before sending them a message. A new update for the Android app is ready to fix that, and is rolling out over the next few days. As shown in the image above, green icons on the photo mean they’re available, grey icons mean they aren’t. Another change is that when you start a hangout it lists People you Hangout with, Suggested People and then Other Contacts (as shown above). Finally, Hangout invites have popped to the top of your conversations so they’re easy to find, and you can hide people from the New Hangout screen by long-pressing their name and then selecting “Hide Contact.” So, are all of the old Google Talk features you needed back in action (outbound calls from the desktop returned in July), or is there anything else still missing?
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: Randall Sarafa (Google+)
Just what is the most anticipated smartphone at the moment? I suppose it is no longer the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c from Apple, especially since both of these devices were announced recently, and made available to the masses just last week. I guess that particular mantle would now fall on the shoulders of the 
