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In the DROID Maxx is Motorola’s vision for longest-lasting battery life in a device that’s part of a very close-knit family of smartphones all released in the same generation. There’s a DROID Maxx, a DROID Ultra, a DROID Mini, and the Moto X. These devices deliver essentially the same experience as one another, with only […]

Starting this month, users will be experience an increased bit of quality in their Google+ Hangouts video chat as result of the company switching over to a new form of video codec. The video codec itself isn’t new, it having been released all the way back in 2010, but it’s new to this Google system, […]

Over the last few weeks Google has started to roll out 720p HD Hangouts video support to a subset of its users, it has been revealed today. Google’s Vice President of Engineering, Chee Chew has confirmed the move in an interview and said that this switchover will be more or less invisible to consumers, though they’ll get cleaner and better video, Chew says. The rollout of HD video support in Hangouts for all users will be completed soon.

To make this happen Google has transitioned Hangouts video chats from H.264 video codec to VP8. VP8 is a royalty-free and open video codec that Google released back in 2010. The codec enables HD video streams at low bit rates, this wouldn’t have been possible with the previous codec, too much processing power would have been required to show HD video streams from 10 participants in a Hangout. Google isn’t stopping with this transition, the company plans to move over to WebRTC in the future. WebRTC standard has the ability to deliver audio and video in realtime without requiring any additional codecs. Chew says that there’s a possibility that WebRTC might come to Hangouts eventually, though this transition could take more than a few months.

Google Hangouts Getting HD Quality Video original content from Ubergizmo.

You may not have noticed it yet, but Google is in the middle of sweeping changes to Hangouts that should offer big improvements to image quality and accessibility. The company tells GigaOM that it’s currently upgrading its video chat service to 720p by switching from the H.264 video codec to the more efficient (and Google-controlled) VP8 standard. HD-quality Hangouts should be available soon after Google finishes the VP8 rollout to web users late next week. A sharper picture is just one part of the puzzle, however. The switch to VP8 also sets the stage for WebRTC support, which will let Google offer plugin-free Hangouts in browsers like Chrome and Firefox within the next several months. The search giant will still offer a plugin for holdouts, but they may soon be the exceptions to the rule.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: GigaOM

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