How do you know if you don’t have someone’s full attention during a Google Hangout? By the sound of their typing. Google, however, has decided to end the intra-company fistfights by updating its social network, enabling it to identify the apocalyptic clattering of your keyboard — and mute your microphone for as long as it continues. Unfortunately, the company has only seen fit to add this to chats of four or more participants, so better make some more friends, stat.
Source: Google
In recent months we have seen Google unify a lot of its products. In the spirit of spring cleaning, they have also shut down some 70 services, including the hugely popular Google Reader. As of now there are a host of different Google products that allow users to communicate with each other. These include Google Talk, Google Talk for G+, Voice, Hangout, Messenger, Chat for Drive. Apparently the internet search giant is developing a new unified messaging service that will bring all of these services together, and is going to be cross platform. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung VP Confirms Watch, AT&T’s New U-verse Internet Customers Get Choice Of FreeXbox 360, SONOS PLAY:3, Kindle Fire Or Nexus 7 Tablet,
Video chat can be an empowering tool for hard-of-hearing internet citizens for whom sign language is easier than voice. Most chat software doesn’t easily bring an interpreter into the equation, however, which spurred Google into adding a Sign Language Interpreter app for Google+ Hangouts. The web component lets chatters invite an interpreter that stays in the background while they verbalize hand gestures. Google is also helping reduce dependencies on the mouse for those who can’t (or just won’t) use one during chat: there’s now keyboard shortcuts to start or stop chats, disable the camera and other basics that would normally demand a click. Both the interpreter app and shortcuts are available today.
Via: The Verge
Source: Anna Cavender (Google+)
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GSP) has decided to develop a virtual ping pong tournament in order to build up excitement for the Google+ Hangout platform. Thanks to the recently released Hangouts API, GSP’s virtual ping-pong tournament will rely on a unique way of controlling the ping pong paddles in there, through the clever use of facial recognition as well as Hangout effects that are more than capable of tracking players’ head movements. Someone who does not know what is happening on the outside might think that folks indulging in a little bit of virtual ping pong might think that they are high on some sort of newfangled drug or something.
Actually, the technology will enable just about anything to ‘stick’ to the user’s head, which means the Hangouts API offers a fairly sizeable opportunity for brands to develop games of their own, while throwing in branded accessories which will literally be front of the player’s mind. How’s that for product placement, hmmm? The creativity of human beings never cease to amaze me.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Dead Space 3 Cheat Allows One To Obtain Items For Free, Wikipad Tablet Introduced At $249, 
If you’ve been dutifully checking your mobile app updates (you do check, right?), you may have noticed a Google+ upgrade slip through largely unannounced. That revision might be bigger than you think — although its exact value depends entirely on the platform you’re running. If you’re an iOS user, you now have the choice to open web links in Chrome for iOS instead of Safari; it’s not the same as changing the default browser, but it will keep Google fans firmly ensconced in their preferred ecosystem while they’re using Apple devices. On the Android side, it’s now possible to watch live Hangouts On Air sessions if friends aren’t ready and waiting for a chat. Both versions now let teens join any kind of Hangout, and there’s a raft of tweaks on either side of the fence. If you’ve been waiting for either of the two major features to jump in, the app downloads are waiting at the source links.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software
Google+ update lets iOS open links in Chrome, Android join Hangouts on Air originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Since May, Google+ users have been able to show the world just how exciting their lives are via the Hangouts On Air feature. That works perfectly well for broadcasting your e-cooking lessons and all, but Mountain View has higher standards when it comes to live-streaming music. The just-announced Studio Mode for Hangouts On Air optimizes audio for music rather than speech, resulting in richer, clearer sound than what you’ll get with the standard Voice Mode. Musicians simply select Studio Mode under settings — other members of the hangout don’t have to do anything. Check out a demo of the new feature below the break.
Continue reading Google+ appeases audiophiles with new Studio Mode for Hangouts on Air
Filed under: Internet
Google+ appeases audiophiles with new Studio Mode for Hangouts on Air originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 16:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
This particular Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner is not exactly the in thing at the moment, but you know the proverb – waste not, want not. What do you do with a partially destroyed Roomba? Why, the answer would be to take it in, restore it while performing some tinkering with its innards and throwing in additional parts, and you end up with a telepresence robot which can be controlled over a Google+ Hangout. While this telepresence robot will not make an appearance at the Academy Awards anytime soon, it still has been dubbed “Oscar”, and can be controlled by any of the participants in that particular video chat session. Of course, having something as fun as this might translate to you having a hard time relinquishing control to the rest of your mates.
The robot’s view can be seen by everyone as there is a tablet with a webcam that is mounted on it. Those who are near Oscar can also check out the particular Hangout session that is going on, how neat is that?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Hangouts on Gmail allows you to launch face-to-face-to-face chats, Hangouts on Air Rolled out by Google: Offers Live Streaming,
So your fantasy football team just clinched its spot in the virtual Super Bowl. There’s now a better way to rub it in everyone’s noses than snarky message board posts: Google has just teamed with the NFL to integrate Google+ Hangouts across the league’s fantasy football pages. The multi-person video chat is now just a step away, whether you’re trading players or checking the latest results. Google is even bending the rules slightly to allow for a full league’s dozen players in one session, instead of the usual 10, and will help host talks between commentators and league participants. Hangouts at the NFL pages are already up and running — that gives us just enough weeks to hem and haw over linebacker choices before the real NFL’s schedule gets going.
Filed under: Internet
NFL adds Google+ Hangouts to fantasy football leagues for extra-personal trash talking originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 16:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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How many of you out there actually make use of Gmails’s video chat feature in your browser window? I suppose there would be a fair number of users, although if you were to tout it as more than the number of users who perform video chats via Skype, there should be some hard numbers backing up that claim to be believable. The latest improvement made to Gmail would be the availability of Google+ Hangouts – where Hangouts will make full use of Google’s network so that it can offer a higher degree of reliability and enhanced quality, allowing you to chat with all of those whom you have talked to before, reaching them regardless of whether they are on Gmail or on Google+ – and it does not even matter if they are using their desktop browser or “chatting” through their Android or iOS devices.
Imagine being able to video chat with up to nine people simultaneously, now how about that? Since the Olympics is going on at the moment, why not watch YouTube videos together remotely, and you need not even share that tub of popcorn, now how about that? Enjoy the video above that touts the wonders of Google+ Hangouts on Gmail.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google launches Gmail SMS in Africa, lets you forward emails as text messages, Gmail for iOS gets notification center support ,
Summer camp doesn’t have to mean poorly ventilated cabins, boring activities and terrible food. In fact, put the concept in the hands of Google and Make, and there’s not even a need to leave the comfort of your own home. The two have teamed up to deliver Maker Camp on Google+, a six week summer program designed to encourage kids to embrace their inner maker. The sessions will run every weekday starting July 16th. On Mondays through Thursdays a new set of instructions for the teen participants to tackle will be posted on Google+, then, in the afternoon, a counselor (often one of Make’s own editors) will hold a Hangout to discuss the project and let the campers share their photos, videos and thoughts. Every Friday Make will host “field trips” via Hangouts. There’s no need to register and no fee, the only requirements are that you be between the ages of 13 and 18, and have a Google+ account. Check out the videos after the break and the source links for more info.
Continue reading Maker Camp brings DIY fun to teens via Google+ Hangouts
Maker Camp brings DIY fun to teens via Google+ Hangouts originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 01:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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