Google wants to make all of its products
accessible to everyone, no matter where they’re located or what Internet
conditions they’re working with. For those of you who travel or aren’t located
in the U.S., you know that Internet connection speeds can be slow in
third-world countries. Shoot, even when you’re in a local Starbucks, things can
be slow.
Today, the companyshipped two new features that allows you to tweak a slider to
improve your experience based on your bandwidth capabilities. Up until now,
Hangouts have tried to cooperate with your bandwidth to give you the best
quality possible, but having this extra control will do wonders.
Here’s what Tim Blasi of Google had to say
about it:
Today we’re excited to launch two new features
that improve the Hangouts experience in areas with low and/or unreliable
connectivity:
1) Audio-only mode. Choose this mode to send
and receive audio only, and thus, significantly reduce your bandwidth
requirements. Other participants will only see your profile picture, but
they’ll hear you loud and clear.
2) Bandwidth slider. At the top right of every
hangout is a new slider that lets you adjust your bandwidth preferences in
real-time — from high, all the way to audio-only. This makes it easier to keep
hangouts going, even in areas with poor connectivity.
Both of these features are coming your way
today but they’re rolling out separately so you may see one before you see the
other. Very soon both features will be available to everyone, so give ‘em a try
and let us know what you think! Thanks for your patience.
By adding audio-only mode, anyone can
participate in a Hangout conversation, business or otherwise, no matter where
they are. Hangouts can be tough on mobile devices if you’re not in the best of
signal conditions. Audio can speed through to you quickly, though. Sadly, these
features aren’t available away from the desktop as of yet, which one can hope
will change soon.
For many people who haven’t dug into Google+ as
of yet, Hangouts has
been a feature that a lot of people have participated in whether
they knew it or not. With Hangouts on Air, you can view recorded conversations
that were put together in seconds. Last month, VicePresident Joe Biden participated in one such Hangout, which drew
a lot of viewers after the fact.
Speaking of making its products available
everywhere, Google also launchedHangouts in India yesterday, and if you think about how strong
Google is with translation software, you can imagine a world where one day
you’ll be able to do a Hangout with someone who doesn’t speak your language and
have the conversation seamlessly translated for you on the fly. [TechCrunch]
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