Google Duo making video calls “universal”?
There are various video calling apps including Apple’s Facetime, Skype, Tango, etc. But it seems that it’s not taken off and many people just shy from video calling. Google put the blame on Apple as one has to call someone who’s also using iPhone for it to work and you may not even know whether someone you’re calling is using iPhone! Other apps depend on very fast internet for it to work well. Whatsapp has been saying that they’d introduce video calls, but with the sometimes lacklustre audio call performance, it’s doubtful that it would come efficiently soon. But Google has now made the jump and has announced …the official roll out of its new video-calling app, Duo, and said it is expected to be “live worldwide in the next few days”. So what makes this direct competition of Facetime new and better than the others? Perhaps the claims below are the answers, we have to wait, see and try then!
- it’s cross-platform or ‘universal’, i.e. you can call anyone in your Contacts whether you/they are using iPhone or Android;
- fast – some reports said that the video comes up even before the call went through!
I guess if Google has solved these issues especially the 2nd one- performance, it’d have a good chance to lure many more onto the video calling platform. How nice it’d be able to call free and pacify your stressed or depressed pets during your long travels via the ‘free’ internet!