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When we posted our “This Hour in Nexus S and Gingerbread” report earlier this morning, I wondered if Google Talk was really getting voice and video features. It’s something we heard might’ve been in the works for Gingerbread long before Google announced it, and new evidence from the SDK files uncovered the same Video and Voice icons we see when using the desktop version of Google Talk.
But that was all before I actually watched the video of Andy Rubin at All Things D’s Dive Into Mobile fireside chat where Rubin inadvertently let us know that his Google Talk was open. And that it had video chat icons. And that we shouldn’t have seen that. And now we know for sure that Google’s working to include this into Honeycomb. (Seriously, Rubin, you should’ve just hit the home button and not have said anything, bud.)
Voice calling wasn’t confirmed in the same way, but I can’t imagine it’ll be left out either. We’re still wondering why the icons appear in Gingerbread’s SDK if they’re not due until Honeycomb, but it’s likely they just wanted to get the resources in now so they wouldn’t have to worry about them later. Or Google Talk could be getting decoupled from Android and headed to the Android market once these new features arrive. Who really knows? No one but Google, for now.
I doubt it was a slip up.
If it wasn’t, then he’s a good actor.
Is his slip up really that serious???
Good. I have been waiting for this for a while. Too bad it won’t be in Gingerbread though. By the time Honeycomb comes out it might already be June and time for a new phone. While it will also likely have a front cam it seems a shame I never really got to use the one on my Evo due to a lack of unifying “first party” video chat.
I can see it being tied into the new SIP functionality in Gingerbread. I wouldn’t be surprised if Google Voice/Talk popped up sooner rather than later.
No, it isn’t cjazz. Just what he let slip is what’s serious.
Cute response Quentyn, but video chatting is not a new idea in the least. Please don’t think others are now working on this.
I meant “not” not “now”.
@cjazz I know it’s not new. Hell, I have an EVO and an Epic and have used Fring to chat several times. It’s new to Google Talk on Android, and it’s something that he didn’t want known yet. That’s the big deal, here. (Whether or not you consider that big is on you, but this is an Android site and we’re talking about unannounced features of a highly-anticipated version of Android.) You’re making this out to be a bigger deal than it really is.
.
PS: My comment wasn’t meant to sound “cute” or condescending in any way. Just trying to clear up any confusion.
Just expressing how I feel Quentyn. I have a spare box of tissues if you need it.
@cjazz I’m really trying to be civilized here, but I won’t waste time responding after this.
@jerbear It may not be that long, Donut and Eclair were announced just over a month apart. And with the amount we’ve heard about Honeycomb, it seems like they are close to release.
@ cjazz Try to not be such a d-bag.
@Quentyn and @Jeff J … I didn’t insult anyone intelligence or character nor have I gotten angry at anyone’s comment. But I’m the d-bag? I thought real journalism may not agree with the comments one make but have respect for our constitutional right of free speech. If I’m a d-bag then I’m fine with it. You gentlemen have a wonderful day.
@cjazz you douche-bag. lol!
i just want googles video chat to come out better than facetime. i want apple destroyed by android!!
@Quentyn. I’ve been watching your responses to various news stories posted on here. With respect, it seems really easy to get a rise out of you. I think it is really cool you are prepared to discuss your articles in public, but maybe just relax a little and remember that some people will be deliberately setting out to upset you for whatever screwed up reason is in their tiny heads.
@drspikes,
i’m sorry, but i just don’t see it.
cjazz started throwing around some unnecessary comments. quentyn, and admittedly myself, thought he was just confusing initially, and tried to clarify. but it seems like cjazz’s underlying motif was to be a troll.
I love quentyn <3
Something most people don’t seem to know: video calling is part of the 3G standard, and is supported across multiple manufacturers of both smartphones and feature phones. You can take any recent Nokia phone and make a video call to for example a Samsung phone. Somehow, the carriers in the land of the free have managed to avoid/disable this really standard feature, probably because they deemed that consumers didn’t want it.
Facetime, revolutionary? Fring/Skype video chat that require that both persons have the app? Why are consumers wishing for that, when there’s a standard for the whole thing?
Over here in Finland (and likely a large part of the world outside the U.S.) our operators have supported 3G video calls for years, and as mentioned, phones by many manufacturers support it out of the box. Sure, video calls do cost a little more than plain audio calls but I assure you that it’s nothing outrageous. It is not well known even here that video calls are actually available, but it is, and we definitely don’t need an app for it.
Skype/Fring are most likely aware of that they have to compete with a phone manufacturer-supported standard and I think they hesitate to add “video chat” as it would only be valuable in countries where 3G video calling has been disabled. Adding a video chat app such as Facetime is a way for Apple to bypass carrier imposed restrictions, and they’re big enough to create their own eco-system, but it’s not necessarily a success for Skype.
haaaaaaaaaaaahmhh
Yeah, I work for PSTN mobile compnies. We love people donating blood to our big bank accounts.
Yes, make video calls in 3G and we will be even bigger!
PS: Dont use VoIP, its for terrorist !!