Google launches movie talk app, Duo, to challenge with FaceTime, Skype and Messenger
Google has launched its movie talking app, called Duo.
It represents Google’s response to other popular movie calling options, including Apple’s FaceTime, Microsoft’s Skype and Facebook’s Messenger.
It’s not that different from the other movie talking services, except that it gives users a peek at who’s making the call, helping people determine whether to reaction or not.
Google says it’s calling the feature, "knock, knock".
The fresh app, originally announced in May, is being released as a free service for phones running on Google’s Android operating system as well as Apple’s iPhones.
Calls are encrypted and the movie resolution switches depending on the speed of your connection.
Like FaceTime on iOS, Duo only requires a person’s phone number to connect.
Many other services require both people to have account logins to use the movie calling options.
Google’s been suggesting movie calling through Hangouts since 2013, but the company’s now tailoring that service for business meetings and it won’t butt-plug into the fresh movie talk service.
Duo is being billed as a simpler, more reliable way to see friends and family as you talk to them.
The app is rolling out around the world over the next few days.
It’s the very first of two fresh mobile apps that Google has planned for the next few months.
The US company is also preparing to unveil a fresh messaging app called Allo featuring a robotic assistant that will suggest automated responses to texts.
That includes commenting on pictures sent by friends, thanks to its use of pic recognition algorithms.
Google announced a conversation-based instrument – Google Assistant – to control smartphones, smartwatches and other devices earlier this year.
It can be used to find information, play media and carry out tasks via a talk inbetween the user and the software.
The hard also announced a voice-activated device with a built-in speaker called Google Home to produce the tech to living rooms.
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