Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#261

Post by deong » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:57 PM UTC

jamornh wrote: post #193

simonh wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because there are absolutely no other video chat apps in existence on both Android and iOS? Duo is the only possible option? The point is given the many, many other video chat apps that do already exist and fill this function, several of them produced by Google, what does Google think it's doing bringing out yet another one.

I thought Google already has a product that does video calls across iOS and Android... Hangouts. I don't understand why they are doing this independently of a product they already have.

No one understands anything at all to do with Google's strategy on Hangouts. Certainly no one working at Google does.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#262

Post by 0xmohit » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:59 PM UTC

ende wrote: post #5

Have they announced when it will be discontinued?

> Have they announced when it will be discontinued?

Give them a chance to collect more data first. Many governments might be backing this service.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#263

Post by vorotato » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 1:59 PM UTC

No desktop version? Why would anyone use this over hangouts?

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#264

Post by jijji » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 2:00 PM UTC

They are trying to do what viber has been doing for years

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#265

Post by mxuribe » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 2:01 PM UTC

abstractbeliefs wrote: post #244

mxuribe wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah good points, not everyone needs to host their own matrix.org home server; users can simply hop on existing ones. The one on matrix.org or vector.im are pretty robust and actually allows public registration (and you can have private rooms for privacy, etc.). Check out: http://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html or directly to https://vector.im Also, I should have stated, I hosted my home server on a vps,…

That sounds ideal, thank you. I'm generally increasingly convinced that while decentralised services are great for many powerusers, they too often shift too much of the burden onto users, vastly diminishing the market penetration of what are nominally good ideas. Another example of this is the current IndieWeb movement, which while great, doesn't fix very much because 1) low penetration means you have to republish al…

You hit the nail on the head with the challenges that you stated! While I'm a really, really big fan of decentralized platforms AND indieweb, i acknowledge that many (though not all) of the apps to allow users to on-ramp are not yet as simple as those that the proprietary silos/platforms might offer. Or the apps might be ok but requires more time/committment for users to set up things before extracting benefits. This of course sort of prevents otherwise willing new users from joining the fray...but I'm comforted by the fact that this is almost exactly how it was many years ago when the web first became available to the public, and many people thought things were "too tough" to get people onto the web; and yet here we are with so many people on the web. I'll admit that perhaps I'm an optimist. ;-) But i feel we just need to get a few Goldilocks-type killer apps to drastically ramp up user engagement. Cheers!

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#266

Post by 0xmohit » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 2:04 PM UTC

tonfa wrote: post #77

lern_too_spel wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worse, now I have to find my friends' phone numbers. Is this targeted to people in developing countries who use apps like WhatsApp? Those people don't have fast enough mobile internet to make video calling work.

WhatsApp is not specially an emerging market product, I think it is the most popular chat app in a bunch of European countries.

> I think it is the most popular chat app ...

I'd say that it's also commonly used as a photo/video/file sharing tool.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#267

Post by deong » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 2:04 PM UTC

stephenr wrote: post #240

ethanbond wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any more info on trying to open source FaceTime? I've never heard of this before and seems interesting.

Jobs said it at the keynote when FaceTime was announced. They never managed to follow through, and ultimately had to change the way FaceTime works, because of a lawsuit by a patent troll.

But they did do the work to circumvent the patent. "Patents" can't logically be the reason FaceTime isn't an open standard today. I doubt they ever were. Apple simply realized that FaceTime was an effective sales driver for iOS hardware and wanted to keep that competitive advantage more than they wanted to follow through on Jobs's promise.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#268

Post by 0xmohit » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 2:05 PM UTC

soufron wrote: post #128

How many similar apps do we have already? We are increasingly solving problems that dont exist.

> We are increasingly solving problems that dont exist.

In the process, we are attempting to divert attention from unsolved real problems.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#269

Post by bfrog » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 2:14 PM UTC

I still long for the days of a real gtalk native app

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#270

Post by bisby » Tue, Aug 16, 2016, 2:15 PM UTC

nxc18 wrote: post #190

Wow, I'm so glad they made yet another video calling app. I was almost beginning to feel like I knew how to call the people I care about. So glad I'll start hearing 'I'll call you on Duo', which will be great when I'm at my desktop computer.

The #1 thing I want from a chatting/calling app is the ability to have a synchronized conversation on my phone and my desktop. Facebook and google handle this really well. When I'm at my computer, i dont want to pick up my phone. when im on the move, i dont want to miss messages.

The #2 thing I want is to be able to pick the app I use. I like pidgin, i want to use pidgin. I hate having to open gmail to use certain hangouts features. This tends to go hand in hand with the "I'll call you on X" thing. I dont care where people are calling me from/at if receiving it is centralized.