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Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

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281–290 of 342 posts

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#281

Didn't Google have messaging figured out with Google Talk? Everyone was on Gmail all day (as many still are) and people actually used it. Then they let it wither, came out with Hangouts, and it's been a downhill train wreck from there. Google Talk had the potential of being one of the biggest messengers in the world...they own Gmail and Android (!!!!!). Are you kidding me? There's really no good reason for them NOT t…

Google talk was brilliant and it was a sad day when they shuttered it.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#282

That's it. I'm giving up on Google chat products. I tried hard to use Allo and get my friends to use but enough. We need a new XMPP like protocol that prioritizes privacy, end-to-end encryption and supports all the fancy features like stickers and video calls to make it easier to adopt. Does anything like this exist?

iMessage

Is iMessage XMPP like open protocol?

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only AT&T shut down 2G. T-Mobile reiterated recently that their 2G network will probably be shut down after their 3G one, since it hardly uses any spectrum.

With places that have shutdown 2G, there is no "voice only" network anymore since 3G is required for the voice traffic.

T-Mobile and AT&T have very different planning. AT&T shut down their 2G because it mostly ran on 850mhz and this was needed for LTE and their legacy band 5 WCDMA (hspa) network.

T-Mobile mostly ran its 2G on 1900mhz, but had beefy midband spectrum holdings there and in AWS (and AWS-3) for most markets. Since you can run GSM down in like 200khz or so it's not a huge deal to have a small slice allocated to legacy voice fallback. You can't do that with 3G... you can thin it down but it's still going to need 3.8mhz or so. (T-Mobile has experience thinning HSPA down prior to the MetroPCS CDMA shutdown... which they had legacy CDMA running in guard bands)

Verizon and Sprint used to mostly be on CDMA-based technology. So their 3G 'EVDO' can't do calls.. it needs cdma2k layer to go back to, or full voLTE support. VZW has its shit together on voLTE, sprint will probably never launch volte at this rate.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google messaging must have some of the worst project managers in the industry. Not only did they let their lead disappear, when they decided to start competing with Facebook and WhatsApp they released Allo! A crappy MVP in a crowded market hugely dependent on the network effect. And now they've decided to involve the carriers, using a technology that's not made to be cross platform but instead be dependent on phones.…

Using a telephone number is impractical? That's our identity in the third world. I think they are focused on the developing world in this.

I don't live in the third world, and I don't think any new messaging service should focus on that limited use case. I'm pretty sure Google focused on India with Allo, but what's the point of focusing on one market when you're a global internet giant? I mainly use Hangouts for messaging, because I use the "desktop client" (Chrome extension) more than the mobile app.

It would be possible to let people use both phone number and e-mail, that way I can log in on computers or my phone with a temporary SIM card while I'm traveling, and people in the developing world doesn't need to get an e-mail account.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#285

> Microsoft is among the OEM supporters, which raises the possibility it could bring support to Windows 10, but the company was non-committal when The Verge pressed it on that possibility. If windows phone is dead I suppose this would "just" enabled some kind of SMS messaging on a win10 desktop ?

SMS is already available on Win10 desktop, but it's confusing to setup (I think it involves tying your SMS messages to Skype on Win10 mobile, at which point you can see and reply to SMS via Cortana on your desktop)

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#286

Didn't Google have messaging figured out with Google Talk? Everyone was on Gmail all day (as many still are) and people actually used it. Then they let it wither, came out with Hangouts, and it's been a downhill train wreck from there. Google Talk had the potential of being one of the biggest messengers in the world...they own Gmail and Android (!!!!!). Are you kidding me? There's really no good reason for them NOT t…

Google messaging must have some of the worst project managers in the industry. Not only did they let their lead disappear, when they decided to start competing with Facebook and WhatsApp they released Allo! A crappy MVP in a crowded market hugely dependent on the network effect. And now they've decided to involve the carriers, using a technology that's not made to be cross platform but instead be dependent on phones.…

To be fair, Allo only came after Google had killed several other chat implementations because for some reason they couldn’t tolerate the idea that GChat was successful.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#287

Didn't Google have messaging figured out with Google Talk? Everyone was on Gmail all day (as many still are) and people actually used it. Then they let it wither, came out with Hangouts, and it's been a downhill train wreck from there. Google Talk had the potential of being one of the biggest messengers in the world...they own Gmail and Android (!!!!!). Are you kidding me? There's really no good reason for them NOT t…

i'd take gtalk back right away - the best message solution there ever was.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#288
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://xkcd.com/927/ Relevant xkcd.

I'm a bit tired of people pulling out this comic each time a new standard appears. Whatsapp, Telegram, FB, iMessages are NOT standards. They're closed systems controlled by a single company. XMPP is a standard from the days of ICQ, AIM, MSN, etc. Unfortunately it failed. SMS is a standard for mobile phone text communications. It's too limited now. RCS is the evolution of SMS. I don't think RCS is a redundant standard…

RCS is a standard on which development started in 2008 and was built upon the core of another standard called IMS, which started development in 1999. The same year the jabber.org project was announced.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#289
post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using a telephone number is impractical? That's our identity in the third world. I think they are focused on the developing world in this.

What if the user is on a WiFi-only tablet, or laptop, or desktop PC? What if the user is at an Internet cafe? What if the phone user has no cellular signal but has WiFi access? Clearly it would be a mistake to limit this to just phone users.

But those things don't sell here. Maybe businesses and professionals buy it but not regular folk. All of them are buying smartphones in millions and going online everyday. Cellular signal is the norm all over the country and we have around 80% of it as villages. So I'm pretty sure all of those use cases come at a distant second. Please read about the impact of Jio in India.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using a telephone number is impractical? That's our identity in the third world. I think they are focused on the developing world in this.

I don't live in the third world, and I don't think any new messaging service should focus on that limited use case. I'm pretty sure Google focused on India with Allo, but what's the point of focusing on one market when you're a global internet giant? I mainly use Hangouts for messaging, because I use the "desktop client" (Chrome extension) more than the mobile app. It would be possible to let people use both phone nu…

Please understand that the size of the population which uses this limited use case in my country is greater than multiple western countries' populations combined. I've been a developer for nearly 7 years and make a good amount of money in my country. Yet I've never touched an airplane. I'm telling this to point out the difference in living styles between the two zones of earth. All tech companies are rushing to capture market in the developing countries because we are poor now but in 20 years we may well be up there along with you all.
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