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Hangouts are one of the redeeming qualities of Google+, and they’re about to be more widely available. Google announced that it’s rolling out the video chats to Gmail.
The person you’re hanging with doesn’t have to be a G+ user, either. You can gab with your pals from Gmail on their browser or on their iOS or Android device. But if your cohort is a Pluskateer (that’s a technical term), you guys can chat with up to nine people at a time. Although, do you have nine friends who actively use Google+?
Google says the quality is better than regular old Gchat video calls. The new feature begins its rollout today. Now you just need to find people who use Mountain View’s social network to kick it with. [Google via TheNextWeb]
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Huzzah! Another great new feature I most likely won’t use because I use my gmail for emails only.
Still, at least they keep trying to make Google+ better I suppose.
“Google+ Hangouts in Gmail Means Nine-way Video Chats”
… What does Google+ Hangouts in Google+ mean?
“The person you’re hanging with doesn’t have to be a G+ user”
When you create a Google account, you’re automatically a G+, Youtube, Picasa user … right?
My understanding is, you still need to activate those aspects of your google account, or ‘sign’ into them when you go to their link… Of course, I could be entirely wrong, and I’m talking out my left ear.
No, you have to log in to each of these services separately using your Google account, the fact that it is seamless may make it appear as though the account already existed, but it didn’t.