The many users of Google's Gmail service will soon have a new way to video chat with others. In a blog post today, Google announced that it is ditching the current Gmail video chat feature and replacing it with Google+ Hangouts, which launched as part of Google+ in 2011.
Unlike the old video chat, which was based on peer-to-peer technology, Hangouts utilize the power of Google’s network to deliver higher reliability and enhanced quality. You’ll be able to chat with all the same people you did before and, in fact, with Hangouts you’ll now be able to reach them not only when they are using Gmail but also if they are on Google+ in the browser or on their Android or iOS devices.
People who use Gmail to chat with others with the new Google+ Hangout video chat will also gain even more features if they are full Google+ members, including being able to chat with up nine people at once. The rollout of Google+ Hangouts will start today for Gmail users and will progress over the next few weeks.
The original Gmail video chat feature was launched over four years ago. A few weeks ago, Google announced that Gmail has 425 million users.
Source: Gmail blog
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