Google today announced the launch of its video calling application, Google Duo. It is available for both Android and iOS. The roll out of Duo for Android and iOS starts today, and it will be live worldwide in the next few days.
“Duo is simple from start to finish. To get started, all you need is your phone number and you’ll be able to reach people in your phone’s contacts list across device types and platforms. No separate account is required, so you can sign up and start calling in just a few taps. From there, you can instantly begin a Video call with a single tap,” Google said in a press release.
It has a unique feature of Knock Knock that “allows people to see live video of the caller before they answer”.
Google promises high quality video calling with Google Duo both on WiFi and on the go with mobile network. Most importantly, it is a cross platform App hence an Android Google Duo users can make video calls to an iOS user.
“Duo has been built to be fast and reliable, so that video calls connect quickly and work well even on slower networks. Call quality adjusts to changing network conditions to keep you connected when Bandwidth is limited, Duo will gracefully reduce the Resolution to keep the call going smoothly. For video calls on the go, Duo will switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data automatically without dropping your call,” Google claimed.
“Video calling is the next best thing to being with someone in person. We have designed the interface to be simple, easy and welcoming. In places like India, it has been designed to adapt to the network connectivity conditions. We hope to make the experience of video calling more personal, inviting easy and smooth”, said Amit Fulay, group product manager, Google.
As per Google, all Duo calls are end-to-end encrypted.
Google has earlier announced a dedicated Messaging application called Google Allo (https://www.themobileindian.com/news/18771_Google-announces-Allo-messaging-app-Duo-video-calling-app). Since Duo is now rolling out, the internet giant is now expected to roll out the messaging app very soon as well.