The COVID-19 has forced us all into our homes with a ‘Work from home’ in action. Video calling apps like Zoom and Skype are benefiting a lot has video calling is a core part of WFH. Google too has joined in the race but not with the introduction but the rebranding of its already existing Hangouts Meet app. The Hangouts Meet App is now Google Meet.
The rebrand will happen on a rolling basis, meaning it will take time for it to disseminate globally.
Google has alsoconfirmed that Meet is an independent part of G Suite, the group of business services that also includes brands such as Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Drive.
Hangouts Chat and the rebranded meet are different platforms from Hangouts or Classic Hangouts.
The Google Hangouts is just like any other Messaging platform with features like video calling, while Hangouts Chat is just for messaging and Meet is for meetings as the name suggest.
The name change is not all, premium features are available for free for all users till September 30, and the feature set includes the ability to host larger meetings for up to 250 participants per call, the ability to live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers within a domain and the option to record meetings which are then saved to Google Drive. This move was made amidst the coronavirus pandemic and the work from home regime.
Google says more than 2 million new users connecting on Google Meet every day, and they’re spending over 2 billion minutes together. With Google Meet, Google plans on taking on like of Zoom, Skype and other video conferencing platforms