Google Duo has announced an update that comes right at a time when people across the world are in need of reliable ways to keep in touch with friends and family, even if their internet connectivity is spotty and interrupted frequently.
Focusing on improving video calling more reliably Google Duo, in the updated version, will be adopting AV1 support for voice calls. The adoption will help in video calls when users experience lower than normal network bandwidth, as is the case in many places now..
To allay any safety and privacy breaches during virtual meetings, of which ‘Zoombombing’ is a case in point, the search giant is revamping its end-to-end encryption. The company maintains that every week more than 10 million new users are joining Duo worldwide and Google Duo calls have reportedly increased ten-fold due to the worldwide lockdown.
Many nifty new features
Another pain point in video calls is poor audio quality which would be addressed by deploying a new audio codec and Artificial Intelligence. After the new update, 12 users can simultaneously use the app for video calls, and Google plans to add more numbers to the group video conferencing abilities. Still, it’s a step up from the previous limit of group call users, which was set at 8.
A nifty feature to have for some users is the ability to take in-call photo snapshots. The resulting image will be in a split-screen format, and persons featured in that image will be set side by side. At the moment, this is possible only for two video callers and does not extend to group video calls.
Options to save personalized videos
After the new update, Duo users will be able to save their personalized videos and voice messages indefinitely, as opposed to the previous duration of 24 hours for the same. However, only the in-call photo capturing feature will be available from April 22, and other features will presumably come in the next few weeks.
The app will be adopting AV1 video codec before the end of the April. The other features, as revealed by Google, will also be made available in the upcoming weeks along with an increase in number of group callers for both the app and desktop variants.
