Heena Sharma Blog

  Google has announced to introduce new innovations in its Google Meet app like a refreshed user interface (UI), autozoom, enhanced reliability features powered by the latest Google AI and tools that make meetings more engaging. Beginning next month, desktop and laptop users will see a new, richer user interface with an array of easy-to-access features that make meetings more productive and inclusive. The new Meet for web encompasses updates to video feeds, the viewing and presenting experience, and the bottom bar. "In an effort to reduce meeting fatigue, we're giving you more control over how you view yourself in meetings," the company said in a statement late on Wednesday. You can choose to have your video feed be a tile in the grid or a floating picture, which can be resized and repositioned. If you prefer not to see yourself at all, you can easily minimise your feed and hide it from your own view entirely. Read More

  WhatsApp will Thursday roll out voice and video calling from the desktop, making it easier for people to take calls at their convenience. Voice and video calls on WhatsApp Web will also be end-to-end encrypted, ensuring that WhatsApp can’t hear or see them, whether you call from your phone or your computer. "We’re starting with one-to-one calls on the WhatsApp desktop app so we make sure we can give you a reliable and high-quality experience. We will be expanding this feature to include group voice and video calls in the future," the company said in a statement. The Facebook-owned messaging app had been testing this feature for very few users since late last year. In order to make a WhatsApp desktop call, you need to have a Windows 10 64-bit version 1903 and newer or macOS 10.13 and newer. One of the reasons for WhatsApp to roll out this feature is increased calling on the platform due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Read More

  Google has released new Chrome OS updates that will help students run video calls at home while theyre using apps like Google Classroom, Docs, Sheets, Slides and other tools, regardless of the device or the strength of their internet connections. The update will help students as they're using the same networks as their parents, guardians and siblings, putting heavy demand on bandwidth. Google Meet will now adapt to the speed of your network by temporarily turning off some video feeds, to make sure you're not interrupted if many people are using your connection at the same time. "Making sure devices can handle video conferences all day while running various apps and software that require a lot of power is incredibly important. That's why we've been focused on improving Chromebooks," Google said in a statement on Thursday. In Chrome OS, Google has improved how Meet videos are streamed. Read More

  The popular automated transcription service Otter.ai can now transcribe Google Meet calls in real time with a new Chrome extension. "The Otter.ai Chrome Extension lets you transcribe and caption Google Meet in real time, and save audio transcripts to your Otter account," the company described in a new update. Otter.ai said the Chrome extension works with all its plans, including the free version. Otter.ai also has integration with Zoom video calls. But to use Otter's integrated live transcriptions in Zoom, you'll need to be on a paid Otter and Zoom plan. To use Otter in Google Meet, start Google Meet in your browser and then click on the Otter.ai Chrome Extension icon to open the extension. Read More

  Microsoft has announced that it has added the 'Together Mode' option that debuted in Teams to Skype . According to a report from zdnet.com, in the latest Skype version (Skype 8.67), Together Mode is one of a handful of new features available to various versions of Skype. 'Together Mode' is a viewing option that makes it appear as if all meeting participants are located in the same physically shared space instead of via a traditional grid view. As per the reports, Microsoft officials have said they believe 'Together Mode' will help alleviate virtual-meeting fatigue and make meetings feel more real. Other new features in Skype 8.67 include the addition of Large Grid Mode, enabling users to see everyone's video stream simultaneously; an option to add someone to an ongoing Skype call using their phone number, as well as via Skype; more predefined backgrounds and categories and more. Read More

  Microsoft Teams platform has reached 115 million daily active users and the company is seeing increased usage intensity as people communicate, collaborate and co-author contents across work, life, and learning, CEO Satya Nadella has said. According to him, Microsoft 365 users generated more than 30 billion collaboration minutes in a single day this quarter. "The key to productivity is to move beyond transactional meetings and stay in the flow of work and maintain business process context. That's where Microsoft 365 and Teams stand out," Nadella said during the company's fiscal Q1 earnings call on Tuesday. In education, nearly 270,000 institutions are using Teams to power remote learning and improve learning outcomes. The video collaboration platform has added over 100 new capabilities in the last six months, including breakout rooms, meeting recaps, shift scheduling, and large scale digital events up to 20,000 participants, to help people transcend both tim...

  Google has announced to continue providing unlimited calls (up to 24 hours) in the free version of its video conferencing app called Google Meet through March 31, 2021 for Gmail accounts. Google in April announced that anyone with a Google account was allowed to create free meetings with up to 100 people with no time limit till September 30 in the pandemic times. Google is now extending that policy and free Meet users can host longer calls through March 2021. "As we look ahead to a holiday season with less travel and important milestones like family reunions, PTA meetings and weddings hosted over video, we want to continue helping those who rely on Meet to stay in touch over the coming months," Samir Pradhan, Group Product Manager, Google Meet, said in a statement on Tuesday. Google this month introduced a new feature in its Meet app where the users can now see up to 49 people at the same time (including themselves) in the auto and tiled layout options. Read More

  Google has introduced a new feature in its Google Meet app where the users can now see up to 49 people at the same time in the auto and tiled layout options. In addition, the company has added the ability to see the host of the meeting as a tile on the call. Both the features are now available to all G Suite customers and users with personal Google Accounts. "Adding yourself as a full tile let's you see yourself better. This can make you feel more like part of the larger group, especially when taking screenshots or photos," Google said in a blog post on Tuesday. With this launch, the Meet users will also be able to use a slider to adjust the number of tiles they see. "You may want to increase the maximum when you have a large group, or reduce the number of tiles if you have a weak internet connection," Google informed. Read More

GoPro on Thursday announced a beta firmware update for its Hero8 Black to pull up a double job of an HD webcam. The action camera maker also made available desktop utility installation files, which helps complete the webcam set-up without any third-party accessories. However, the GoPro Webcam desktop utility is currently available for macOS users and the support for Windows operating system is in development. “With a quick camera firmware update and desktop utility installation, users can use their HERO8 Black camera as a 1080p HD webcam for more immersive video conferencing, wide-angle instructional classes and so on. Fitting the entire scene in your shot is now simple thanks to HERO8 Black’s wide field of view, and everything will look amazing thanks to GoPro’s legendary image quality. We’re excited to now help webcam users GoPro at home!” GoPro founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman said in a statement. Read More

Amid growing calls for 'Made in India' digital tools, Reliance Jio has launched a free video-conferencing application called JioMeet , taking on US-based Zoom platform. According to the JioMeet description on Google Play Store, the application can be used for 1:1 video calls and hosting meetings with up to 100 participants with enterprise-grade host controls. Other highlights include easy sign up with either mobile number or email ID, meeting in HD audio and video quality. The application can be used for creating instant meetings to chat with friends and also to schedule a meeting in advance and share meeting details with invitees. JioMeet offers unlimited meetings per day and each meeting can go uninterrupted up to 24 hours. Read More