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Messenger Rooms, Facebook's answer to Zoom, is now available
You can host up to 50 people on a group video call.
Facebook might bring major streaming services to its Portal for TVs
Last year, reports emerged Facebook was working on a video chat camera you'd plug into your TV. It sounds a bit like its Portal smart display, albeit without the need for a dedicated screen. One reported aspect of the device is that it'd offer video streaming, including Facebook Watch. It seems Facebook has been trying to strike deals with other major streaming services too.
Updated Mormon rules let missionaries call or text their families weekly
Until now, Mormon missionaries have only allowed to use phone calls or video chats to reach their families on Christmas and Mother's Day. After that, they'd had to rely on email or traditional letters. They'll have an easier time staying in touch from now on, though. The Church now permits missionaries to call, text, message or video chat with their families each week on preparation day (effectively, their break), not just two times a year. They're also encouraged to get in touch on other holidays.
FaceTime bug lets you listen in before a call starts
Apple's FaceTime might make it a little too convenient to drop in on a friend. Reports have emerged of a bug that lets you listen to the other side's audio before a call has even started. All you have to do is start a FaceTime call, add a person, and choose your own phone number when prompted. If you try that, you effectively start a group call while the other side's device is still ringing. It's not necessarily eavesdropping, especially when the other side can hear you, but it could easily lead to catching someone off-guard.
Alexa can now make Skype calls
Starting this week, you'll be able to make Skype calls on your Alexa devices. Basically the entire line of Echo devices will have the ability to make voice calls via Microsoft's VoIP platform. The Echo Show and its tablet-style screen will also be able to make and receive video calls.
Bunch lets you video chat while playing mobile games
Live gaming with friends via console is nothing new, but as more live games come to mobile, there's a gap in the market for better experiences to connect friends that want to play together on this platform as well. Enter Bunch, an app that lets users play mobile games with friends over video chat.
Facebook's Portal video chat displays go on sale in the US
Facebook's Portal and Portal+ smart displays are now available in the US via Amazon, Best Buy and their own, ahem, portal. The social network created the devices with video chats in mind, giving them AI-powered cameras that can track you as you move around while talking to friends and family. It can call anyone on Messenger, not just someone who also has a Portal, so you can use it to call most people in your friends list. Engadget Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar got the chance to see it in action in October and found that the picture on screen shifted smoothly to keep the person in frame. He said it looked even better in portrait mode -- almost as if the other person were truly in the same room.
Facebook’s confusion about its Portal camera is concerning
Facebook couldn't have picked a worse time to introduce Portal, a camera-equipped smart display designed to make video chatting in your home easier. And, if the rumors are true, the company is reportedly also preparing to launch a video chat camera for your TV, based on the same system as Portal. Not only does news of this hardware come at a time when when Facebook is under major scrutiny after suffering a massive data breach in September, which exposed private information of 29 million users, including usernames, birth date, gender, location, religion and the devices used to browse the site. But the most concerning part about Portal, is that Facebook's own executives don't seem to have a basic understanding of what types of data the company will be collecting or what it will be using it for.
Facebook is reportedly making a video chat camera for your TV
Facebook's Portal cameras might just be the start of the company's plans to bring video chat to your home. Cheddar sources claimed that the social network is making a "camera-equipped device" that brings video chat and streaming services (including Facebook's own) to your TV. Nicknamed Ripley, it's tentatively slated to launch in spring 2019. A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment.
WhatsApp fixes video call exploit that allowed account hijacks
WhatsApp owners may have just dodged a bullet. The messaging service has fixed a security flaw that let intruders hijack the app (and thus your account) when you answered an incoming video call in Android or iOS. If an attacker sent a malformed Real-time Transport Protocol packet, it would corrupt the app's heap memory and open it to attack. Web users weren't affected, since the browser-based client relies on the WebRTC protocol.
Skype chats are coming to Alexa devices
Aside from all of the Alexa-connected hardware, there's one more big development coming for Amazon's technology: integration with Skype. Microsoft and Amazon said that voice and video calls via the service will come to Alexa devices (including Microsoft's Xbox One) with calls that you can start and control just by voice. Last year the two companies announced plans to make Alexa and Cortana work together and it's taken a while to arrive, but now it's here. Amazon's push to make people buy more things via its assistant could provide a boost to Microsoft's aspirations of product integration in a way that didn't happen after the launch of the Xbox One and Kinect, which already featured voice control for Skype before Cortana and Alexa were on the scene.
Facebook could launch its video chat devices this month
Facebook will finally reveal its long-rumored video chat device called "Portal" next week, according to financial website Cheddar. A previous report by the same publication said the company was supposed to unveil the device during its annual F8 conference in May. However, the revelation was pushed back due to all the scandals the social network had to face over the past few months, particularly the Cambridge Analytica fiasco and the role it played in Russia's election interference in 2016.
Skype's podcast-friendly call recording is now available
The Skype team is acting on its promise to make life easier for podcasters and other content creators. Call recording is now available in the latest version of Skype except for Windows 10, which will see an upgrade in the "coming weeks." The clips you record will live in the cloud for 30 days -- you can forward them to others or save them for posterity.
iOS 12 won't launch with FaceTime group chats
We hope you weren't planning a group FaceTime chat the very moment iOS 12 and macOS Mojave reached your devices. The release notes for Apple's latest iOS 12 and Mojave developer betas reveal that group FaceTime won't be available in either operating system on launch, and will instead arrive in an update "later this fall." Much like Apple Pay Cash, you could be waiting weeks or months to try the tent pole feature.
WhatsApp launches four-person group video calling
WhatsApp teased that its messaging app would add a long-awaited group video calling feature several weeks ago, and it's finally here. Both Android and iOS users can now hold audio and video conversations with up to four people. You'll have to start a one-on-one call before you can add the other two people, but it's otherwise straightforward. WhatsApp reiterated that calls are "end-to-end encrypted" like its other chats, and promised that they should work in less-than-stellar network conditions.
Instagram's group video chat hits your phone today (updated)
At last month's F8 conference, Facebook announced that a video chat feature for Instagram was in the works. Today, that starts rolling out to users across the world. Anyone you're in a Direct conversation with (i.e. neither of you have blocked the other) can start a video conversation by tapping the camera icon in the top right corner. And as was previously announced, it works with groups, too.
CNBC: Facebook's smart speaker could debut outside the US
According to rumors, Facebook decided that since it's mired in privacy controversies this year's F8 event might not be the best time to introduce an always-listening connected home device. Amazon has Alexa and Echo, Apple has Siri and HomePod, Microsoft pushes Cortana and Google has Assistant/Home. Now, with the opening keynote of F8 over and no smart speaker or video chat-ready "Portal" device mentioned, CNBC reports that the device is still in the works. It's apparently connected to remnants of the dearly-departed "M" chatbot technology but when it does appear there's a possibility it will launch first in international markets. An "M" powered AI assistant could even get a new name, like...Marvin, and use the translation features announced for Messenger today. Still, with the fallout from Cambridge Analytica and the prospect of increased regulation hanging over its head, Facebook will keep watching the home assistant battle from a spot on the sidelines.
WhatsApp will finally offer group video calls
WhatsApp may be a cornerstone of the chat world, but it's missing a feature rivals like Skype have had for years: group video chat. Or rather it was. Facebook has revealed that WhatsApp is adding a group video calling feature in the months ahead. There aren't many details at this stage, but it's clear the feature will allow four particpants and work with smartphones.
Instagram adds video chat to its stable of social features
Live video has been a popular feature on Instagram, and now the social network is taking that one step further. Soon, Instagram will roll out video chatting, allowing a user to talk one-on-one or with a small group of people directly through the service.
Samsung could use AR Emoji as stand-ins during video chats
Samsung's AR Emoji may be useful for considerably more than the occasional funny reaction GIF. The tech giant recently received a US patent for a "hybrid visual communication" system that would replace live video of a person with an augmented reality 3D model (basically, AR Emoji) that reflects their facial expressions in real time. This virtual self would stand-in for you during video chats when your connection is flaky, so you could hold a call without the stops and stutters that come with low bandwidth. We'd add that it could be helpful for those moments when you're less-than-presentable but still want to talk face to face. Just got out of bed? You won't look quite so groggy.
